March 2025 – Vanderbilt Business Review

Mar

28

2025

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By Aaron Cooper

Information Asymmetry in Mergers & Acquisitions: More Than Just Numbers

All Posts, Analysis, Finance and Business Insightbusiness, cooper, economy, finance, m&a

Feodora Chiosea via iStockPhoto In mergers and acquisitions (M&A), it’s easy to assume that information asymmetry is only about what’s in the financial statements, but it often spills over into areas like company culture, operations, and even employee motivation. For example, a startup might hide a serious research and development problem that’s about to derail its next product launch. A larger, more established company might downplay pending regulatory troubles that could lead to big fines. All these hidden realities can affect the price a buyer is willing to pay and the terms they insist on when closing the deal. Because…

Mar

24

2025

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By Jake Seo

Rise of Nashville: Double-Edged Sword of Success

All Posts, Opinioneconomy, nashville, seo

Image generated in Midjourney AI Nashville, the capital city of Tennessee and home to Vanderbilt University, has gone through remarkable transformation in recent years, but is it all a good thing? As the 21st biggest city in the US (ranked by population size), Music City has experienced considerable economic and demographic growth that have attracted an increasing number of residents, corporations, local businesses and promising career opportunities as industries from healthcare and technology to music and entertainment thrive. With cranes over the horizon and massive skyscrapers that pierce into the sky, the landscape of Nashville has undergone significant change in…

Mar

23

2025

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By Madison Keezer

Ghost Jobs: The Haunting Reality of Fake Job Postings

All Posts, Analysiseconomy, internship, jobs, keezer

Cecilie_Arcurs via iStockPhoto Do you ever feel like the job market is so scary it’s supernatural? You’re not alone. So-called “ghost jobs” are on the rise. These positions, which companies have no intention of actually filling, are discouraging and frustrating to applicants. Understanding what ghost jobs are and how to spot them can help make your job search more efficient. Ghost jobs are commonly found on public job boards like Greenhouse and LinkedIn. These postings seem to remain there for an extended period of time without ever getting filled. Greenhouse CEO Jon Stross tells the Wall Street Journal that “it’s…

Mar

02

2025

By Mark Ciampa

Using Vanderbilt’s Student Health Insurance Plan to Unpack the Business of Health Insurance

All Posts, Analysis, Industriesbusiness, ciampa, finance

peterspiro via iStockPhoto Introduction Vanderbilt University requires its students to maintain health insurance coverage throughout their education. Students can enroll in Vanderbilt’s Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) if they do not have personal health insurance or if they prefer the SHIP to their current insurance. The healthcare industry is notoriously complicated, containing a web of insurers, providers, hospital networks, drug manufacturers, and pharmacies to administer all aspects of patient care. Using Vanderbilt’s SHIP as an example, this article will guide students through the structure of health insurance and the entities influencing it. Fees and Benefits To maintain health insurance, policyholders…

Mar

02

2025

By Madison Keezer

Return to Office: How it’s Reshaping Work, Wallets, and the Economy

All Posts, Analysisbusiness, economy, jobs, keezer

ferrantraite via iStockPhoto During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the workforce became accustomed to working from home. Gone were the days of standstill traffic during rush hour commute. Sweatpants during Zoom calls were here to stay. However, recent trends have indicated that the switch to working from home wasn’t the permanent cultural shift some believed it to be. Most recently, JPMorgan issued a return-to-office mandate for all 317,000 employees, generating backlash from employees. The deadline for Amazon employees to return to their desks hit on January 2, after CEO Andy Jassy announced the mandate in September 2024. It’s not just…

Mar

01

2025

By Sabrina Liang and Yiling Dai

Price of Authenticity: Problems Faced by Meet Noodles

All Posts, Featuresdai, food, interview, liang, nashville

Photo taken by Sabrina Liang As international students from China, we frequently get questions about Chinese culture. One of the most common questions is “Are Chinese restaurants here authentic?” The answer is usually a big shake of the head. American-style Chinese food is (I hate to admit but) great as an independent cuisine. If you are looking for authentic Chinese food, especially from the mid-South, inland region of China, there’s a restaurant called Meet Noodles (面对面) near campus that you should check out. There’s also more to it than its food - in November, after a deep conversation with one…