Six Asper School of Business researchers receive prestigious SSHRC funding

Newswise —  November 15, 2024 — Asper School of Business researchers successfully secured Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grants to fund a diverse selection of projects. In 2024, six researchers secured over $390,000 in funding from SSHRC.

Since 2019, Asper School of Business researchers have secured over $2.1 million in funding from the Tri-Council agencies, which include SSHRC.

Xiumei Li (Assistant Professor, Business Administration) received an Insight Development Grant for her project “Entrepreneurial Success in Crowdfunding: The Art and Science of Sensemaking,” and explains, “these grants are crucial for transforming promising ideas into actionable research projects.”

Li also notes that funding alone is not the only path to success for researchers, emphasizing importance of a strong research culture.

“The research culture at Asper is both supportive and collaborative. I have benefited from formal support, such as funding programs, as well as informal opportunities, like stimulating discussions with my colleagues,” said Li.

She adds, “This SSHRC Insight Development Grant project is a collaborative effort with a colleague from my department [Jie Yang], reflecting the strong culture of teamwork at Asper.”

In addition to Li’s award, Namita Bhatnagar (Professor, Marketing), Muhammad Kabir (Assistant Professor, Accounting & Finance), and Jie Yang (Assistant Professor, Business Administration) secured Insight Development Grants, logging a 36% application success rate overall for the Asper School of Business and bringing in over $230,000 in funding from this program this year.

The Insight Development Grant Program supports research in its initial stages, enabling the development of new research questions, experimentation with new methods, and theoretical approaches or ideas. Funding is provided for short-term research development projects of up to two years.

Kabir’s work examines the Livent Case—a case that went before the Supreme Court of Canada after entertainment company Livent collapsed and took legal action against its auditor. His project assesses the impact of this case on Canadian firms and auditor liability.

He expresses why securing early-stage funding is an important achievement for researchers and how doing so empowers them to get innovative projects off the ground.

“Getting an external grant offers early-stage researchers a level of validation of their research, as they work to navigate the peer review and publication process in the first few years of their career,” he explains. “A short-term grant is also an excellent opportunity to learn how to manage a research team on your own. This learning often leads to successful future grants.”

Read more about Kabir’s “Auditor Liability, Firm-level Audit Quality, and Investment: The Effect of the Livent Case on Canadian Firms,” as well as Bhatnagar’s “Sensitive Women and Rational Men: Bridging the Gender Divide in Consumer and Employee Green Behaviours,” Li’s “Entrepreneurial Success in Crowdfunding: The Art and Science of Sensemaking,” and Yang’s “My Turf, My Rules: Investigating the Roles of Customers in Product Categorization” here.

In addition to Insight Development Grant success, the Asper School of Business has logged a 50% success rate for SSHRC Insight Grant applications in 2024.

Jieying Chen (Associate Professor, Business Administration) and Changqiu Yu (Assistant Professor, Accounting & Finance), each received Insight Grants, totaling over $170,000.

The SSHRC Insight Grant Program supports research excellence from emerging and established scholars in the social sciences and humanities and provides funding for research initiatives of two to five years.

Yu, whose work aims to offer insights into the role of environmental information in financial decision-making, describes how this funding allows her work to move forward.

“In order to advance understanding of how environmental factors are integrated into firm valuations, I need access to a large amount of data,” says Yu. “This funding promotes knowledge mobilization by allowing me to purchase datasets, hire research support, and participate in knowledge exchanges at Canadian and international conferences.”

Read more about Yu’s, “Carbon Emissions, Environmental Transition Risks, and Firm Valuations: Evidence from Financial Analysts,” and Chen’s, “Immigrants’ Proactive Socialization Tactics, Adaptation, and Career Success,” here.

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The Asper School of Business aims to expand global knowledge and engage in intellectual exploration to advance teaching, learning, and research. Asper researchers regularly publish in internationally renowned scholarly publications, partner with government and NGOs to advance positive societal impact, and convene with the Manitoba business community to build bridges between theory and practice.

Visit the Asper School of Business Research page to learn more about research programs, events, and contributions from Manitoba’s business school.