Kiasunomics

In the interest of cost and time savings, business owners have begun to carve out work spaces within their homes, thereby creating home offices. In support of this, the Singapore Government launched a Home Office Scheme in a bid to encourage the birth of home-grown businesses in the country. Professor Sumit analyses the effectiveness of this incentive in stimulating a lasting increase in the number of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore.

In this episode, Professor Sumit properly defines what the gig economy is. He discusses the greater autonomy, flexibility and power it gives to employees, and how the inclusive nature of the gig economy may even allow Singapore to better tap on its manpower. 

Planning for a baby in the zodiac year of the dragon to secure your child’s future? Think again. In this episode, Professor Sumit discusses the research findings of Professor Qian Wenlan, and how this popular belief amongst the Chinese in Singapore may instead have the reverse effect on the success of children in that cohort.

How does something seemingly unscientific like cultural superstition impact housing purchase decisions in Singapore? In this episode, Professor Sumit invites Singapore Management University’s Associate Professor Song Changcheng for chat on how his research suggests that the numbers “4” and “8” may significantly influence the preferences of Singaporean Chinese.

In this episode, Professor Sumit and Professor David Reeb discuss the possibility of how playing golf may give female executives a leg up in their career, and the reasons why.

Professor Sumit analyses the pros and cons of the gig economy, and whether it is sustainable.