Miller College of Business

Michael Hicks, an economist and director of Ball State University's Center of Business and Economic Research, said the resiliency and relative strength of Indiana's economy is the one bright spot in the unemployment report.
"With job losses of 11,000, we still see overall job numbers over the past year exceeding all but a few states," he said. "Moreover, we enjoy a growing labor force, which speaks well to long-term prospects. Still, these numbers are bad, and with a worsening national economy, employment data are likely to disappoint for months to come."

Record a Daily Message. Effective use of voice mail “can eliminate much inefficiency concerning business communications,” says Marilyn Chalupa, a business education and office administration professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Her advice: Change your message each day, and make it specific and useful. For instance, you might leave a message saying that you’re in the office, but in meetings most of the day, and so won’t be returning calls until the next morning. Or you could leave a message saying that you’re in the office, but working on a major project all day, and will only be checking messages at lunch and 4 p.m. You can even leave a voice mail for one person if you know someone is calling for specific information. Some phone mail systems enable you to leave this information in a separate place on your voice mail.

Those opposed to the chained CPI say it will mean smaller increases in Social Security checks over time. Ball State Economist Mike Hicks says the chained CPI allows people to choose between similar products in places where they're cheaper. He says many economists believe the current CPI overstates inflation because it doesn't take this into account.

Another economist, Michael Hicks of Ball State University in Indiana, says it may take a decade or longer to get back to the unemployment levels seen before the financial crisis.

A new Ball State University study says more than half of all Indiana smokers have tried to quit smoking in the past year.

Many people find these questions to be simple ones, at least based on a new Ball State study that showed Hamilton, Hendricks and Johnson counties experiencing the state’s largest net migrations in recent years -- meaning people moving in from another county. Marion County suffered the lowest such migration, meaning thousands more moved out than moved in.

Though it continues to draw more new residents than any other city in the state, Indianapolis continues to lose population at a slightly higher rate, according to a new population-movement study by Ball State University. Hamilton County, the suburban neighbor to the north, continues to reap the benefits. "It is kind of surprising that the rankings are so consistent," said Dagney Faulk, the director of research, who co-authored the study. "Hamilton County has had the highest population growth for years, it’s always at the top. Marion County has the most moving in, but they also have the most moving out. It’s the classic story that’s been going on for decades all across America."

Another Bass Pro fan is Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State University. Hicks has written a research paper on Cabela's, a Bass Pro Shop rival with a similar rustic theme and entertainment offerings.

Walmart is such that they ought to easily accommodate any vet looking for work," said Mike Hicks, a Ball State University economist who has studied Walmart's retail impact. "They probably won't see a huge uptick in vet applications, but it is smart from both a public relations and human capital perspectives."

Environmentally, wind is also a comparatively clean alternative to generating electricity with fossil fuels, said Scott Rice-Snow, a geological sciences professor at Ball State. And that's true for much of the wind industry, said Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State. While it might still be viable to use existing turbines, "if the incentives went away, it might mean we see less new or future investment," he said.
Note: This story originated with the Anderson Herald-Bulletin and distributed by Associated Press. The Indianapolis Business Journal also posted it.

A new report from Ball State's Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) suggests going over the so-called "fiscal cliff" would result in Indiana residents paying more taxes and employers hiring fewer workers. The study also predicts unemployment would be more than a percentage point higher each year over the next five years.

Michael Hicks, director of Ball State University’s Bureau of Business Research, said the study’s estimates of indirect jobs and spending that airports induce appear reasonable. But he questioned whether many of the small airports around the state can claim to be responsible for the jobs and spending numbers tallied in the survey.

In September, a dozen of Clark Muntean's students began mentoring Jan Long, president of Mr. Canary, a Carmel, Ind.-based maker of bird feeders that are sold at Kmart, Walmart and Kroger (with annual revenue of about $500,000). Long and her sister, Christina Mowery, started Mr. Canary in 1995. They were fearless, she says, mostly because they were naive. "This is what happens with entrepreneurial people," Long says. "You just hurl yourself off a cliff and then you start thinking, Oh, my God. I don't know how to fly."