Publications

June 2024
Article

Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance

By: Wilbur Chen and Suraj Srinivasan

We examine firm value and performance implications of the growing trend of non-technology companies engaging in digital transformation. We measure digital activities in firms based on the disclosure of digital words in the business description section of 10-Ks. Digital... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technologies; Valuation; Return Predictability; Financial Statement Analysis; Performance; Value; Information Technology

2024
Working Paper

Health, Human Capital Development and the Longevity of Japanese Elites Since 710

By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu

We examine the lifespan of over 40,000 elites in Japan born between 710 and 1912, including samurai warriors, feudal lords, business, political, cultural, and religious leaders at the apex of the social hierarchy. Japanese elites experienced increases in lifespan about... View Details

Keywords: Life Expectancy; Status and Position; Health; History; Human Capital; Japan

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (A)

By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory

Early on the morning of April 27, 2020, Justin Oppenheimer stood outside the entrance to the lobby of the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Pavilion Building with mixed emotions. On one hand, Oppenheimer, HSS’ Enterprise Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy... View Details

Keywords: Operations Management; Scheduling; Optimization; COVID-19; Health Care and Treatment; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Disruption; Health Industry; United States

Educators

June 2024
Article

Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets

By: Alberto Cavallo

The Covid-19 pandemic led to changes in expenditure patterns that introduced significant bias in the measurement of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation. Using publicly-available data on card transactions, I updated the official CPI weights and re-calculated inflation... View Details

Keywords: COVID; Consumer Expenditures; CPI; Inflation; Consumer Behavior; Inflation and Deflation; Health Pandemics

June 2024
Article

Information Spillovers in Experience Goods Competition

By: Zhuoqiong Charlie Chen, Christopher Stanton and Catherine Thomas

When experience goods compete, consuming one product can be informative about value for similar untried products. We study a two-period model of duopoly competition in markets that have this feature and where firms can price discriminate between consumers based on... View Details

Keywords: Experience Goods; Competition; Information; Demand and Consumers; Profit; Price

June 2024
Article

Non-Financial Violations

By: Jonas Heese

June 2024
Article

Oral History and Business History in Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article describes the motivation, structure and use of the Creating Emerging Markets (CEM) oral history-based project at the Harvard Business School. The project consists of lengthy interviews with business leaders from emerging markets. By June 2024 183... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Economies; Oral History; Emerging Markets; Business History; Research

2024
Working Paper

Personalization and Targeting: How to Experiment, Learn & Optimize

By: Aurelie Lemmens, Jason M.T. Roos, Sebastian Gabel, Eva Ascarza, Hernan Bruno, Elea McDonnell Feit, Brett Gordon, Ayelet Israeli, Carl F. Mela and Oded Netzer

Personalization has become the heartbeat of modern marketing. Advances in causal inference and machine learning enable companies to understand how the same marketing action can impact the choices of individual customers differently. This article provides an academic... View Details

Keywords: Personalization; Targeting; Experiments; Observational Studies; Policy Implementation; Policy Evaluation; Customization and Personalization; Marketing Strategy; AI and Machine Learning

SSRN

2022
Working Paper

Pricing of Climate Risk Insurance: Regulation and Cross-Subsidies

By: Ishita Sen, Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva and Sangmin Oh

We study the consequences of state-level price (rate) regulation for U.S. homeowners' insurance, a $15 trillion market that provides households protection against climate losses. Using two distinct identification strategies and novel data on regulatory filings and ZIP... View Details

Keywords: Climate Risk; Homeowners' Insurance; Price Controls; Financial Regulation; Cross-subsidization; Climate Change; Household; Insurance; Price; Governance Controls; Financial Institutions; United States

SSRN

June 2024
Article

Rationalizing Outcomes: Interdependent Learning in Competitive Markets

By: Anoop R. Menon and Dennis Yao

In this article we use simulation models to explore interdependent learning in competitive markets. Such interactions require attention to both the mental representations held by the management of the focal firm as well as the beliefs of that management about the... View Details

Keywords: Mental Models; Strategic Interactions; Rationalization; Explanation-based View; Competition

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June 2024
Article

Real Growth in Space Manufacturing Output Substantially Exceeds Growth in the Overall Space Economy

By: Tina Highfill and Matthew Weinzierl

Accurately measuring real economic output in the space economy is made difficult by the rapid increase in capabilities and decrease in prices of launch and satellite technologies achieved over the past two decades. Nominal measures of output in space will tend to... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Economic Growth; Price; Production; Aerospace Industry

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June 2024
Article

Redistributive Allocation Mechanisms

By: Mohammad Akbarpour, Piotr Dworczak and Scott Duke Kominers

Many scarce public resources are allocated at below-market-clearing prices, and sometimes for free. Such "non-market" mechanisms sacrifice some surplus, yet they can potentially improve equity. We develop a model of mechanism design with redistributive concerns. Agents... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Welfare; Mathematical Methods; Market Design; Cost vs Benefits

SSRN

June 2024
Teaching Note

Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress

By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 423-001. View Details

June 2024
Supplement

Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress (B)

By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman

June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Sequoia Capital

By: Jo Tango, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu and Johnson Elugbadebo

Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, quickly grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. Fueled by a strong culture, Sequoia's investment track record included the names of some of the largest global successes.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry

Educators

June 2024
Article

Stereotypes and Belief Updating

By: Katherine B. Coffman, Manuela Collis and Leena Kulkarni

We explore how feedback shapes, and perpetuates, gender gaps in self-assessments. Participants in our experiment take tests of their ability across different domains. We elicit their beliefs of their performance before and after feedback. We find that, even after the... View Details

Keywords: Beliefs; Stereotypes; Self-assessment; Performance Evaluation; Gender; Cognition and Thinking; Perception; Knowledge Sharing

Summer 2024
Article

The Business Revolution: Economy-Wide Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Platforms

By: Hanna Halaburda, Jeffrey Prince, D. Daniel Sokol and Feng Zhu

In this essay, we identify several themes of the digital business transformation, with a particular focus on the economy-wide impacts of artificial intelligence and digital platforms. In doing so, we highlight specific industries, beyond just the high-profile “Big... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Platforms; AI and Machine Learning

June 2024
Article

The Diversity Heuristic: How Team Demographic Composition Influences Judgments of Team Creativity

By: Devon Proudfoot, Zachariah Berry, Edward H. Chang and Min B. Kay

Despite mixed evidence for the relationship between demographic diversity and creativity, we propose that observers hold a lay belief that demographic diversity increases creativity and apply this lay belief in judgments about teams and their creative work. Across... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Race; Gender; Groups and Teams; Perception; Creativity

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