Publications

July 2020
Case

Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics

By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills

The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details

Educators

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Ashraf's research applies insights from psychology, sociology, and economics to understand and affect behavior in development. Her current research interests fall into three broad categories: technology adoption, motivation and incentive design, and... View Details

Keywords: Health; Microfinance; Agriculture; Women's Empowerment

2021
Article

To Thine Own Self Be True? Incentive Problems in Personalized Law

By: Jordan M. Barry, John William Hatfield and Scott Duke Kominers

Recent years have seen an explosion of scholarship on “personalized law.” Commentators foresee a world in which regulators armed with big data and machine learning techniques determine the optimal legal rule for every regulated party, then instantaneously disseminate... View Details

Keywords: Personalized Law; Regulation; Regulatory Avoidance; Regulatory Arbitrage; Law And Economics; Law And Technology; Law And Artificial Intelligence; Futurism; Moral Hazard; Elicitation; Signaling; Privacy; Law; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information Technology; AI and Machine Learning

SSRN

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

Publications August 2014 Journal of Economic Perspectives Seeking the Roots of Entrepreneurship: Insights from Behavioral Economics By: Åstebro, Thomas, Holger Herz, Ramana... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Choice, Rationality and Welfare Measurement

By: Jerry R. Green

For the past century, economists have used the hypothesis that individual choice is based on rationality in their calculations of individual and collective welfare. The central ideas are that actual market choice reveal underlying preferences, and with a good set of... View Details

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

also show that the internal control provisions of section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley make royalty arrangements based on self-reporting more attractive. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-100.pdf Toward a Theory of View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2014 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Discovery Limited

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer and Aldo Sesia

Discovery Ltd. is a South Africa-based insurance company. Started in the early 1990s, Discovery used behavioral economics and data collection to innovate in the health care insurance industry. Its founder Adrian Gore believed that the company's products needed to not... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Health Care; Financial Services; Strategy; Value Creation; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; South Africa

Educators

27 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Large-Scale Demand Estimation with Search Data

Keywords: by Tomomichi Amano, Andrew Rhodes, and Stephan Seiler; Retail

01 Apr 2024
In Practice

Navigating the Mood of Customers Weary of Price Hikes

increase has prompted a shift in purchasing habits, with consumers increasingly opting for store-brand items over name brands, favoring discount stores, and reducing purchases of non-essential items. Such behavior is a direct response to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Consumer Products

01 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Social Interactions in Pandemics: Fear, Altruism, and Reciprocity

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Nora Lamersdorf, and Farzad Saidi; Health

2010
Working Paper

Cognitive Barriers to Environmental Action: Problems and Solutions

By: Lisa L. Shu and Max Bazerman

We explore interventions at the individual level and focus on recognized cognitive barriers from behavioral decision-making literature. In particular, we highlight three cognitive barriers that impede sound individual decision making that have particular relevance to... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Consumer Behavior; Environmental Sustainability; Cognition and Thinking; Prejudice and Bias

Article

Backlash Against Male Elementary Educators

By: Corinne A. Moss-Racusin and Elizabeth R. Johnson

We investigated the existence, nature, and processes underscoring backlash (social and economic penalties) against men who violate gender stereotypes by working in education, and whether backlash is exacerbated by internal (vs. external) behavioral attributions.... View Details

Keywords: Backlash Theory; Gender Stereotypes; Teaching; Early Childhood Education; Gender

Find at Harvard

December 1983 (Revised March 1999)
Case

The United States Financial Crisis of 1931

The behavior of the Federal Reserve System during the early years of the Great Depression has been a topic of considerable controversy. The Fed, it has been argued, pursued a contracting policy, thereby helping to turn what might have been only a brief recession into... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Financial Crisis; United States

Educators

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Maritz Automotive

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Lamar Pierce

This case focuses on Charlotte Blank, the Chief Behavioral Officer at Maritz, as she tries to assist a major automotive manufacturer (CarCo) with increasing their sales by prepaying monthly bonuses to independently franchised car dealers and clawing them back if the... View Details

Keywords: Loss-framing; Sales; Performance Improvement; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Theory; Auto Industry

Article

Measuring the Effectiveness of Competition in Defense Procurement: A Survey of the Empirical Literature

By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao

This article surveys the literature that has attempted to measure competition's effects on defense procurement. The focus is on conceptual underpinnings of models rather than technical aspects of estimation procedures. While providing valuable insight, the models are... View Details

Keywords: Performance Effectiveness; Competition; Surveys; Value; Economics; Forecasting and Prediction; Programs; Power and Influence; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

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28 May 2024
In Practice

Job Search Advice for a Tough Market: Think Broadly and Stay Flexible

ground running. Letian (LT) Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at HBS. You Might Also Like: The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding Checking Your Ethics:... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

24 Mar 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Fiduciary Duties and Equity-Debtholder Conflicts

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Per Stromberg

2013
Book

Judgment in Managerial Decision Making

By: Max Bazerman and Don A. Moore

Is your judgment influenced by personal biases? In situations requiring careful judgment, we're all influenced by our own biases to some extent. But, with Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, you can learn how to overcome those biases to make better... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Prejudice and Bias

Find at Harvard