Publications

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February 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

Amazon's HQ2 (A)

By: Karen Mills and Jan W. Rivkin

In September 2017, the Internet giant Amazon announced that it aimed to open a second headquarters in some city other than Seattle, its current home base. By 2032, the company projected, this “HQ2” would be home to as many as 50,000 high-paying tech jobs and up to $5... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Headquarters; Local Government; Incentives; Business Headquarters; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics

Research Summary

Business and Low Income Sectors: The Creation of Economic and Social Value

In the last three decades, innovative commercial solutions have emerged in developing nations focusing on providing effective responses to the hugely underserved needs of low-income populations, both as consumers as well as active participants in productive value... View Details

Research Summary

Report - Telegraphs, Shrinking Economic Distances? A preliminary enquiry (1870s-1912)

<< forthcoming on Business Archives: Sources & History >>
This is a very preliminary report on sources and data for my research on telegraphs. Telegraphs are usually analysed in the context of railway expansion and the literature... View Details

Teaching Interest

Managing Global Health: Applying Behavioral Economics to Create Impact (MBA)

Health, and development more broadly, is not something we give to people: it is something they produce themselves, interacting with supply-side and institutional factors. This course trains students to see through the lens of the end-user and to use the levers of... View Details

May 2019
Supplement

Amazon's HQ2 (C): Choices

By: Karen Mills and Jan W. Rivkin

This supplement discusses Amazon’s 2018 decision to split its HQ2 between two locations--Long Island City in New York and National Landing outside Washington, DC—as well as the ensuing response from local politicians and the public. View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Headquarters; Local Government; Incentives; Business Headquarters; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics

September 2007
Article

Related Lending and Economic Performance: Evidence from Mexico

By: Noel Maurer and Stephen Haber

Related lending, a widespread practice in LDCs, is widely held to encourage bankers to loot their banks at the expense of minority shareholders and depositors. We argue that neither looting nor credit misallocation are necessary outcomes of related lending. On... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; History; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Mexico

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Research Summary

Overview

My research aims to understand how prosperity is created in poor countries. My first “chapter” in this larger quest has focused on how rich-country actors have managed to be a force for change in poor-country economies. I have investigated the various attempts of... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Aid; Africa; Private Sector Development; Economic Development; Political Economy; Fragile States; Governance; Private Sector; Emerging Markets; Development Economics; Non-Governmental Organizations; Natural Disasters; Africa; Liberia

April 2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Junko Yoda and Her Collaboration to Address Sex Trafficking in Asia

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Tessa Natanay Hamilton

Following a successful career as the first female Vice President of Goldman Sachs in Asia, Junko Yoda became a 2010 Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. During her fellowship, she set out to promote awareness, and prevent and alleviate the effects of human... View Details

Keywords: Crime; Business And Community; Community Impact; Communities; Economic Development; Innovation; Leadership; Change Management; Crime and Corruption; Social Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Gender; Asia

Often considered one of the major forces behind economic growth and development, the entrepreneurial firm can accelerate the speed of innovation and dissemination of new technologies, thus increasing a country's competitive edge in the... View Details

December 1985
Case

Best--The Role of PVOs in Developing Agribusiness

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Michael Joseph Kennedy

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

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October 2001 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project (A), The

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman

On June 6, 2000, the World Bank's and IFC's board of directors was scheduled to vote on whether to approve funding for the $4 billion Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline project. Although the project presented a unique opportunity to alleviate poverty in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Negotiation; Ethics; Social Issues; Economic Sectors; Investment; Cost vs Benefits; Project Finance; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Finance; Mining Industry; Chad; Cameroon

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

King Abdullah Economic City in 2009: Population Drivers and Cash Flow

By: John D. Macomber

CEO of high profile new economic city in Saudi Arabia must decide how to allocate limited investment funds across projects under duress. Issues include understanding core economic drivers, planning infrastructure investment and return, attracting multinationals, energy... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Saudi Arabia

2010
Working Paper

The Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services: An Economic Analysis

By: Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis and Alvin J. Silk

We address a longstanding puzzle surrounding the unbundling of services occurring over several decades in the U.S. advertising agency industry: What accounts for the shift from bundling to unbundling of services and the slow pace of change? Using Evans and Salinger's... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Change; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Price; Analytics and Data Science; Surveys; Marketing Strategy; Media; Service Operations; Agency Theory; Mathematical Methods; Advertising Industry; United States

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March 2019
Article

Economics of Converting Renewable Power to Hydrogen

By: Gunther Glenk and Stefan Reichelstein

The recent sharp decline in the cost of renewable energy suggests that the production of hydrogen from renewable power through a power-to-gas process might become more economical. Here we examine this alternative from the perspective of an investor who considers a... View Details

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2007
Working Paper

Irving Fisher, Economic Forecasting, and the Myth of the Business Cycle

By: Walter A. Friedman

A premier economist of the twentieth century and a founder of neoclassical thought, Irving Fisher was also an active participant in the field of economic forecasting. Fisher made theoretical contributions to the understanding of economic fluctuations, popularized the... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Economics; Business Cycles; Business History; Newspapers; Personal Development and Career

January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

By: Anita Elberse and Melissa Rodman

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) develops and presents scripted hero-versus-villain storylines featuring its wrestlers at hundreds of live events—on several weekly television shows, on its own over-the-top streaming service, and on social media—to millions of... View Details

Keywords: Superstars; Talent; Talent Development; Labor Economics; General Management; Entertainment; Sports; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Contracts; Marketing; Strategy

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

GTC Biotherapeutics: Developing Medicines in the Milk of Goats

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Sarah Morton

GTC is the first company in the animal world to receive FDA approval of a transgenic pharmaceutical. What are the implications for other firms in plants and animals and their opportunities to produce new medicines in an economical and safe fashion? View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Science-Based Business; Medical Specialties; Product; Technological Innovation; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States