Economic Behavior - Publications - Faculty & Research

Research Summary

Financing New Business Formation

New business creation has become a potent force for economicdevelopment in the United States. Prior to 1980, large firms created the majority of new jobs in the American economy. While considerable debate rages over whether small firms are the source of recent job... View Details

15 Mar 2024
HBS Case

Let's Talk: Why It's Time to Stop Avoiding Taboo Topics at Work

touch global business, but many believe it’s still taboo to talk about politics at work, Wing says. Economic issues that intertwine with politics, like monetary policy and trade restrictions, feel off limits as well, even though... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

August 2020
Article

Trust in State and Non-State Actors: Evidence from Dispute Resolution in Pakistan

By: Daron Acemoglu, Ali Cheema, Asim I. Khwaja and James A. Robinson

Lack of trust in state institutions is a pervasive problem in many developing countries. This paper investigates whether information about improved public services can help build trust in state institutions and move people away from non-state actors. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Dispute Resolution; Lab-in-the-field Games; Legitimacy; Motivated Reasoning; Non-state Actors; State Capacity; Trust; Conflict and Resolution; Information; Developing Countries and Economies

2010
Working Paper

Lawful but Corrupt: Gaming and the Problem of Institutional Corruption in the Private Sector

By: Malcolm S. Salter

This paper describes how the gaming of society's rules by corporations contributes to the problem of institutional corruption in the world of business. "Gaming" in its various forms involves the use of technically legal means to subvert the intent of society's rules in... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Civil Society or Community; Competitive Advantage; Earnings Management; Trust; Law; Performance; Investment Funds; Private Sector; Behavior; Relationships; Goals and Objectives

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31 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

How Ben Franklin’s ‘Way to Wealth’ Introduced American Capitalism to the World

states have implemented different ideas and pursued different strategies in order to gain a competitive edge,” says Reinert. “Franklin could write for the elites—he did so often. But he chose this specific set of guidelines for virtuous View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

03 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 3, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=607008 PublicationsUnraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-Season College Football Bowls Authors:Guillaume R. Frechette, Alvin E. Roth, and M. Utku Unver Periodical:The RAND Journal of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

that major participants in the global economy operate by. The three most powerful economic actors in the world—the United States, China, and Europe—are growing further apart in their economic strategies, and... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

20 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 20, 2007

conglomerate Tata & Sons, played a significant role in building India's economic infrastructure. Under his guidance, Tata & Sons built locomotives, steel refineries, airlines, chemical plants, and technology-based enterprises.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Teaching Interest

Overview

Ryann has extensive teaching experience in varied instructional settings. She was appointed the Qualitative Advisor for the Harvard University Sociology Department senior thesis writers in 2015-2016, and supervised two senior thesis writers in prior years. She served... View Details

23 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

After High-Profile Failures, Can Investors Still Trust Credit Ratings?

important lesson: getting it wrong can seriously damage their reputations and hurt their businesses. As economic fears mount and raise default concerns, a fresh analysis of new-and-improved credit rating agencies sounds a hopeful note... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

January 2011 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Uptake of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests

By: Nava Ashraf, Natalie Kindred and Richard Sedlmayr

This case describes barriers to adoption of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Zambia and highlights the importance of understanding end users in promoting product adoption. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are simple, easy-to-use tools that provide a relatively reliable,... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Health Pandemics; Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Behavior; Prejudice and Bias; Health Industry; Zambia

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10 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Too Nice to Lead? Unpacking the Gender Stereotype That Holds Women Back

series of experiments led by Harvard Business School Associate Professor Christine Exley show that people generally view women as more generous and equality-minded than men—but actually, men and women have similar behaviors and beliefs... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta

15 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Reaching for Yield in the Bond Market

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Victoria Ivashina

11 Jun 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two-Level Game

Keywords: by Hannah Riley Bowles & Kathleen L. McGinn

15 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 15, 2008

neo-classical economics view that behavior is driven by—and reflective of—hedonic utility is challenged by psychologists' demonstrations of cases in which actions do not merely reveal preferences but rather... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Do Outlet Stores Exist?

having these stores and just having a sales rack in the back?" As a doctoral student in economics at Columbia, Ngwe was fascinated by the incredible range of products that retailers offer to consumers, and wondered just how this... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Retail

16 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases

trip by, for example, vacationing closer to home; drive more economically and less aggressively to improve miles per gallon; and buy a specific dollar amount of gas rather than filling up every time, even though this may mean more visits... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

January 2017
Article

Impact Evaluation Methods in Public Economics: A Brief Introduction to Randomized Evaluations and Comparison with Other Methods

By: Dina Pomeranz

Recent years have seen a large expansion in the use of rigorous impact evaluation techniques. Increasingly, public administrations are collaborating with academic economists and other quantitative social scientists to apply such rigorous methods to the study of public... View Details

Keywords: Practice; Public Sector; Research; Policy; Performance Evaluation

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March 2007
Article

Local Company Politics: A Proposal

By: Raymond Fisman and Eric D. Werker

Corrupt politicians, and poor government more generally, are commonly viewed as a primary barrier to economic progress. The roots to these problems run deep in many political systems across the developing world, and attempts at reform have rarely found much success.... View Details

Keywords: Behavior

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