behavioral economics - Publications - Faculty & Research

2011
Working Paper

Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals

We describe the evolution of selective aspects of punishment in the U.S. over the period 1980-2004. We note that imprisonment increased around 1980, a period that coincides with the "Reagan revolution" in economic matters. We build an economic model where beliefs about... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economy; Moral Sensibility; Mathematical Methods; Opportunities; Behavior; United States

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Crystal Guo is a doctoral student in the Health Policy Management PhD program at Harvard. Prior to pursuing her PhD, Crystal received her B.A. in English and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2019 and completed her Health Policy and Management,... View Details

Keywords: health care

06 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 6

Publications August 2013 Cambridge University Press Democracy and Its Elected Enemies: American Political Capture and Economic Decline By: Rosefielde, Steven, and Daniel Quinn Mills Abstract—Democracy and Its Elected Enemies reveals... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Propel

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

In 2014, Jimmy Chen, a former product manager at Facebook, founded the start-up Propel to build software for low-income Americans. After conducting in-depth behavioral research, Chen and his small team in New York City began to develop technology to address the... View Details

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July 2016
Article

Do Prices Determine Vertical Integration?

By: Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger and Andrew F. Newman

What is the relationship between product prices and vertical integration? While the literature has focused on how integration affects prices, this paper provides evidence that prices can affect integration. Many theories in organizational economics and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Price; Vertical Integration; Product

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10 Apr 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Where Does it Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained

Keywords: by Shawn A. Cole, John Thompson & Peter Tufano; Financial Services

2014
Working Paper

Cleaning House: The Impact of Information Technology on Employee Corruption and Performance

By: Lamar Pierce, Daniel Snow and Andrew McAfee

This paper examines how firm investments in technology-based employee monitoring impact both misconduct and productivity. We use unique and detailed theft and sales data from 392 restaurant locations from five firms that adopt a theft monitoring information technology... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Information Technology; Ethics; Performance Productivity; Employees

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Rebecca Henderson Videos

By: Rebecca M. Henderson

"Reimagining Capitalism" USM Foundation 2018

"Rebecca Henderson: Professor, Harvard University" The Innovation Centre 2017

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2021
Working Paper

Does Observability Amplify Sensitivity to Moral Frames? Evaluating a Reputation-Based Account of Moral Preferences

By: Valerio Capraro, Jillian J. Jordan and Ben Tappin

A growing body of work suggests that people are sensitive to moral framing in economic games involving prosociality, suggesting that people hold moral preferences for doing the “right thing”. What gives rise to these preferences? Here, we evaluate the explanatory power... View Details

Keywords: Moral Preferences; Moral Frames; Observability; Trustworthiness; Trust Game; Trade-off Game; Moral Sensibility; Reputation; Behavior; Trust

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03 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa

members—Deepak Malhotra, an authority on negotiation strategy; Noel Maurer, an expert on the politics and economics of the energy business; and Magnus Thor Torfason, an authority on how behavior is... View Details

Keywords: Re: Deepak Malhotra; Energy; Utilities

April 2009
Article

How to Market in a Downturn

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine Jocz

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Because no two recessions are exactly alike, marketers find themselves in poorly... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Spending; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Segmentation

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21 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 21

Publications August 2013 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Awards Unbundled: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment By: Ashraf, Nava, Oriana Bandiera, and Scott Lee Abstract—Organizations... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Faculty & Research

offering product features and benefits that tech giants and other competitors cannot match in the digital/AI age. American Economic Review 114, no. 9 (September 2024): 2792-2824 Investing in the Next Generation: The Long-Run Impacts of a... View Details

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

regulation. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55884 April 2019 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Incentives for Public Goods Inside Organizations: Field... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Web

Apply - Doctoral

Requirements We recommend that you read this brief overview of the application process, including required documents, transcripts, test scores, and application fees as you begin to think about your application for Fall 2025. PHD in Business View Details

03 Oct 2007
Working Paper Summaries

The Causes and Consequences of Industry Self-Policing

Keywords: by Jodi L. Short & Michael W. Toffel

Research Summary

Financial reporting quality and its consequences

Does reporting quality have real economic consequences? Professor Yu addresses this question in her research, which examines the channels through which reporting quality affects the behavior of economic agents, namely managers and investors. Her particular focus is... View Details

May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India

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29 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 29, 2018

more sensitive to losses than gains in terms of economic growth? We find that measures of subjective well-being are more than twice as sensitive to negative as compared to positive economic growth. We use... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2008 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Two Brattle Center: A Mental-Health Clinic in Search of a Viable Operating Model

By: Robert G. Eccles

Two Brattle Center (TBC) is a struggling for-profit private mental health clinic based in Harvard Square. Its founder, Dr. Joan Wheelis, is a nationally recognized practicing psychiatrist who has developed outpatient treatment programs based on Dialectical Behavior... View Details