Publications

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Background Note

How Government Shaped the American Diet

By: David E. Bell, Stacey J. Bell and George L. Blackburn

American eating habits have changed over time. Reviews those changes, the role of government policy in affecting those changes, and the health consequences of obesity. View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Business and Government Relations; United States

February 1994 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Competitive Information Policy at Pratt & Whitney

By: Lynn S. Paine

Officials at United Technologies Corp. (UTC) must decide on an ethics policy to govern competitive intelligence gathering. The flow of competitor information into the Pratt & Whitney division has declined sharply since adoption of UTC's code of ethics. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Corporate Governance; Ethics; Competition; Information Management; Business or Company Management; Law

Research Summary

Public Policy and Markets

By: Willis M. Emmons

William (Willis) M. Emmons III is investigating the interaction of public policy, markets, business strategy, and performance at the levels of firm, industry, and society. Emmons' approach draws heavily on economic theories of industrial organization, market failure,... View Details

16 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Government Incentives for Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Josh Lerner

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

The Three Components of Family Governance

strengthening business-family communication and bond. A family constitution—the family's policies and guiding vision and values that regulate members' relationship with the business. This written document can be short or long, detailed or... View Details

2012
Article

The Excess Burden of Government Indecision

By: Francisco J. Gomes, Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Luis M. Viceira

Governments are known for procrastinating when it comes to resolving painful policy problems. Whatever the political motives for waiting to decide, procrastination distorts economic decisions relative to what would arise with early policy resolution. In so doing, it... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retirement; Policy; Government and Politics

March 1981 (Revised February 1983)
Background Note

Note on Home Government Policies toward External Credit by Banks from France, Germany, and Japan

May 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Debt Policy at UST Inc.

UST, Inc. is a very profitable smokeless tobacco firm with low debt compared to other firms in the tobacco industry. The setting for the case is UST's recent decision to substantially alter its debt policy by borrowing $1 billion to finance its stock repurchase... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

2010
Working Paper

Trade Policy and Firm Boundaries

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

We study how trade policy affects firms' ownership structures. We embed an incomplete contracts model of vertical integration choices into a standard perfectly-competitive international trade framework. Integration decisions are driven by a trade-off between the... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Policy; Vertical Integration; Business and Government Relations; Boundaries; Ownership; Mathematical Methods

10 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Governance and Internal Capital Markets

Keywords: by Zacharias Sautner & Belén Villalonga

Article

Tariff Passthrough at the Border and at the Store: Evidence from U.S. Trade Policy

By: Alberto Cavallo, Gita Gopinath, Brent Neiman and Jenny Tang

We use micro data collected at the border and the store to characterize the price impact of recent US trade policy on importers, exporters, and consumers. At the border, import tariff passthrough is much higher than exchange rate passthrough. Chinese exporters did not... View Details

Keywords: Trade Policy; Tariffs; Exchange Rate Passthrough; Economics; Trade; Policy; Currency Exchange Rate; Price; United States

February 2023
Article

National Models of Climate Governance Among Major Emitters

By: Johnathan Guy, Esther Shears and Jonas Meckling

National climate institutions structure the process of climate mitigation policymaking and shape climate policy ambition and performance. Countries have, for example, been building science bodies, passing climate laws and creating new agencies. Here we provide the... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Regulation; Policy; Analytics and Data Science; Climate Change

January 1985 (Revised December 1985)
Case

Olivetti: Purchasing Policy

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Keywords: Logistics; Policy; Information Technology Industry

27 Apr 2006
Keynote Speech

Global Standards of Corporate Conduct: What are the Prospects?" Speaker. "Regulatory Policy Program: Business and Government Seminar Series

By: Lynn Paine

Keywords: Standards; Global Range

Research Summary

Risk Management as a Function of Government

By: David A. Moss

Professor Moss's academic work in this area explores how and why governments manage private-sector risks. Based on historical and institutional research, he argues that risk management constitutes a critical function of government with far-reaching implications. ... View Details

Teaching Interest

Economic Analysis of Public Policy

Teaching Fellow, Spring 2015
Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government View Details

Keywords: Policy

2022
Chapter

Immigration Policy Levers for U.S. Innovation and Startups

By: William R. Kerr and Sari Pekkala Kerr

Immigrants account for about a quarter of US invention and entrepreneurship despite a policy environment that is not well suited for these purposes. This chapter reviews the U.S. immigration policy environment that governs how skilled migrants move to America for... View Details

Keywords: High-tech; H1-B; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Venture Capital

January 2012 (Revised April 2015)
Case

India 2014: The Challenges of Governance

By: Lakshmi Iyer and Richard H. K. Vietor

In January 2012, the government of India faced significant challenges to achieving three key objectives of high growth, inclusive development, and improved governance. The economy was experiencing a growth slowdown, persistently high inflation, and infrastructure and... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Government and Politics; Problems and Challenges; Economic Growth; India

November 2021
Article

Making Industrial Policy Work for Decarbonization

By: Jonas Meckling

Industrial policy has begun to move into the center of debates on climate policy. This represents a shift away from climate policy as we know it—as classic environmental policy. Industrial policy and environmental policy differ in their policy goals, policy... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Regulation; Policy; Government and Politics; Climate Change