Publications

November 2013
Article

Simplification and Saving

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

The daunting complexity of important financial decisions can lead to procrastination. We evaluate a low-cost intervention that substantially simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement... View Details

Keywords: Retirement Savings; Simplification; Procrastination; Behavioral Economics; Saving; Motivation and Incentives; Retirement

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

raise funds from outside investors. The relationship appears not to be causal but instead driven by selection effects across heterogeneous teams with varying degrees of inequality aversion. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

status-quo-preserving story that prevails despite countervailing evidence. We then advance systems-psychodynamic theory to show how organizations use this narrative and attendant policies and practices as an unconscious “social defense” to help employees fend off... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

February 2020
Supplement

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing so, the company developed direct... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Climate Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

Purchase

Research Summary

Great Negotiator Study Initiative

By: James K. Sebenius

What can be legitimately be learned from closely studying great negotiators at work? Since 2000, the Program on Negotiation (PON)—an active inter-university consortium mainly comprised of numerous faculty from across... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Smaller than We Thought? The Effect of Automatic Savings Policies

By: James J. Choi, David Laibson, Jordan Cammarota, Richard Lombardo and John Beshears

Medium- and long-run dynamics undermine the effect of automatic enrollment and default savings-rate auto-escalation on retirement savings. Our analysis of nine 401(k) plans incorporates the facts that employees frequently leave firms (often before matching... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Saving; Retirement; Behavioral Finance; Compensation and Benefits

18 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 18

these two relationships may operate in a circular fashion. Second, we consider whether advertising these benefits of charitable giving—asking people to give in order to be happy—may have the perverse consequence of decreasing charitable giving, crowding out intrinsic... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2014
Working Paper

Stepping Stone, Stopping Point, or Slippery Slope? Negotiating the Next Iran Deal

By: James K. Sebenius

The November 2013 "interim" nuclear deal between Iran and the "P5+1"—the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany—raises challenging questions. Will the initial deal function as a stepping stone toward a more comprehensive deal? Or will it drift into... View Details

Keywords: Negotiations; Iran; Nuclear; Conflict Resolution; Winning Coalition; Blocking Coalition; Strategy; Negotiation; International Relations; France; Germany; Iran; China; Great Britain; United States; Russia

SSRN

February 2009
Journal Article

Domestic Effects of the Foreign Activities of U.S. Multinationals

By: Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley and James R. Hines Jr.

Do firms investing abroad simultaneously reduce their domestic activity? This paper analyzes the relationship between the domestic and foreign operations of American manufacturing firms between 1982 and 2004 by instrumenting for changes in foreign operations with GDP... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Global Range; Local Range; Multinational Firms and Management; Compensation and Benefits; Operations; Manufacturing Industry; United States

SSRN

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

Working PapersWellsprings of Creation: How Perturbation Sustains Exploration in Mature Organizations (revised) Authors:David James Brunner, Bradley R. Staats, Michael L. Tushman, and David M. Upton Abstract Organizations struggle to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 31, 2018

Finance By: Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian Abstract—This chapter provides an overview of household finance. The first part summarizes key facts regarding household financial behavior, emphasizing... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2014
Article

Notes from the Search for Deep Indicators in Services

By: James L. Heskett

Much of the research in the service sector over the last four decades has concerned itself with the search for deep indicators that explain service performance. This paper provides a brief retrospective of some of this research and illustrates the directions that this... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Performance; Service Industry

Purchase

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

Working PapersCan Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia Authors:Nava Ashraf, James Berry, and Jesse M. Shapiro Abstract The pricing of health products in the developing world has become a center... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Beyond Emotional Similarity: The Role of Situation-specific Motives

By: Amit Goldenberg, David Garcia, Eran Halperin, Jamil Zaki, Danyang Kong, Golijeh Golarai and James J. Gross

It is well established that people often express emotions that are similar to those of other group members. However, people do not always express emotions that are similar to other group members, and the factors that determine when similarity occurs are not yet clear.... View Details

Keywords: Emotion Contagion; Emotional Influence; Motivation; Group Dynamics; Emotions; Situation or Environment; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior

August 2020
Article

Contextual Determinants of Parental Reflective Functioning: Children with Autism versus Their Typically Developing Siblings

By: Yael Enav, Dana Erhard-Weiss, Amit Goldenberg, Marguerite Knudston, Antonio Y. Hardan and James J. Gross

In this study, we examined parental reflective functioning using the Parental Developmental Interview when parents were talking about their interactions with their child with autism versus the child’s typically developing siblings. Our sample included 30 parents who... View Details

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders; Family Functioning And Support; Parents; Reflective Functioning; Siblings; Health Disorders; Family and Family Relationships

01 Dec 2000
News

A Latin American Vision: New HBS Research Center Opens

the LARC, noted that the center is striving to "combine strengths" among different institutions throughout the region and at HBS. Part of its mission, he explained, will be to assist HBS faculty members by generating case leads and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

2021
Working Paper

Pandemic Schooling Mode and Student Test Scores: Evidence from U.S. States

By: Clare Halloran, Rebecca Jack, James C. Okun and Emily Oster

We estimate the impact of district-level schooling mode (in-person versus hybrid or distance learning) on test scores. We combine Spring 2021 state standardized test score data with comprehensive data on schooling in the 2020-21 school year across 12 states. We find... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; In-person Schooling; Distance Learning; Outcomes Measurement; Health Pandemics; Education; Performance Evaluation

June 2016
Article

Vaccination Rates Are Associated with Functional Proximity but Not Base Proximity of Vaccination Clinics

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Gwendolyn I. Reynolds

Background: Routine annual influenza vaccinations are recommended for persons 6 months of age and older, but less than half of U.S. adults get vaccinated. Many employers offer employees free influenza vaccinations at workplace clinics, but even then take-up is... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Employees; Health Care and Treatment

2024
Case

Christiana Figueres and the Paris Climate Negotiations (A)

By: James K. Sebenius, Laurence A. Green, Hannah Riley-Bowles, Lara SanPietro and Mina Subramanian

This three-part, stop action case study, structured for classroom discussion, centers on Harvard’s Program on Negotiation 2022 Great Negotiator, Christiana Figueres, and her efforts as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Negotiation; Environmental Regulation; International Relations; Leadership