Publications

January 2010
Journal Article

A Choice Prediction Competition: Choices from Experience and from Description

By: Ido Erev, Eyal Ert, Alvin E. Roth, Ernan E. Haruvy, Stefan Herzog, Robin Hau, Ralph Hertwig, Terrence Steward, Robert West and Christian Lebiere

Erev, Ert, and Roth organized three choice prediction competitions focused on three related choice tasks: one-shot decisions from description (decisions under risk), one-shot decisions from experience, and repeated decisions from experience. Each competition was based... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Mathematical Methods; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?

from one of Smith's earlier works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, that caught the attention of Harvard Business School professor Nava Ashraf and coauthors Colin Camerer and George Loewenstein. In "Adam Smith, Behavioral... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

February 2021
Background Note

Jobs to Be Done: A Toolbox

By: Derek C. M. van Bever, Bob Moesta, Iuliana Mogosanu, Shaye Roseman and Katie Zandbergen

The Jobs to Be Done methodology is both a theory and a practical approach for understanding customer behavior and why people make the choices they make. Many practitioners, whether they work for startups or incumbent businesses, find Jobs to Be Done useful because it... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Knowledge Acquisition; Attitudes; Perception; Theory; Behavior; Customer Relationship Management

Educators

March 2005 (Revised April 2005)
Module Note

A Relational Approach to Self-Assessment and Career Development

By: Monica C. Higgins

Describes the main ideas in a module on relational self-assessment as part of a course on self-assessment and career development or as part of a course on leadership and organizational behavior for MBA students or executives. Reflects a "relational" approach to career... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Relationships; Leadership; Organizations; Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks

August 2009
Article

Mental Accounting and Small Windfalls: Evidence from an Online Grocer

By: John Beshears and Katherine L. Milkman

We study the effect of small windfalls on consumer spending decisions by comparing the purchases online grocery customers make when redeeming $10-off coupons with the purchases they make without coupons. Controlling for customer fixed effects and other variables, we... View Details

Keywords: Mental Accounting; Windfalls; Marginal Propensity To Consume; Coupons; Marketing Communications; Consumer Behavior; Accounting; Cognition and Thinking; Retail Industry

Research Summary

Consumer Behavior and Health

Professor Riis studies consumer behavior and health using the methods and theories of experimental psychology and behavioral economics. Particular problems that he is currently investigating include:

• Information use and decision making in food service... View Details

04 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

The Business of Life

unusual application of an economic term delighted Christensen, a management professor known around HBS and the globe as both a brilliant business thinker and a deeply religious man. For more than a decade he has been a go-to consultant for several big organizations—his... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2010
Article

I'll Have the Ice Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later: A Study of Online Grocery Purchases and Order Lead Time

By: Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers and Max Bazerman

How do decisions made for tomorrow or two days in the future differ from decisions made for several days in the future? We use data from an online grocer to address this question. In general, we find that as the delay between order completion and delivery increases,... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Service Delivery; Internet and the Web; Decisions; Customers; Retail Industry

Tomomichi Amano is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing Unit at HBS. He teaches the Marketing course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Amano draws on economic theories to understand novel mechanisms by which new... View Details

May 2010
Article

Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms to Decentralize?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

There is a widespread sense that over the last two decades firms have been decentralizing decisions to employees further down the managerial hierarchy. Economists have developed a range of theories to account for delegation, but there is less empirical evidence,... View Details

Keywords: Product; Markets; Competition; Business Ventures; Geographic Location; Employees; Research; Programs; Decisions

11 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

left to round out the team. Then again, there's no point in holding lots of cash with no one worthwhile to spend it on. Conventional negotiation theory doesn't say much about how to craft and execute strategy in such dynamic markets.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler; Sports

2007
Working Paper

I'll Have the Ice Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later: A Study of Online Grocery Purchases and Order Lead Time

By: Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers and Max H. Bazerman

How do decisions made for tomorrow or two days in the future differ from decisions made for several days in the future? We use data from an online grocer to address this question. In general, we find that as the delay between order completion and delivery increases,... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Food; Decision Choices and Conditions; Conflict and Resolution; Emotions; Cognition and Thinking; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2013
Article

The Cheater's High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior

By: N. E. Ruedy, C. Moore, F. Gino and M. Schweitzer

Many theories of moral behavior assume that unethical behavior triggers negative affect. In this paper, we challenge this assumption and demonstrate that unethical behavior can trigger positive affect, which we term a "cheater's high." Across six studies, we find that... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Satisfaction; Decision Making

Research Summary

Risk Measurement

By: David E. Bell

David E. Bell has completed research on the measurement of financial risk. The concepts of risk and return are widely used, at least informally, in the appraisal of financial opportunities. Return is typically measured by the expected value of a project, risk by the... View Details

Research Summary

Board Independence and the Design of Executive Compensation

In this project, I analyze the compensation decisions of boards of directors. Compensation decisions not only serve to motivate executives, but also affect a board's reputation for independence. Although greater managerial influence over the board has the obvious... View Details

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Do Public and Private Firms Behave Differently? An Examination of Investment in the Chemical Industry

By: Albert W. Sheen

I compare the capacity expansion decisions of U.S. public and private producers of seven commodity chemicals from 1989-2006. I find that private firms invest differently, and more efficiently, than public firms. Specifically, private firms are more likely than public... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Chemicals; Investment; Public Ownership; Chemical Industry; United States

2011
Working Paper

The First Deal: The Division of Founder Equity in New Ventures

By: Thomas F. Hellmann and Noam Wasserman

This paper examines the division of founder shares in entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on the decision of whether or not to divide the shares equally among all founders. To motivate the empirical analysis we develop a simple theory of costly bargaining, where... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Fairness; Equity; Managerial Roles; Negotiation Deal; Ownership Stake; Value

2008
Working Paper

Rethinking the Role of History in Law & Economics: The Case of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927

By: David A. Moss and Jonathan B. Lackow

In the study of law and economics, there is a danger that historical inferences from theory may infect historical tests of theory. It is imperative, therefore, that historical tests always involve a vigorous search not only for confirming evidence, but for... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Decision Choices and Conditions; Government Legislation; Law; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 1997
Case

Pricing for Profit: The UK Credit Card Industry in the Late 1980s (A)

Describes the United Kingdom credit card industry in the late 1980s, which was really three businesses: a cashless transaction business for merchants, a cashless transaction business for card holders, and a credit business for card holders. At the time of the case,... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Price; Decision Making; Game Theory; United Kingdom

Educators