Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(117,452)
- Faculty Publications (182)
- June 2016 (Revised December 2017)
- Case
The Cheese and the Oligarchs: The Politics, the Media, and Israel's Dream of a Start-Up Nation
By: Rafael Di Tella and Christine Snively
Israel enjoyed the highest concentration of technology start-ups in the world per capita. Despite regional instability, the country maintained strong economic growth and was considered a high-tech powerhouse. But not all Israelis benefited. Between the 1980s and 2010s,... View Details
- Article
Conveniently Upset: Avoiding Altruism by Distorting Beliefs About Others' Altruism
By: Rafael Di Tella, Ricardo Perez-Truglia, Andres Babino and Mariano Sigman
We present results from a “corruption game” (a dictator game modified so that recipients can take a side payment in exchange for accepting a reduction in the overall size of the pie). Dictators (silently) treated to be able to take more of the recipient’s tokens, took... View Details
- July 2015
- Teaching Note
Breaking Bad (the Rules): Argentina Defaults, Inflates (and Grows), 1997–2015
By: Rafael Di Tella
- June 2015
- Teaching Note
The 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality, and the Rule of Law
By: Rafael Di Tella and Meg Rithmire
- December 2014 (Revised November 2015)
- Case
Governing the 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality and the Rule of Law
By: Rafael Di Tella, Meg Rithmire and Kait Szydlowski
Xi Jinping assumed his position as head of China's fifth generation of leaders in 2012. Xi was head of both the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, which had ruled China since 1949. Xi inherited a country far more unequal than the one that Mao... View Details
- October 2014 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
A Currency We Can Call Our Own: Populism, Banking Crises, and Exchange Rate Crises in Argentina, 1946–2002
By: Rafael Di Tella
The case describes Argentina's struggle to establish a credible monetary system under populist pressures and the recurrent use of exchange rate stabilization plans. It focuses on two episodes where there was "too little money" in the economy: during the hyperinflation... View Details
- March 2014
- Case
Inequality and Growth in the 'Chinese Dream'
By: Rafael Di Tella, Meg Rithmire and Kaitlyn Szydlowski
Xi Jinping assumed his position as head of China's fifth generation of leaders in 2012. Xi was head of both the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, which had ruled China since 1949. Xi inherited a country far more unequal than the one that Mao... View Details
- March 2014
- Case
Ukraine: On the Border of Europe and Eurasia
By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael M. Di Tella and Sogomon Tarontsi
In the fall of 2013, the people of Ukraine disagreed passionately whether their country should intensify ties with the European Union or Russia. After President Yanukovych rejected the free trade agreement with the EU in November, thousands of Ukrainians peacefully... View Details
Keywords: Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Judgments; Geopolitical Units; Country; Globalization; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; International Relations; National Security; Growth and Development; History; Europe; Ukraine; European Union; Russia
- Article
Anger and Regulation
By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra
We study a model in which agents experience anger when they see a firm that has displayed insufficient concern for the welfare of its clients (i.e., altruism) making high profits. Regulation can increase welfare, for example, through fines (even with no changes in... View Details
- Forthcoming
- Chapter
Oil, Macroeconomic Volatility and Crime in the Determination of Beliefs in Venezuela
By: Rafael Di Tella, Javier Donna and Robert MacCulloch
Book Abstract: At the beginning of the twentieth century Venezuela had one of the poorest economies in Latin America, but by 1970 it had become the richest country in the region and one of the twenty richest countries in the world, ahead of countries such as Greece,... View Details
- December 2013 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
Breaking Bad (the Rules): Argentina Defaults, Inflates (and Grows), 1997–2015
By: Rafael Di Tella and Fernanda Miguel
In late October 2011, after losing 1 billion of dollar reserves in one month, the Argentine government began imposing a series of currency controls, limiting the ability to buy foreign currency. As of October 2011, Argentina's tax collection agency AFIP had been... View Details
- April 2013
- Teaching Plan
Latvia: Navigating the Strait of Messina (TP)
By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Natalie Kindred
- Article
Criminal Recidivism after Prison and Electronic Monitoring
By: Rafael Di Tella and Ernesto Schargrodsky
We study criminal recidivism in Argentina by focusing on the re-arrest rates of two groups: individuals released from prison and individuals released from electronic monitoring. Detainees are randomly assigned to judges, and ideological differences across judges... View Details
Keywords: Crime; Prison; Recidivism; Behavior; Situation or Environment; Crime and Corruption; Argentina
- 2013
- Comment
Fairness and Redistribution: Comment
By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra
In an influential paper, Alesina and Angeletos (2005)—henceforth, AA—argued that a preference for fairness could lead two identical societies to choose different economic systems. In particular, two equilibria might arise: one with low taxes and a belief that the... View Details
- October 2012
- Case
Brazil 2003: Inflation Targeting and Debt Dynamics (Abridged)
By: Laura Alfaro and Rafael Di Tella
In October 2002, Brazilians elected a left-wing president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, for the first time in that country's history. As markets faltered in response, Lula sought to reaffirm his commitment to fiscal discipline, a floating exchange rate, and inflation... View Details
- June 2012
- Article
Reality versus Propaganda in the Formation of Beliefs about Privatization
By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky
Argentina privatized most public utilities during the 1990s but re-nationalized the main water company in 2006. We study beliefs about the benefits of the privatization of water services amongst low- and middle-income groups immediately after the 2006 nationalization.... View Details
- March 2012 (Revised April 2012)
- Case
The Korean Model of Shared Growth, 1960-1990
By: Aldo Musacchio, Rafael Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer
- October 2011
- Article
Government Advertising and Media Coverage of Corruption Scandals
By: Rafael Di Tella and Ignacio Franceschelli
We construct measures of the extent to which the four main newspapers in Argentina report government corruption in their front page during the period 1998-2007 and correlate them with government advertising. The correlation is negative. The size is considerable: a one... View Details
- 2011
- Working Paper
Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals
By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra
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