Publications

August 2018 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Magnus Resch: Transforming the Art Market Through Transparency

By: Henry McGee and Sarah Mehta

Economist and entrepreneur Magnus Resch was on a mission to make the art market more transparent. To that end, in 2014, he began building the Magnus app, which catalogued the price and transaction history of millions of works of art. Users could download the app, take... View Details

Keywords: Art Market; Transparency; Art Pricing; Business Startups; Decision Making; Innovation Strategy; Culture; Business Strategy; Mobile Technology; Fine Arts Industry; Fine Arts Industry

March 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Masterpiece for the Masses: The First Art Exchange ARTEX

By: Lauren Cohen, Anastasiya Siroochenko (Siro) and Sophia Pan

Yassir Benjelloun-Touimi, CEO of ARTEX, aspired to marry the world of art and finance. Hoping to promote transparent, fractionalized ownership of renowned artwork, the founder had spent years contemplating the birth of an art stock market. This exchange would allow... View Details

Fall 1998
Article

Price Customization: The Higher Art of Power Pricing

By: Robert J. Dolan

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Fall 2020
Article

Christo and Jeanne‐Claude: The Negotiation of Art and Vice Versa

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Over the past two decades the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School (PON) has named thirteen people as Great Negotiators. The project, directed by my colleague Jim Sebenius, has given us the opportunity to commend our honorees’ outstanding work and to learn from... View Details

Keywords: Art; Negotiation; Arts

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March 2017 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Flashion: Art vs. Science in Fashion Retailing

By: Kris Ferreira and Karim R. Lakhani

Kate Wilson, retail analytics manager at Flashion, a fashion flash-sale site, is tasked with developing analytics to optimize pricing for first-exposure products on the site. Many in the industry have relied on years of experience and intuition to determine pricing—can... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Pricing; Data; Service Operations; Forecasting and Prediction; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Mathematical Methods; Decision Making; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; United States

07 May 2012
Research & Ideas

The Art of Haggling

posturing, they settle on a price each can live with, although both know that the deal is likely better for one side than the other. “At some point, it still comes down to determining who gets which slice of the pie.” Now imagine the same... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Johnston

Web

The Art of "Posting" - The Art of American Advertising

Education Alumni Baker Library Historical Collections Visual Resources More Exhibits Exhibition Gallery Research Links Site Credits The Art of American Advertising: The Art of “Posting” National Markets... View Details

August 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Electronic Arts Introduces The Sims Online

By: Youngme E. Moon

Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent game publisher, is preparing to launch an online, subscription-based version of the most popular PC game in history: The Sims. The new game is called "The Sims Online" and it differs from the original game in two... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Decision Making; Price; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Internet; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

17 Nov 2008
Research & Ideas

Decoding the Artful Sidestep

There are two findings that we find most interesting. First, it is striking that participants failed to punish the speaker when he dodged the question asked. For example, the speaker paid no price for answering a question about the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

December 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Barbara Krakow Gallery

By: Jose Alvarez and Nyssa Liebermann

The Barbara Krakow Gallery is a successful contemporary art gallery located in Boston. It utilizes a very rare "no haggle pricing" strategy and extended sales cycle when selling pieces to collectors. Though it remains profitable and very respected, the size and scope... View Details

October 2007
Article

The Art of Designing Markets

By: Alvin E. Roth

Traditionally, markets have been viewed as simply the confluence of supply and demand. But to function properly, they must be able to attract a sufficient number of buyers and sellers, induce participants to make their preferences clear, and overcome congestion by... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Information Technology; Internet and the Web

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06 May 2015
Research & Ideas

A Flood of Picassos Threatens to Water Down the Art Market

practices. "From a business school point of view, there's a contradiction where the art market seems illogical or strange because it turns on its head some of the rules of competition," Khaire said. "In many cases,... View Details

April 2022
Teaching Note

Christie's and Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi: The Value of a Brand

By: Jill Avery

A sixteenth century Renaissance masterpiece, missing for 137 years, believed by many to have been destroyed, and then rediscovered less than a decade ago, becomes the most expensive painting ever sold, all the while surrounded by controversy. Did the buyer of Leonardo... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Valuation; Art; Art Dealer; Auction House; Brand Storytelling; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Fine Arts Industry; United States; Italy

01 Dec 2015
News

Faculty Q&A: The Price Is Right

What intrigued you about the pay-what-you-want (PWYW) model? It’s very unusual for a firm or a seller to completely relinquish pricing power to their customers. Typically consumers encounter a price, and then they decide whether or not... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

May 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Supplement

Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price (B)

By: Anita Elberse and Jason Bergsman

Keywords: Arts; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

03 May 2013
News

Looking Through Glass, Historically

Westmoreland had a low break-even point. It needed margin then—not volume; and so, prices were increased. Although this was an unsound business decision, the records show my grandfather had kept his prices... View Details

Keywords: Visual arts; crafts; glass making; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

06 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

commoditized. As consumers, we see this in the ever-decreasing retail selling price of flat panel TVs. The screen sizes get bigger, the resolution moves from HD to Ultra HD to 4K, and the prices keep... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing; Electronics

2007
Book

An Experiment in Fair Value Accounting? The State of the Art in Research and Thought Leadership on Accounting for Life Assurance in the UK and Continental Europe

By: Joanne G Horton, Richard H. Macve and George Serafeim

"Fair value" is currently the central topic of debate in the development of accounting standards. While it has now been defined to mean an exit price in US GAAP, the IASB is still considering its own definition, and some commentators are arguing for versions of entry... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Financial Instruments; Framework; Market Entry and Exit; Insurance; Revenue Recognition; Fair Value Accounting; Standards; United Kingdom