Publications

2016
Book

Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 17

By: Shane Greenstein, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern

The seventeenth volume of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Innovation Policy and the Economy provides an accessible forum for bringing the work of leading academic researchers to an audience of policymakers and those interested in the interaction... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Governance; Policy; Economy

2021
Working Paper

CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance

By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin

CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details

Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance

March 2007 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Wal-Mart, 2007

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2007, Wal-Mart faced challenges to its historically high growth rate. Lagging same-store sales and setbacks overseas led the company to consider strategic shifts. Wal-Mart was the world's largest retailer, but competition had become particularly acute as the company... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Management Practices and Processes; Rural Scope; Human Resources; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Globalized Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Growth Management; Urban Scope; Retail Industry; United States

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

N., and Josh Lerner Abstract—This paper describes the available data and research on venture capital investments and performance. We comment on the challenges inherent in those data and research as well as... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2011
Article

Scalable Detection of Anomalous Patterns With Connectivity Constraints

By: Skyler Speakman, Edward McFowland III and Daniel B. Neill

We present GraphScan, a novel method for detecting arbitrarily shaped connected clusters in graph or network data. Given a graph structure, data observed at each node, and a score function defining the anomalousness of a set of nodes, GraphScan can efficiently and... View Details

Keywords: Biosurveillance; Event Detection; Graph Mining; Scan Statistics; Spatial Scan Statistic

September 2022
Article

Find and Replace: R&D Investment Following the Erosion of Existing Products

By: Joshua L. Krieger, Xuelin Li and Richard T. Thakor

How do innovative firms react when existing products experience negative shocks? We explore this question with detailed project-level data from drug development firms. Using FDA Public Health Advisories as idiosyncratic negative shocks to approved drugs, we first... View Details

Keywords: R＆D Investments; Drug Development; Product Shocks; M＆A; Biopharmaceutical Industry; FDA; System Shocks; Research and Development; Investment; Decision Making; Pharmaceutical Industry

2022
Working Paper

Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: Experimental Evidence from Nine Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Vincenzo Galasso, Vincent Pons, Paola Profeta, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard and Martial Foucault

Millions of people refuse COVID-19 vaccination. Using original data from two surveys in nine OECD countries, we analyze the determinants of anti-vax intentions in December 2020 and show that half of the anti-vax individuals were vaccinated by summer 2021. Vaccinations... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Vaccination; Vaccine Hesitancy; Information Campaigns; Health Pandemics; Behavior; Information

November 3, 2020
Article

Gender Differences in COVID-19 Attitudes and Behavior: Panel Evidence from Eight Countries

By: Vincenzo Galasso, Vincent Pons, Paola Profeta, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard and Martial Foucault

Using original data from two waves of a survey conducted in March and April 2020 in eight OECD countries (N = 21,649), we show that women are more likely to see COVID-19 as a very serious health problem, to agree with restraining public policy measures adopted in... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Attitudes; Behavior; Gender; Policy; Governance Compliance

Find at Harvard

January 2017 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Chicago and the Array of Things: A Fitness Tracker for the City

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

The city of Chicago has recently launched a project called the Array of Things. The program involves a series of sensor nodes placed around the city that capture a massive amount of data including pedestrian and vehicle flow, air quality, and cloud cover. The Array of... View Details

Keywords: Smart Connected Products; Smart Cities; Internet Of Things; Sensors; Govenment; Government Administration; Technological Innovation; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Public Administration Industry; Public Administration Industry; Chicago; United States

July 2012 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for smart phones in the US, and the position of one player, Research In Motion (RIM) who manufacture the popular Blackberry line of products. Early in 2011, RIM is in trouble. Its stock price has plummeted, amidst poor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Product Development; Technology Strategy; Platform Strategy; Software; Hardware; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Canada; United States

Research Summary

Overview

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

Professor van Waijenburg’s research focuses on the historical roots of relative African poverty and state fragility. Where sufficiently reliable and comparable records exist, she creates new datasets from a range of qualitative and quantitative archival sources. The... View Details

Teaching Interest

Design of Field Research Methods (DFRM)

Field research involves collecting original data (qualitative and/or quantitative) in field sites. This course combines informal lecture and discussion with practical exercises to build specific skills for conducting field research in organizations. Readings include... View Details

December 2001
Compilation

"Doer's Profile" Jimmy Carter (James Earl, Jr.)

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Laura L. Nash

Designed to facilitate a discussion of the nature of enduring success. Includes both biographical data and excerpts from autobiographical material. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Success; Public Administration Industry

March 8, 2016
Article

Cognitive Fatigue Influences Students' Performance on Standardized Tests

By: Hans Henrik Sievertsen, F. Gino and Marco Piovesan

Using test data for all children attending Danish public schools between school years 2009–2010 and 2012–2013, we examine how the time of the test affects performance. Test time is determined by the weekly class schedule and computer availability at the school. We find... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Education; Performance Evaluation; Education Industry; Denmark

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

firms are able to avoid defensiveness and resulting blindness. HCHP firms institutionalize what I call Learning and Governance Systems, a means for having honest, collective, and public conversations with key people at lower levels about... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

18 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas, April 18

March 27, 2017 Harvard Business Review How the Water Industry Learned to Embrace Data By: Cespedes, Frank V., and Amir Peleg Abstract—Most current talk about “big data” seems to assume the disintermediation or replacement of physical... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Article

Private and Civil Society Governors of Mercury Pollution from Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: A Network Analytic Approach

By: Kristin Sippl

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is both a subsistence livelihood for millions of people and the leading source of mercury pollution globally. The United Nation’s 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury aims to address this challenge, but such public regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Artisanal And Small-scale Mining (ASM); Private Governance; Gold; Mercury; Mining; Governance; Networks; Pollutants; Research

03 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

How Companies Can Increase Market Rewards for Sustainability Efforts

flavijus For the first time, a link has been drawn between public sentiment about a company’s sustainability practices and how that company is valued in the market. The results are important both for investors searching for under-valued, socially responsible companies,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

2024
Working Paper

Who Values Democracy?

By: Max Miller

This paper tests the conventional view that redistribution is central to the democratization process using data from stock markets. Consistent with this view, democratizations have a large, negative impact on asset valuations driven by a rise in redistribution risk.... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Financial Markets; Valuation