Publications

14 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Connection between 1930s Weather and Today's Labor Unions

to shake the effects of some lousy weather. “I think the reason why this paper is important, especially now, is that unions are a hotly debated issue within policy and within our political process,” Cohen says. “Some people say we absolutely need them. And some say... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

28 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Helping Yelp Create More Accurate Reviews

history of reviews to identify factors considered by reviewers—the accuracy of a reviewer can be determined, for example, by studying how far that person's opinions stray from the long-running average of the restaurants they review. The... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Food & Beverage

02 Dec 2009
What Do You Think?

Should Immigration Policies Be More Welcoming to Low-Skilled Workers?

of cost shifting." J. Boxer points out that "there's a high cost to cheap labor, and that cost (free education, free health care, etc.) is passed on to the state and the taxpayer, generally." Eloton Fowler said, "Our View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

22 Mar 2016
First Look

March 22, 2016

counter this ambiguity, this paper proposes that the strength of the greedy signal relates to an individual's volunteer reputation. Results from an online experiment support this possibility: the crowd out in response to public incentives is less likely among... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Tech Hubs: How Software Brought Talent and Prosperity to New Cities

note. Fold in the recent rise of remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the question arises: Has the trend peaked? Tech history as told by patents To look at the trends, Kerr and Chattergoon examined detailed filings from the US... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

19 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Analyzing Institutions to Solve Big Problems

worthwhile medication. "Ignorance requires our attention," said Renee Rottner, an assistant professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, who coauthored the paper. "We need to be rigorous about looking at history where... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel & Anna Secino

16 Feb 2016
First Look

February 16, 2016

advertising and marketing services is best served through the coordination and integration of resources from both inside and outside the company, rather than assuming that these options are mutually exclusive. A review of advertising industry View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Barbarians at the Gate or Turnaround Gurus? Private Equity and the Rise of the LBO

By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko

During the 1980s, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and the private equity (PE) firms responsible for carrying them out revolutionized both investment and management in the U.S. Between 1980 and 1989, buyout activity in the U.S. surged from $1 billion per year to $60 billion.... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Bonds; Investment Return; Institutional Investing; Profit Sharing; Business History; Management Style; Private Ownership; Performance Effectiveness; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; United States

2012
Working Paper

Big BRICs, Weak Foundations: The Beginning of Public Elementary Education in Brazil, Russia, India, and China

By: Latika Chaudhary, Aldo Musacchio, Steven Nafziger and Se Yan

Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50% of the world's population in 1910,... View Details

Keywords: History; Middle School Education; Data and Data Sets; Residency; Integration; Perspective; Surveys; Geographic Location; Welfare or Wellbeing; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development; China; India; Brazil; Russia

Read Now

February 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

China: Getting Richer Still

By: Diego A. Comin and Richard H. K. Vietor

In the last quarter of 2009, China's GDP growth rate again approached 10%. While the global financial crisis had certainly hurt - causing layoffs of as many as 20 million factory workers - a huge stimulus package on top of continuing domestic demand had restored... View Details

Keywords: History; Resource Allocation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Macroeconomics; Demand and Consumers; Leading Change; Economic Growth; China

November 2009 (Revised June 2012)
Supplement

Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B)

By: Thierry Porte, Rawi E. Abdelal, Laura Alfaro and Jonathan Schlefer

In 1997, amidst Japan's ongoing financial problems, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto sought to restructure the financial sector to make it more transparent and globally competitive. He hoped that this effort, dubbed the "Big Bang" after the British financial... View Details

Keywords: History; Adaptation; Policy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Macroeconomics; Restructuring; Global Strategy; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Japan

December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Infosys in India: Building a Software Giant in a Corrupt Environment

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Rafael M. Di Tella and Prabakar (PK) Kothandaraman

Shortly after Infosys was founded in 1981, its managers faced a major turning point when they made a decision to operate without giving in to the petty corruption rife in the Indian economy. Within just a few years, that decision had truly defined the company. Over the... View Details

Keywords: History; Management Style; Moral Sensibility; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Decisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Situation or Environment; Crime and Corruption; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry; India

02 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 2, 2018

paper we draw on the recent literature to highlight areas in which history has played a particularly prominent role in improving our understanding of growth dynamics. Research at the intersection of historical data, theory, and empirics... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

November 1981 (Revised June 1998)
Case

A Keynesian Cure for the Depression

Keynes, in excerpts from a 1933 pamphlet, outlines his recommendations for recovery from the Depression. He emphasizes the need for public works expenditures financed by government borrowing and discusses the "multiplier" effect of deficit spending on gross national... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Cycles; Theory; Microeconomics; Government Administration

2018
Chapter

Why Do So Many Chinese Students Come to the United States?

By: William C. Kirby

Many books offer information about China, but few make sense of what is truly at stake. The questions addressed in this unique volume provide a window onto the challenges China faces today and the uncertainties its meteoric ascent on the global horizon has provoked.... View Details

Keywords: Asia; China; Emerging Country; Students; Education; Higher Education; Globalization; International Relations; History; Society; Education Industry; Asia; China; United States

Find at Harvard

December 2001 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Argentine Paradox: The, Economic Growth and the Populist Tradition

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

Describes the political and economic development in Argentina from 1900 to 1989, with a focus on the role of Peron and populism. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: History; Development Economics; Economic Growth; Government Administration; Argentina