Publications

02 Nov 2020
Blog Post

WE RISE

in the first quarter of 2019 were women. The disparate impacts of the pandemic and the protests following the killing of George Floyd have focused national attention on the need for increased racial... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Other Financial Services; Venture Capital / Private Equity

November 2000
Case

WARDA: Leading a Rice Revolution in West Africa

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

The West Africa Rice Development Association, along with various national and international partners, was developing and transferring new rice technologies to farmers throughout West and Central Africa. While production in West Africa was growing faster than any other... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government and Politics; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Nonprofit Organizations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

March 2015
Case

Pearson Affordable Learning Fund

By: Michael Chu, Vincent Dessain and Kristina Maslauskaite

An in-house venture capital fund for affordable private schools at the base of the pyramid established by Pearson, the world's largest education company, PALF sought to invest in business models providing superior educational outcomes in emerging markets on a... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Low Cost Private Schools; Investment Fund; Business At The Base Of The Pyramid; Transition; Investment; Development Economics; Business Growth and Maturation; Social Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Private Sector; Education; Education Industry; Asia; Africa

Educators

Article

What We Can Learn from Five Naturalistic Field Experiments that Failed to Shift Commuter Behaviour

By: Ariella S. Kristal and A.V. Whillans

Across five field experiments with employees of a large organization (n = 68,915), we examined whether standard behavioural interventions (“nudges”) successfully reduced single-occupancy vehicle commutes. In Studies 1 and 2, we sent letters and emails with nudges... View Details

Keywords: Commuting; Field Experiments; Nudges; Behavior; Change

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24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Charting the US-China Trade War: What Does 'Made in Vietnam' Mean?

the region. Moreover, Iyoha notes, with a population of 100 million, a nearly 99 percent literacy rate, and an annual GDP growth rate exceeding 6 percent, Vietnam is poised to become an increasingly important player in the global economy... View Details

Keywords: by Ana Elena Azpúrua; Manufacturing; Shipping

25 Aug 2015
News

Sunset in the East?

prices leading to an economic collapse? —Bruce Johnstone (MBA 1966) KIRBY: Unlikely. Prices have fallen considerably in secondary and tertiary cities but are firm in the first tier. Property is, of course, a... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs

24 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Want People to Save More? Send a Text

Dina Pomeranz's interest in helping people build a savings cushion for difficult economic times emerged during a summer internship in Cameroon, where a woman she lived with shared how worried and anxious she... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

Article

Effect of Different Financial Incentive Structures on Promoting Physical Activity Among Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

By: Chethan Bachireddy, Andrew Joung, Leslie K. John, Francesca Gino, Bradford Tuckfield, Luca Foschini and Katherine L. Milkman

Importance: Few adults engage in recommended levels of physical activity. Financial incentives can promote physical activity, but little is known about how their structure influences their effectiveness; for example, whether incentives are more effective if they are... View Details

Keywords: Physical Activity; Financial Incentives; Motivation and Incentives; Money

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15 Mar 2010
HBS Case

Developing Asia’s Largest Slum

and improved services in the same area. Written with the assistance of Namrata Arora, a research associate at the HBS India Research Center, the case considers the potential risks and rewards of approaching... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Construction; Real Estate

01 Jun 2023
News

Research Brief: The Best Medicine

population that lacks representation, according to the coauthors’ findings. The study suggests a downward cycle, with widespread implications for racial disparity in health outcomes. “If you are underrepresented View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Health, Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

By: David E. Bell and Brian Matthew Milder

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation joined together to form a new organization, AGRA, to tackle the historic challenge of increasing agricultural production in Africa. Launched with much fanfare and led by former U.N.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

Educators

September 2021
Article

Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Ruo Mo, Adam Eric Greenberg, Bertus Jeronimus and Ashley V. Whillans

There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income... View Details

Keywords: Life Satisfaction; Time Use; Happiness; Income; Money; Satisfaction

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24 Jul 2019
Lessons from the Classroom

Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

after installing a simple pop-up prompt in the referral system. “Behavioral insights are increasingly being put into practice in the private sector as well. We’ve also worked with companies to use behavioral economics for the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Jun 2007
News

Mission Possible

opportunity to create and spread innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing problems. In doing so, they joined a groundswell of interest in social entrepreneurship. Just as entrepreneurs spot... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Margie Kelley; Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance; Social Assistance

24 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System

Social Good. She tells the stories of "vanguard companies" such as IBM, Proctor & Gamble, Cemex, Banco Real, and Omron that are rewriting what it means to be successful in the 21st century. In... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

August 2016
Teaching Note

Mahindra Lifespace Developers' Venture into Affordable Housing

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Monica Baraldi

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited (MLDL) was the infrastructure and real estate arm of the Mahindra Group, an Indian conglomerate with revenues of $16.5 billion in 2014. Employing 400 experts in land acquisition, design, project management, sales and marketing, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Housing; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Human Needs; Social Issues; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; India