Publications

Summer 2019
Article

The Price Effects of Cross-Market Mergers: Theory and Evidence from the Hospital Industry

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Katherine Ho and Robin S. Lee

We consider the effect of mergers between firms whose products are not viewed as direct substitutes for the same good or service but are bundled by a common intermediary. Focusing on hospital mergers across distinct geographic markets, we show that such combinations... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Markets; Geographic Scope; Price; Outcome or Result; Insurance; Health Industry

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winter 1997
Article

The Effects of Market Structure and Ownership on Prices and Service Offerings in the Cable Television Industry

By: Willis Emmons and Robin A. Prager

Keywords: Markets; Ownership; Price; Service Delivery; Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

businesses today will need to lean hard on psychological pricing strategies to convince customers to overcome their reluctance to spend, according to recent research by Elie Ofek, the Malcolm P. McNair... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Retail

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning

speak. The net result is that consumers are more likely to consume when a price is vivid and fresh than when it is obscured or distant. In the case of a health club, this means that members are more likely... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

August 2003
Article

When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity-Dependent Firms

By: Malcolm Baker, Jeremy Stein and Jeffrey Wurgler

We use a simple model of corporate investment to determine when investment will be sensitive to non-fundamental movements in stock prices. The key cross-sectional prediction of the model is that stock prices will have a stronger impact on the investment of firms that... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price; Investment; Equity; Forecasting and Prediction; Rank and Position; Markets

15 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Deconstructing the Price Tag

view pricing can be found in the article Brain Marketing: Is the Product Worth the Price?.) "One of the big takeaways from my perspective is that this opens up the door to companies considering engaging... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

November 2024
Article

Price Discounts and Cheapflation During the Post-Pandemic Inflation Surge

By: Alberto Cavallo and Oleksiy Kryvtsov

We study how within-store price variation changes with inflation, and whether households exploit it to attenuate the inflation burden. We use micro price data for food products sold by 91 large multi-channel retailers in ten countries between 2018 and 2024. Measuring... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Inflation and Deflation; Price; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Product Positioning

Article

Price and Quality Decisions by Self-Serving Managers

By: Marco Bertini, Daniel Halbheer and Oded Koenigsberg

We present a theory of price and quality decisions by managers who are self-serving. In the theory, firms stress the price or quality of their products, but not both. Accounting for this, managers exploit any uncertainty about the cause of market outcomes to credit... View Details

Keywords: Causal Reasoning; Self-serving Bias; Strategic Orientation; Managerial Decision-making; Price; Quality; Decision Making; Theory

30 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores?

it had on the rack. I was surprised to see that the outfit I was holding in my hand was $10 cheaper online—from the same store. I asked the cashier if she would honor the online price in-store; she politely... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

August 2024
Article

Not a One-Trick Pony: Price Impact of Rating Agency Information

By: Michael Machokoto and Anywhere Sikochi

Prior literature on the informational role of credit rating agencies has largely focused on announcements by the rating agencies regarding rating actions. We take a tangent in this paper and examine the relevance of rating agencies' other information disclosures beyond... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Investment Return; Financial Reporting

2014
Working Paper

What Courses Should Law Students Take?: Harvard's Largest Employers Weigh In

By: John C. Coates, Jesse M. Fried and Kathryn E. Spier

We report the results of an online survey, conducted on behalf of Harvard Law School, of 124 practicing attorneys at major law firms. The survey had two main objectives: (1) to assist students in selecting courses by providing them with data about the relative... View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Law; Higher Education

SSRN

16 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases

SUV for a hybrid, an example of how price inflation on one product can cause demand shifts in a second, related, category. More customers than... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

2001
Working Paper

Do Underwater Executive Stock Options Still Align Incentives? The Effect of Stock Price Movements on Managerial Incentive-Alignment

March–April 2020
Article

Pricing Policies that Protect your Brand

By: Ayelet Israeli and Eugene F. Zelek Jr.

When customers seek out online deals, it seems like a win for everybody: Brands, retailers, dealers, and distributors sell more goods, and buyers get a bargain. What's not to like? Here's the problem: Lured by rock-bottom online prices, customers often end up dealing... View Details

Keywords: Price; Policy; Brands and Branding; E-commerce

22 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

was beginning to take hold in the 1920s. Chains and department stores opened across America, using volume sales to offer lower prices on a variety of goods. Gleason encountered... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Health; Legal Services

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

Ross to write the paper "Performance Pricing in Tough Times." Shapiro, an authority on marketing strategy and sales management, is the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

Spring 2013
Article

Accounting Quality, Stock Price Delay, and Future Stock Returns

By: Jeffrey Callen, Mozaffar N. Khan and Hai Lu

In frictionless capital markets with complete information and rational investors, stock prices adjust to new information instantaneously and completely. However, a substantial body of research studies information imperfections such as asymmetric information and... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Price; Stocks; Asset Pricing; Accounting

2019
Working Paper

The Impact of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Donald Ngwe, Kris J. Ferreira and Thales Teixeira

Many online stores are designed such that shoppers can easily access any available discounted products. We propose that deliberately increasing search frictions by placing small obstacles to locating discounted items can improve online retailers’ margins and even... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Online Retailing; Friction; Effor; Search Costs; Price Discrimination; Consumer Behavior; Price; Search Technology