Publications

February 2005 (Revised February 2005)
Case

SpudSpy

Students in a technology transfer class identify a promising application for a dormant university technology. In the process, they alienate the inventor, who threatens legal action. What exactly are the problems, and how should the professor teaching the class proceed? View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Legal Liability; Problems and Challenges; Projects; Groups and Teams; Technology

November 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Three Problems in Protecting Competition

By: Benjamin Edelman and Lena Goldberg

In three mini-cases, readers see a range of disputes in competition law—and apply legal principles to assure fair competition. View Details

Keywords: Law; Competition; Fairness

November 1994 (Revised January 2006)
Background Note

An Introduction to Patents and Trade Secrets

By: Josh Lerner

Provides an overview of patent and trade secret protection. Also discusses the legal processes through which intellectual property is protected and litigated. View Details

Keywords: Patents; Intellectual Property

January 2020 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Governing PG&E

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

The five commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) listened intently at a public forum in April 2019 as PG&E Corporation’s out-going chairman Richard Kelly described the company’s proposed new board. PG&E, which provided electricity and natural... View Details

February 2016 (Revised April 2020)
Case

In the Name of Democracy? The Rise and Decline of India's Congress Party

By: Akshay Mangla and Jonathan Schlefer

In 1950 it looked highly doubtful that Indian democracy would hold—typical family income was $6 a month, only about 15% of the population was literate, there were deep religious and ethnic differences, and more than a dozen national languages were spoken. But after a... View Details

Keywords: Congress Party; Economic Development; Democratization; Economic Reform; Economic Systems; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Development Economics; India

November 1997
Case

Borden Ranch: Balancing Private Property Rights and Social Interests in Ag

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Don Daniels and Diane Richmond

Angelo Tsakopoulos wanted to convert grazing land to crop agriculture. He received different advice from different government agencies and became involved in legal battles. View Details

Keywords: Property; Social Entrepreneurship; Rights; Agribusiness; Social Issues; Interests; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
Supplement

Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (C2)

By: Lynn S. Paine

A jury must decide whether an employee, discharged for misusing company time and filling out false time cards for work on U.S. government contracts, has been wrongfully terminated. Designed to show how the human resource manager's perspective on employee discipline... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Governance Compliance; Policy; Resignation and Termination; Perspective

Article

The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership

By: Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine

Agency theory, a new model of governance promulgated by academic economists in the 1970s, is behind the idea that corporate managers should make shareholder value their primary concern and that boards should ensure they do. The theory regards shareholders as owners of... View Details

Keywords: Agency Theory; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Corporate Governance

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March 2008
Article

Can Civil Law Countries Get Good Institutions? Lessons from the History of Creditor Rights and Bond Markets in Brazil

By: Aldo Musacchio

Does a legal tradition adopted in the distant past constrain a country's ability to provide the protection that investors need for financial markets to develop? This paper contributes to the literature that studies the connection between law and finance by looking at... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Financial Markets; Investment; Code Law; Contracts; Law Enforcement; Size; Brazil

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August 2004 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Debating the Expropriation of Mexican Oil

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and R. Daniel Wadhwani

In 1938, the Mexican government expropriated the assets of foreign oil companies. Explores the legal and moral arguments in favor of and against expropriation. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Globalized Firms and Management; Government and Politics; Business History; Lawfulness; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Mexico

February 2000
Background Note

Medicine, Incentive Compensation, and the Law

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Bruce L. Hall

Summarizes legal issues in structuring a health care incentive plan, such as tax laws and federal regulations. Draws from an interview conducted with a New England lawyer in October 1999. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Law; Health Care and Treatment; Taxation; Laws and Statutes; Health Industry

April 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

U.S. Healthcare Reform: Reaction to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

Supplement to "U.S. Healthcare Reform: International Perspectives" updating key events and disputes concerning the reform law, including the 2010 Congressional elections, legislative proposals, legal challenges, and responses by employers. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Political Elections; Health Care and Treatment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business and Government Relations; Public Opinion; Health Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

fall 2010
Article

Lawsuits and Empire: On the Enforcement of Sovereign Debt in Latin America

By: Faisal Z. Ahmed, Laura Alfaro and Noel Maurer

The re-occurring phenomenon of sovereign default has prompted an enormous theoretical and empirical literature. Most of this research has focused on why countries ever chose to pay their debts (or why private creditors ever expected repayment). The problem originates... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Debt Securities; Motivation and Incentives; Markets; Equity; Banking Industry; Latin America

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Article

Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing

By: Michael I. Norton and Samuel R. Sommers

Although some have heralded recent political and cultural developments as signaling the arrival of a post-racial era in America, several legal and social controversies regarding "reverse racism" highlight Whites' increasing concern about anti-White bias. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Racism; Zero-sum Game; Bias; Affirmative Action; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Social Issues; United States

20 Nov 2019
Video

Susana Balbo

Susana Balbo, owner and chief... View Details

February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

Business and Human Rights

By: Lynn S. Paine and Lara Adamsons

This note addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about the relation between human rights and business. Topics include the definition of human rights, the business leader's role regarding human rights, and legal liability of companies and executives for... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Human Capital; Legal Liability; Rights; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

07 Mar 2013
HBS Seminar

Mike Toffel, Harvard Business School

November 1972 (Revised December 2000)
Background Note

Note on Forms of Real Estate Ownership

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Thierry Liverman

Examines the legal forms of ownership of real property. Included are the corporation, partnership, limited partnership, business trust, real estate investment trust, sole proprietorship, and joint venture. Tax factors and business management considerations are... View Details

Keywords: Ownership; Property; Taxation; Business Organization