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- All HBS Web (308)
- Faculty Publications (230)
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- All HBS Web (308)
- Faculty Publications (230)
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- June 2024
- Article
Redistributive Allocation Mechanisms
By: Mohammad Akbarpour, Piotr Dworczak and Scott Duke Kominers
Many scarce public resources are allocated at below-market-clearing prices, and sometimes for free. Such "non-market" mechanisms sacrifice some surplus, yet they can potentially improve equity. We develop a model of mechanism design with redistributive concerns. Agents... View Details
Akbarpour, Mohammad, Piotr Dworczak, and Scott Duke Kominers. "Redistributive Allocation Mechanisms." Journal of Political Economy 132, no. 6 (June 2024): 1831–1875. (Authors' names are in certified random order.)
- 2010
- Working Paper
Agency Revisited
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F. Spulber
The article presents a comprehensive overview of the principal-agent model that emphasizes the role of trust in the agency relationship. The analysis demonstrates that the legal remedy for breach of duty can result in a full-information efficient outcome eliminating... View Details
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Daniel F. Spulber. "Agency Revisited." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-082, March 2010.
- February 2010 (Revised March 2016)
- Background Note
Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Break-even Analysis
By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery
Marketing managers are often called upon to make recommendations for or against programs that cost money to implement. Before expenditures are made, managers want to be sure that they will be getting a return on their investment. One way of assessing this is by... View Details
Keywords: Decision Making; Investment Return; Spending; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods
Steenburgh, Thomas J., and Jill Avery. "Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Break-even Analysis." Harvard Business School Background Note 510-080, February 2010. (Revised March 2016.)
- 2021
- Working Paper
An Empirical Study of Time Allotment and Delays in E-commerce Delivery
By: M. Balakrishnan, MoonSoo Choi and Natalie Epstein
Problem definition: We study how having more time allotted to deliver an order affects the speed of the delivery process. Furthermore, we seek to predict orders that are likely to be delayed early in the delivery process so that actions can be taken to avoid delays.... View Details
Keywords: Logistics; E-commerce; Mathematical Methods; AI and Machine Learning; Performance Productivity
Balakrishnan, M., MoonSoo Choi, and Natalie Epstein. "An Empirical Study of Time Allotment and Delays in E-commerce Delivery." Working Paper, December 2021.
- 20 Jan 2009
- Research & Ideas
Risky Business with Structured Finance
growing at such an unprecedented rate that it piqued their curiosity. "People didn't explain anything about CDOs in a compelling way," he says. "They said, 'Oh, they're slicing and dicing.' Or they resorted to mathematical... View Details
- Article
Loss Aversion, Diminishing Sensitivity, and the Role of Experience in Repeated Decisions
Three experiments are presented that explore the assertion that loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity drive the effect of experience on choice behavior. The experiments are focused on repeated choice tasks where decision makers choose repeatedly between... View Details
Erev, Ido, Eyal Ert, and Eldad Yechiam. "Loss Aversion, Diminishing Sensitivity, and the Role of Experience in Repeated Decisions." Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 21, no. 5 (December 2008).
- January 2008
- Background Note
Convertible Arbitrage
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
The goal of this simulation is to understand how convertible bonds can be viewed as a portfolio of simpler securities and to introduce an over-the-counter market. The convertible bonds that are available during the simulation are at-the-money and in-the-money so that... View Details
Coval, Joshua, and Erik Stafford. "Convertible Arbitrage." Harvard Business School Background Note 208-116, January 2008.
- 2024
- Article
A Universal In-Place Reconfiguration Algorithm for Sliding Cube-Shaped Robots in Quadratic Time
By: Zachary Abel, Hugo A. Akitaya, Scott Duke Kominers, Matias Korman and Frederick Stock
In the modular robot reconfiguration problem we are given n cube-shaped modules (or "robots") as well as two configurations, i.e., placements of the n modules so that their union is face-connected. The goal is to find a sequence of moves that reconfigures the modules... View Details
Abel, Zachary, Hugo A. Akitaya, Scott Duke Kominers, Matias Korman, and Frederick Stock. "A Universal In-Place Reconfiguration Algorithm for Sliding Cube-Shaped Robots in Quadratic Time." Proceedings of the International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG) 40th (2024): 1:1–1:14.
- November–December 2018
- Article
Online Network Revenue Management Using Thompson Sampling
By: Kris J. Ferreira, David Simchi-Levi and He Wang
We consider a network revenue management problem where an online retailer aims to maximize revenue from multiple products with limited inventory constraints. As common in practice, the retailer does not know the consumer's purchase probability at each price and must... View Details
Keywords: Online Marketing; Revenue Management; Revenue; Management; Marketing; Internet and the Web; Price; Mathematical Methods
Ferreira, Kris J., David Simchi-Levi, and He Wang. "Online Network Revenue Management Using Thompson Sampling." Operations Research 66, no. 6 (November–December 2018): 1586–1602.
- July 2010
- Supplement
Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (CW)
By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery
Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric which allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset acquisition -... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
Deterring Online Advertising Fraud Through Optimal Payment in Arrears
By: Benjamin Edelman
Online advertisers face substantial difficulty in selecting and supervising small advertising partners. Fraud can be well-hidden, and limited reputation systems reduce accountability. But partners are not paid until after their work is complete, and advertisers can... View Details
Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Profit; Corporate Accountability; Partners and Partnerships; Mathematical Methods
Edelman, Benjamin. "Deterring Online Advertising Fraud Through Optimal Payment in Arrears." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-072, February 2008. (Revised August 2008, October 2008, February 2009.)
- Article
Formal Measures in Informal Management: Can a Balanced Scorecard Change a Culture?
By: Robert Gibbons and Robert S. Kaplan
Agency theorists, historically, have analyzed what kinds of performance measures should be used in formal incentive contracts. For example, after Kaplan-Norton proposed a balanced scorecard of both financial and non-financial measures, some envisioned its role only in... View Details
Keywords: Relational Contracts; Performance Measurement; Informal Management; Balanced Scorecard; Economics; Mathematical Methods
Gibbons, Robert, and Robert S. Kaplan. "Formal Measures in Informal Management: Can a Balanced Scorecard Change a Culture?" American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105, no. 5 (May 2015).
- March 2020
- Article
Diagnosing Missing Always at Random in Multivariate Data
By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Natesh S. Pillai and Donald B. Rubin
Models for analyzing multivariate data sets with missing values require strong, often assessable, assumptions. The most common of these is that the mechanism that created the missing data is ignorable—a twofold assumption dependent on the mode of inference. The first... View Details
Keywords: Missing Data; Diagnostic Tools; Sensitivity Analysis; Hypothesis Testing; Missing At Random; Row Exchangeability; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods
Bojinov, Iavor I., Natesh S. Pillai, and Donald B. Rubin. "Diagnosing Missing Always at Random in Multivariate Data." Biometrika 107, no. 1 (March 2020): 246–253.
- 2008
- Working Paper
CPC/CPA Hybrid Bidding in a Second Price Auction
By: Benjamin Edelman and Hoan Lee
We develop a model of online advertising in which each advertiser chooses from multiple advertising measurement metrics—paying either for each click on its ads (CPC), or for each purchase that follows an ad-click (CPA). Our analysis extends classic auction results by... View Details
Keywords: Online Advertising; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Measurement and Metrics; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Web Sites
Edelman, Benjamin, and Hoan Lee. "CPC/CPA Hybrid Bidding in a Second Price Auction." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-074, December 2008.
- Fourth Quarter 2007
- Article
Contingent Claims Approach to Measuring and Managing Sovereign Credit Risk
By: Dale . F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie
This paper proposes a new approach to measure, analyze, and manage sovereign risk based on the theory and practice of modern contingent claims analysis (CCA). The paper provides a new framework for adapting the CCA model to the sovereign balance sheet in a way that can... View Details
Keywords: Credit; Investment; Sovereign Finance; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Market Transactions; Mathematical Methods; Valuation
Gray, Dale . F., Robert C. Merton, and Zvi Bodie. "Contingent Claims Approach to Measuring and Managing Sovereign Credit Risk." Special Issue on Credit Analysis. Journal of Investment Management 5, no. 4 (Fourth Quarter 2007): 5–28.
- July 2010 (Revised December 2011)
- Background Note
Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis
By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery
Pricing is one of the most difficult decisions marketers make and the one with the most direct and immediate impact on the firm's financial position. This toolkit will introduce the fundamental terminology and calculations associated with pricing and profitability... View Details
Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Profit; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry
Steenburgh, Thomas J., and Jill Avery. "Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis." Harvard Business School Background Note 511-028, July 2010. (Revised December 2011.)
- 2010
- Working Paper
Trade Policy and Firm Boundaries
By: Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger and Andrew F. Newman
We study how trade policy affects firms' ownership structures. We embed an incomplete contracts model of vertical integration choices into a standard perfectly-competitive international trade framework. Integration decisions are driven by a trade-off between the... View Details
- 02 Feb 2010
- First Look
First Look: Feb. 2
and Finance (forthcoming). (Also Harvard Business School Working Paper No. 05-053 and NBER Working Paper No. 13131.) Abstract The main arguments in favor of and against nominal and indexed debt are the incentive to default through inflation versus hedging against... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- July 2010
- Supplement
Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis (CW)
By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery
Pricing is one of the most difficult decisions marketers make and the one with the most direct and immediate impact on the firm's financial position. This toolkit will introduce the fundamental terminology and calculations associated with pricing and profitability... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
Rainmakers: Why Bad Weather Means Good Productivity
By: Jooa Julia Lee, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats
People believe that weather conditions influence their everyday work life, but to date, little is known about how weather affects individual productivity. Most people believe that bad weather conditions reduce productivity. In this research, we predict and find just... View Details
Keywords: Productivity; Opportunity Cost; Distractions; Weather; Performance Productivity; Social Psychology; Mathematical Methods
Lee, Jooa Julia, Francesca Gino, and Bradley R. Staats. "Rainmakers: Why Bad Weather Means Good Productivity." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-005, July 2012.