Publications

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details

01 Dec 2023
News

Research Brief: Staying in the Game

Illustration by Peter Hoey In Monopoly, declaring bankruptcy has a very permanent consequence. Game over; you lose. In the paper “Life After Death: A Field Experiment with Small Businesses on Information Frictions, Stigma, and Bankruptcy,” HBS professor Shai Bernstein... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

November 2019
Case

Gillette: Cutting Prices to Regain Share

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After losing market share to low-priced competitors such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club for several years, Gillette decided to fight back by launching new products and increasing advertising. When these efforts failed to stem the losses, Gillette decided to cut the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competition; Price; Public Equity; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Web

Finance - Faculty & Research

in MBS duration function as large-scale shocks to the quantity of interest rate risk that must be borne by professional bond investors. I develop a simple model in which the risk tolerance of bond investors is limited in the short run, so... View Details

October 2022
Case

Sustainable Finance at Itau BBA

By: George Serafeim, Maria Loumioti and Benjamin Maletta

As of August 2022, the Itau BBA had structured dozens of sustainability linked bonds, which made future interest payments a function of the borrower meeting a target for a sustainability metric, and had solidified its reputation as a pioneer of sustainable finance in... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility; Environmental Sustainability; Growth Strategy; Debt Contracting; Performance Metrics; Risk Assessment; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Financial Instruments; Risk Management; Debt Securities; Measurement and Metrics; Banking Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Latin America

2014
Working Paper

Digital Discrimination: The Case of Airbnb.com

By: Benjamin Edelman and Michael Luca

Online marketplaces often contain information not only about products, but also about the people selling the products. In an effort to facilitate trust, many platforms encourage sellers to provide personal profiles and even to post pictures of themselves. However,... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Internet and the Web; Race; Trust; Renting or Rental; Accommodations Industry; Real Estate Industry

SSRN

Web

Profiles - MBA

Profiles Profiles Technology Innovation Fellows Program Supported by the Roberts Family Foundation Current Students APPLIED MATHEMATICS ELIOT 2025 Cohort 7 Rhea Acharya “Living through this unprecedented period of technological growth has... View Details

January–February 2011
Article

Adverse Selection in Online 'Trust' Certifications and Search Results

By: Benjamin Edelman

Widely used online "trust" authorities issue certifications without substantial verification of recipients' actual trustworthiness. This lax approach gives rise to adverse selection: the sites that seek and obtain trust certifications are actually less trustworthy than... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Safety; Trust; Internet; Search Technology; Web Sites

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June 2014
Article

Pitfalls and Fraud in Online Advertising Metrics: What Makes Advertisers Vulnerable to Cheaters, and How They Can Protect Themselves

By: Benjamin Edelman

How does online advertising become less effective than advertisers expect and less effective than measurements indicate? The current research explores problems that result, in part, from malfeasance by outside perpetrators who overstate their efforts to increase their... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Measurement; Mismeasurement; Fraud; Invisible; Digital Marketing; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Marketing Strategy

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Web

Entrepreneurial Management Curriculum - Faculty & Research

managers at all types of organizations (e.g., small companies, large companies, non-profits, and public servants) become more effective at enhancing the value of those organizations. HBS professor Ken Andrews described three roles for the general manager: [1] Setting... View Details

August 2015
Article

Price Coherence and Excessive Intermediation

By: Benjamin Edelman and Julian Wright

Suppose an intermediary provides a benefit to buyers when they purchase from sellers using the intermediary's technology. We develop a model to show that the intermediary would want to restrict sellers from charging buyers more for transactions it intermediates. With... View Details

Keywords: Intermediaries; Platforms; Two-Sided Markets; Vertical Restraints; Two-Sided Platforms

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May 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

David Dao on United Airlines

By: Benjamin Edelman and Jenny Sanford

In widely circulated videos, United staff and Chicago security forcibly remove a passenger from his paid seat on an aircraft, injuring him severely. United leadership must decide how to respond to public outcry. View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Service Operations; Air Transportation; Contracts; Reputation; Air Transportation Industry; Chicago

September 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2000, The Gap, Inc. (Gap) was the world’s largest player in specialty fashion retailing, and companies such as Inditex of Spain, H&M of Sweden, and Fast Retailing of Japan were less than a quarter of Gap’s size. But after two decades of growth, Gap’s progress... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Multinational; Brands; Fast Fashion; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Performance Improvement; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Change Management; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sweden; Spain; United States

Web

Alumni Engagement | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

suggestions for MBAs and Alumni . Research is also available on a variety of specific social enterprise topics in the Faculty & Research section of this site. Alumni Career Hub (login required) Search the Alumni Job Board (within the new Alumni Career Hub) View Details

March 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Chase's Strategy for Syndicating the Hong Kong Disneyland Loan (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

In late 1999, the Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government agreed to develop Hong Kong Disneyland, a HK$28 (U.S.$3.6) billion theme park and resort complex planned to open in late 2005. As part of the total financing package, the sponsors decided to raise HK$3.3... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Project Finance; Relationships; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Tourism Industry; Hong Kong

Web

Business History - Faculty & Research

Business History Business History 2014 Book Business History By: Walter A. Friedman and Geoffrey Jones This volume contains a selection of 42 foundational articles on the discipline of business history written between 1934 and the present day View Details

Web

Agents of Change: The Founding of the AASU - The Golden Age of Black Business

his family's insurance company, one of the largest African American owned businesses in Atlanta. H. Naylor Fitzhugh served as an influential professor at Howard University and assumed a senior executive position at the Pepsi–Cola Company. The accomplishment of other... View Details

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

opportunities. Harvard University and Urban Mining Industries: Decarbonizing the Supply Chain The case describes Harvard University's consideration to decarbonize its supply chain by replacing cement with a low-carbon substitute called... View Details

Article

Towards a Bill of Rights for Online Advertisers

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertising presents remarkable efficiencies—better targeting, improved measurement and greater return on investment. Yet there are challenges, particularly when networks of intermediaries place ads through convoluted relationships, and all the more so when... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Rights; Measurement and Metrics; Investment Return; Negotiation; Networks; Problems and Challenges; Performance Efficiency; Law; Advertising Industry