American Economy - Publications - Faculty & Research

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

filed since the coronavirus started rocking the US economy in mid-March, including Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, Dean & DeLuca, CMX Cinemas, and Gold’s Gym. The latest: JCPenney on May 15 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after 118... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

23 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovative Ways to Encourage Personal Savings

have too little income. In addition, there is a whole host of reasons why people put off savings, especially in the context of an economy where consumerism is common. A variety of levers can be used to support people who want to save (not... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

27 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution

U.S. market in the late 1960s, Firestone, along with most of the major American tire manufacturers, suffered costly setbacks and lost significant market share. By 1988, Firestone had been acquired by Japanese competitor Bridgestone, and... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation

02 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 2

and others dismissing it as little more than a hiccup-or even celebrating it as a favorable development-in the progress of American capitalism. Despite numerous claims in popular venues that high inequality has slowed growth, precipitated... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

19 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

The Regional Slice of Your Global Strategy

strategies at different geographic levels. Assessing the level—global, continental, subcontinental, national, intranational, or local—at which scale is most tightly tied to profitability is often a helpful guide to determining what constitutes a region. Put... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

02 Mar 2017
What Do You Think?

Is China About to Overtake the US for World Trade Leadership?

to lose much sleep over the question. For example, Shadrick Shaili commented “China’s motive is to make the best out of any economy they have an opportunity to trade or deal with so that the benefits manifest in its people at home ... In... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

08 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Fashion Your New E-Business Model

as AOL (now AOL Time Warner) are defining the business models that are reshaping the global business landscape and redefining power.— Lynda M. Applegate The point within a value chain where maximum economies of scale and scope are created... View Details

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate

15 Oct 2001
Op-Ed

Lessons from the Rubble

have been obvious even without the devastation we have just witnessed. First is that the new economy never was all that different from the old. In the ancient, heady days of the Internet boom, it became fashionable to declare that the... View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

14 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Time that Government Reopens for Business

London or the Quai D'Orsay in Paris (the French Foreign Ministry) or the Central Party School in Beijing, where all the top Chinese bureaucrats go, you're probably beginning to change your views not just about Congress but the whole View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

When former President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports in 2019, the economic dynamics between the world’s two biggest economies forever shifted. American businesses hoping President... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

13 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Six Steps for Reinvigorating America

It's no coincidence that the new book America the Principled is coming out just as the U.S. presidential election gets into full swing, says its author, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. She wants us all to rethink the View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

08 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

The Return of the Salesman

business and society. In its Winter 2008 issue, Business History Review included five articles on salesmanship: "Selling the American Way: The Singer Sales System in Japan, 1900-1938" (by Andrew Gordon) "Inventing the U.S. Stove Industry,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

16 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Peeling Back the Global Brand

"don't touch the brand" school of thought, admitted Schroiff. Yet Henkel also wrestled with questions of economies of scale and consumer penetration. "If you were to flood Europe with standardized products under a few brand... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Retail

10 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Views on Debt Crisis

criticism have followed Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade America's credit rating. However, the real story is about how unsustainable the massive US government deficits are, and how difficult they will be to close. The deficits were largely incurred to... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

01 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

How Politics Drives Business Decisions in a Polarized Nation

How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms What the Rise of Far-Right Politics Says About the Economy in an Election Year Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge team at... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

02 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Foreign Multinationals in the U.S.: A Rocky Road

crossed the American border.HBS Working Knowledge: As you and Lina Gálvez-Muñoz write in the first chapter of your new book, the word "multinational" usually conjures up images of American firms.... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston & Martha Lagace

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Group Therapy

of several South American nations. Its operations in numerous energy-related industries have done much to improve the economic infrastructure of that continent's emerging countries. On the other hand, the close connections of some groups... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Faculty Research Looks to Latin America

though, may evolve into journal articles, books, or be used to feed broader research in which Latin American entities play a key role. According to HBS Professor Herminia Ibarra, who moderated the series of presentations by HBS faculty on... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

08 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

The Immigrants Who Built America’s Financial System

As today's fiscal deficit and dragging economy continue to cast long shadows, it's easy to forget much darker times in American history. Shortly after winning its independence from Great Britain, the United... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Banking

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

1946, when the late Georges Doriot, a long-time and legendary member of the HBS faculty, founded American Research and Development as a willing and able source of financing for the new ventures that were coming to life just after World... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

Publications