Corruption - Publications - Faculty & Research

Democracy

To all who declare that American democracy is broken—riven by partisanship, undermined by extremism, and corrupted by wealth—history offers hope. In nearly every generation since the nation’s founding, critics have made similar declarations, and yet the nation is... View Details

The Fading Light of Democratic Capitalism (Cambridge University Press, 2024)

What are we to do about declining public trust and confidence in democratic capitalism, which many citizens consider a cornerstone of our national ideology and identity? In this short book, I address how we can rekindle the fading light of democratic capitalism as... View Details

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Business, Government & the International Economy - Faculty & Research

Minneapolis 45, no. 1 (May 2025). Brazil's Messias? The Lava Jato Corruption Scandal, the Recession, and the Rise of Bolsonaro By: Rafael Di Tella and Jose Liberti May 2025 | Teaching Note | Faculty Research Teaching Note for HBS Case... View Details

28 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: Feb. 28

Pierce, Jason A. Snyder, and Michael W. Toffel Abstract Competition among firms can have many positive outcomes, including decreased prices and improved quality. Yet competition can have a darker side when firms can gain competitive advantage through illicit and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

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Video Clips - Creating Emerging Markets

with corruption and innovation . Listen to our Cold Call podcast episode on the corruption case. Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College Lillete Dubey Lillete Dubey Art & Music Lillete Dubey,... View Details

April 2009 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Al Capone

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

In 1929, Chicago, IL mob boss Al Capone was at the height of his power. As head of the extensive crime organization known as "The Outfit" during most of U.S.'s Prohibition Era (1920-1933), Capone oversaw hundreds of brothels, speakeasies, and roadhouses which served as... View Details

Keywords: Bootlegging; Entrepreneurship; Crime and Corruption; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Business History; United States; Chicago

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31 May 2023
HBS Case

From Prison Cell to Nike’s C-Suite: The Journey of Larry Miller

View Video Editor's note: Watch the video in "full screen" mode for the best viewing experience. Before shaping one of the world’s largest sports brands, Nike executive Larry Miller spent years of his youth and early adulthood behind bars for several crimes, including... View Details

Keywords: by Jamal Meneide; Entertainment & Recreation; Consumer Products

2023
Book

Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia

By: Meg Rithmire

Developing Asia has been the site of some of the last century's fastest growing economies as well as some of the world's most durable authoritarian regimes. Many accounts of rapid growth alongside monopolies on political power have focused on crony relationships... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; China; Indonesia; Malaysia

15 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: January 15

Paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/Coming%20Through%20in%20a%20Crisis_1ffcaae3-d616-47f1-875b-de4b09d97b65.pdf When the Crowd Fights Corruption Authors:Healy, Paul M., and Karthik Ramanna Publication:Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2024
Book

The Fading Light of Democratic Capitalism: How Pervasive Cronyism and Restricted Suffrage Are Destroying Democratic Capitalism as a National Ideal ... And What to Do About It

By: Malcolm S. Salter

What are we to do about declining public trust and confidence in democratic capitalism, which many citizens consider a cornerstone of our national ideology and identity? In this book, I address how we can rekindle the fading light of democratic capitalism as an... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Power and Influence; Economic Systems; Culture

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01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

SUMMING UP Respondents to this month’s Wells Fargo “case study” identified problem symptoms, diagnosed causes, proposed remedies, and even suggested a title for a follow-on case. Mitch says that when one company is consistently more successful than others in that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

24 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Bernie Madoff Explains Himself

One December evening in 2011, while preparing a lesson plan, Harvard Business School professor Eugene Soltes picked up the phone for his weekly conversation with Bernie Madoff. Soltes, who was doing an in-depth investigation on white-collar crime, had been interviewing... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

Teaching Interest

Contemporary Developing Countries: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Intractable Problems

By: Tarun Khanna

What problems do developing countries face, and how can individuals contribute to solutions rather than awaiting the largesse of the state or other actors? Intractable problems – such as lack of access to education and healthcare, forced reliance on contaminated... View Details

February 2016
Case

Banking and Politics in Antebellum New York

By: David Moss and Colin Donovan

After a long period of solid Democratic control, Whigs secured a majority of seats in the New York State Assembly in 1837, the same year that a major financial panic had crippled the banking system and shaken public confidence in the state's governance. The next year,... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Central Banking; Ethics; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; History; New York (state, US)

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Educators

15 Apr 2015
HBS Seminar

Raymond Fisman, Columbia Business School

The Big Ditch

On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened for business, forever changing the face of global trade and military power, as well as the role of the United States on the world stage. The Canal's creation is often seen as an example of U.S. triumphalism, but... View Details

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

companies can adapt key aspects of the private-equity governance model to ensure that they fulfill their oversight responsibilities. With respect to avoiding the perverse financial incentives that corrupted Enron, my book makes specific... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

29 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Are You Paying a Tip--or a Bribe?

tipping and corruption is counterintuitive in the United States. But there is a fuzzy line between the two." Countries with higher rates of tipping behavior also tended to have higher rates of View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

significant in the minds of top executives. Asia is bedeviled by official corruption that reaches far into business. America has less of this, but has in its place considerable financial reporting fraud. Both are very dangerous to the... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

April 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Accounting Fraud at WorldCom

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David Kiron

The principal players in WorldCom's accounting fraud included CFO Scott Sullivan, the General Accounting and Internal Audit departments, external auditor Arthur Andersen, and the board of directors. The case provides sufficient detail to allow for a full discussion of... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Organizational Culture; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits

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