Inflation - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Buy Now, Pay Later: How Retail's Hot Feature Hurts Low-Income Shoppers

Consumers who make multiple purchases may be served by different fintech providers, which may be harder to track than credit cards that come with a list of purchases on a statement. Some buyers end up paying BNPL bills with savings or other forms of credit, the authors... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Financial Services; Technology

07 Sep 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Optimal Value and Growth Tilts in Long-Horizon Portfolios

Keywords: by Jakub W. Jurek & Luis M. Viceira

18 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Are Banks the ‘Bad Guys’? Overdraft Fees Are Crushing Low-Income Customers

result in banks charging consumers multiple overdraft fees rather than just one, draining significant cash from people living at the edge of their means at a time when inflation is further reducing their buying power. "The misconception... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

achievement; but it's hard to credit that given the enormous inflation of top executive compensation packages in America in the last decade. Many American firms, especially most of the large ones, are more dependent on capital markets for... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

09 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Could Clean Hydrogen Become Affordable at Scale by 2030?

Hydrogen is poised to move from the sidelines of global clean energy as the industry learns to produce it more efficiently and at lower cost, according to newly published research led by Gunther Glenk, a climate fellow with Harvard Business School's Institute for the... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Green Technology

09 Nov 2022
In Practice

COP27: What Can Business Leaders Do to Fight Climate Change Now?

The US government’s newly passed Inflation Reduction Act will direct $370 billion toward advancing renewal energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions—the country's largest investment in fighting climate change so far. As business and government leaders around the... View Details

Keywords: by Lynn Schenk and Danielle Kost

18 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Will Global Demand for Oil Peak This Decade?

Is the globe’s thirst for oil finally topping out? A major international energy watcher says yes, predicting last month that demand for global oil for transport will peak around 2026, plateau for all uses by 2028, and possibly hit a zenith by the end of the decade.... View Details

Keywords: by Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette; Energy; Industrial Products; Auto; Green Technology

25 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

A Macroeconomic View of the Current Economy

would be very surprised if China's doesn't appreciate over time. Another thing you want to look at is inflation. If a country has a higher inflation rate than its trading partners, you should expect that its currency is likely to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Dec 2017
Op-Ed

Why Employers Must Stop Requiring College Degrees For Middle-Skill Jobs

Credit: Pixsooz American companies have a problem. Over the past decade, they have begun to demand a bachelor’s degree in hiring workers for jobs that traditionally haven’t required one. This uptick in credentialing, or “degree inflation,” rested on the belief that... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller

Research Summary

Current Research

Ian studies extrinsic rewards -- monetary incentives from formal compensation systems, as well as other formal and informal external rewards-- in order to help businesses understand the tensions and tradeoffs inherent in motivating employees. His research takes a... View Details

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs

starting the venture subsequently drops out. When the venture gets financing or is ready to go public, this partner returns, perhaps with an inflated view of what his or her contribution was, demanding equity. This problem can be... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

14 Dec 2007
Op-Ed

When Your Product Becomes a Commodity

profitable customers) to extract maximum scale economies in procurement, manufacturing, and distribution. 4. If you aren't the low cost producer, complicate your pricing structures so customers can't easily make side-by-side comparisons, and provide discounts as needed... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

23 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

8 Strategies to Sustain Business Innovation

help leaders more successfully innovate and change in their industries as they parse mixed messages about the global economy, with rampant inflation wearing on consumers and investors preparing for recession. Productive Tensions covers... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

06 Nov 2008
Op-Ed

Selling Out The American Dream

against inflated home prices and requiring minimal evidence of ability to repay from borrowers. Politicians on both sides have been equally culpable in defining the American Dream in material terms, in encouraging Americans to live beyond... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

31 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator

by the same person. "It's like having a convenience store that's not manned, and everyone who comes in can either steal or pay, but there's a video camera that nobody knows about, and it's tracking everyone's every move," Larkin says. "For years, some academics got... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

25 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Is Baseball Ready to Compete for the Next Generation of Fans?

character of the game. If a batter is good enough, he will find a way to hit around a shift. It’s up to each batter to earn his own hits. That idea is basically inflating batting averages artificially. Separately, the more balanced... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Media & Broadcasting; Sports

01 Feb 2021
What Do You Think?

Has the New Economy Finally Arrived?

four years came along. It brought tax cuts and higher growth. The unemployment rate fell. Wages, particularly for low-income workers, increased. But contrary to Phillips curve thinking, inflation remained the same or even declined. Even... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Why Unqualified Candidates Get Hired Anyway

people who should not be admitted, and rejecting people who should not be rejected.” Inflated Applicants: Attribution Errors in Performance Evaluation by Professionals paints a picture of businesses repeatedly promoting or hiring... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Secino; Education; Employment

09 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

War in Ukraine: Soaring Gas Prices and the Return of Stagflation?

With the global economy still reeling from inflation and supply-chain disruptions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to further destabilize the world’s fragile recovery from COVID-19. The impact on multinational companies,... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Energy

01 Sep 2022
What Do You Think?

Is It Time to Consider Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Imports?

and sold between the two countries. Could it be defended at home as a step toward curbing inflation in the US? Maybe, although economists have told us that the effects would be small. How much of it would actually trickle down to... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

Publications