Publications

April 2010
Supplement

The Auction for Travelport (B)

By: Andrei Hagiu and Misha Sanwal

This short case presents the epilogue of The Auction for Travelport (A). Blackstone decided to bid on its own, acquired Travelport for $4.3 billion and subsequently went on to acquire another GDS, Travelspan, for $1.4 billion. It then merged the two GDSs and partially... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Private Equity; Mergers and Acquisitions; Industry Structures; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Market Transactions; Change; Auctions; Travel Industry

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

avoidance (Slemrod, 2004; Crocker and Slemrod, 2005; Chen and Chu, 2005) by showing that increases in institutional ownership are associated with increases in tax avoidance. Using the Russell index reconstitution setting to isolate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Web Surfers Have a Schedule and Stick to It

less, but you still have to get people to your site. There is no price that will cause people to allocate between different choices, which makes this unlike any other market activity.” The bursty nature of View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Web Services

15 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 15, 2007

Working PapersI'll Have the Ice Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later: Decreasing Impatience over Time in Online Grocery Orders Authors:Todd Rogers, Katherine L. Milkman, and Max H. Bazerman Abstract How do decisions for the near future... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers

optional for a transaction, including travel booking networks, restaurant ordering services, online rebate services, and some kinds of insurance. Overall, the researchers find that price coherence actually... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Air Transportation; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation

28 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

Amazon, eBay and the Bidding Wars

Beware of competitors lying in the grass, says Harvard Business School professor Alvin E. Roth. His study of bidding practices on eBay suggest that those who wait until the last minute to bid—a practice called sniping—is an effective way to not only get what you want,... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Web Services; Technology

10 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 10, 2018

Teixeira Abstract—Online retail accounts for a rapidly growing proportion of revenues in many industries. While selling online broadens firms’ access to consumers, operating margins are often lower in online... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

August 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

PayPal: The Next Chapter

By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb

Can a social purpose and stakeholder capitalism confer a powerful competitive advantage in the age of COVID-19? For PayPal, the answer is yes. After spinning off from eBay in a 2015 IPO, the company declared its purpose as "democratizing financial services" by ensuring... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Finance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Social Entrepreneurship; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

26 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

amenities, like a kitchen. And if you still prefer a hotel room, competition from Airbnb means you'll pay a lower price for it." Airbnb's rapid growth Airbnb, an online community marketplace where... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Travel

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

clubs," we show that 1) fees serve as a signal of price discounts, such that stores that charge fees are perceived as offering better deals for identical items; 2) the presence of fees can increase consumer spending and overall store... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

By: Jill Avery, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa and Devon Stewart

Armarium, a two-sided online platform that offered consumers the opportunity to rent the most coveted, current season high fashion clothing and accessories from the top global luxury brands, had emerged from its first sales season with two distinct customer segments:... View Details

02 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

Keywords: by Benjamin Edelman, Sonia Jaffe & Scott Duke Kominers; Retail; Technology

June 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Muddy Waters vs. eHealth: The Debate of a 'Lifetime'

By: Jonas Heese and Cristo Liautaud

In May 2020, an analyst was assessing eHealth’s performance. eHealth was an online / tele-sales broker of health insurance products. The stock had recently hit all-time highs, closing at a peak of $146 on March 4, 2020. But now, May 4, 2020, eHealth traded at $103. The... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Health; Insurance; Online Technology; Insurance Industry

07 Aug 2009
What Do You Think?

Why Can’t Americans Get Health Care Right?

that it will require Government subsidy while providing price leadership under a nonprofit cover, will over time drive most if not all health care to the public option (as happened with home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac),... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

October 2007
Article

The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures: An Empirical Investigation Using a Simulated Market

By: Anita Elberse and Bharat N. Anand

One of the most visible and publicized trends in the movie industry is the escalation in movie advertising expenditures over time. Yet, the returns to movie advertising are poorly understood. The main reason is that disentangling the causal effect of advertising on... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Stocks; Investment Return; Price; Revenue; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Motion Pictures and Video Industry