Publications

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Research Summary

Projects in Process

Intermediaries and Accountability in Internet Advertising

Fraud Prevention in Internet Advertising Markets

Competition in Search and Search Advertising

Gaming and Incentives from Steeply-Tiered Affiliate Commission Schedules
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June 2019
Article

Brokers vs. Retail Investors: Conflicting Interests and Dominated Products

By: Mark Egan

I study how brokers distort household investment decisions. Using a novel convertible bond dataset, I find that consumers often purchase dominated bonds—cheap and expensive versions of otherwise identical bonds coexist in the market. The empirical evidence suggests... View Details

Keywords: Brokers; Fiduciary Standard; Consumer Finance; Structured Products; Household; Investment; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Conflict of Interests

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January 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Staples (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Marco Iansiti and Barbara Feinberg

Chronicles development of a new business concept. Starts with Stemberg's search for a new employment opportunity, then provides details of his decision to launch a new venture concept through careful matching of personal capabilities and experience against a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Management Skills; Retail Industry

November 2022 (Revised May 2024)
Teaching Note

Walmart USA—Searching for Growth

By: Maria P. Roche

This teaching note is the companion to case 722-395 Walmart USA – Searching for Growth. View Details

05 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 5, 2007

Working PapersDesigning a Two-Sided Platform: When to Increase Search Costs? Authors:Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien Abstract We propose a model for analyzing an intermediary's incentives to increase the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2010
Background Note

Airline Travel in the U.S.

By: Sunil Gupta and Kavita Shukla

How should airlines respond to the rising share of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) as consumers increasingly search the web to buy tickets? View Details

Keywords: Management; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Market Participation; Agency Theory; Online Technology; Aerospace Industry; United States

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September 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Exercise

Working with Your "Shadow Partner"

By: Richard L. Nolan and Kelley Porter

Intended to introduce individuals to search engines and databases on the Internet, in particular those that are available to HBS. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Education Industry; Boston

2022
Working Paper

Flight to Safety: How Economic Downturns Affect Talent Flows to Startups

By: Shai Bernstein, Richard Townsend and Ting Xu

Using proprietary data from AngelList Talent, we study how individuals’ job search and application behavior changed during the COVID-19 downturn. We find that job seekers shifted their searches toward more established firms and away from early-stage startups, even... View Details

Keywords: Startup Labor Market; Flight To Safety; COVID-19; Recession; Business Startups; Human Capital; Business Cycles; Health Pandemics

SSRN

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Research Summary

Convergence of Media & Technology: Long-tail vs. Large body

What is the empirical relationship between preferences and technology adoption? Focus on information search & technology. Joint work with Bharat Anand View Details

15 Sep 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Time and the Value of Data

Keywords: by Ehsan Valavi, Joel Hestness, Newsha Ardalani, and Marco Iansiti; Web Services

December 2017 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Opportunity Growth at Grupo Torre Médica

By: Juan Alcácer, J. Ramon Lecuona-Torras and Katherine Grozier

Senior management must make a decision for how to grow their search fund to reach the final margins for investors. View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Growth Management; Decision Making; Strategy; Mexico; Latin America

26 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Infringing Use as a Path to Legal Consumption: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Julie Holland Mortimer

October 1998
Case

Terry Hinge & Hardware

Presents Andrew Cousin's efforts to buy a manufacturing business via a search fund. Includes the investment memorandum for the proposed purchase of Terry Hinge & Hardware. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Acquisition

April 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

AI Wars

By: Andy Wu, Matt Higgins, Miaomiao Zhang and Hang Jiang

In February 2024, the world was looking to Google to see what the search giant and long-time putative technical leader in artificial intelligence (AI) would do to compete in the massively hyped technology of generative AI. Over a year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT, a... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation

2013
Other Unpublished Work

Comments on Commitments in AT.39740 — Google

By: Benjamin Edelman and Zhenyu Lai

We evaluate Google's proposed Commitments in light of our research on the effects of Google Flight Search on traffic to competing online travel agencies. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Regulation; Google; Bias; Law; Internet; Search Technology; Technology Networks; European Union

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2022
Working Paper

Why Do Index Funds Have Market Power? Quantifying Frictions in the Index Fund Market

By: Zach Y. Brown, Mark Egan, Jihye Jeon, Chuqing Jin and Alex A. Wu

Index funds are one of the most common ways investors access financial markets and are perceived to be a transparent and low-cost alternative to active investment management. Despite these purported virtues of index fund investing and the introduction of new products... View Details

Keywords: Mutual Funds; Passive Investing; Asset Management; Financial Markets; Investment Funds; Financial Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

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October 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Sydney Loves Kevin

By: Ryan W. Buell and Himabindu Lakkaraju

Kevin Roose was a columnist and podcast host for the New York Times, who focused on technology and its effects on society. When Microsoft launched the latest version of its search engine Bing in February 2023, the company invited Roose to its Redmond campus to... View Details

Keywords: Newspapers; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Perspective; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Technology Industry

March 1998 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Egon Zehnder International: Implementing Practice Groups

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

Since its creation in 1964, executive search firm Egon Zehnder International (EZI) marketed its consultants as "generalists." As searches became more global and industry-specific in the 1990s, CEO Daniel Meiland decided the firm needed to offer specialized services. By... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Global Strategy; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry; Service Industry