Unit Economics - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Oct 2000
News

Internet Tsunami

Hiroshi Mikitani (MBA '93) is the founder, president, and CEO of Rakuten, Japan's leading online shopping destination. He believes that because the Internet allows merchants to circumvent the many intermediaries who jack up prices in Japan, "it is going to completely... View Details

Keywords: Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

March 2006 (Revised April 2015)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (B)- Timeline of Changes Relevant to the Chinese Renminbi

By: Laura Alfaro and Rafael M. Di Tella

On July 21, 2005 China revalued its decade-long quasi-fixed exchange rate of approximately 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar by 2.1% to 8.11% and, at the same time, introduced a more market-based exchange rate system. Many analysts and economists were disappointed with what... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Exchange Rate; China; Macroeconomics; Trade; Currency Exchange Rate; Governance Controls; Policy; China; United States

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November 2011
Case

Envision Charlotte: Building an Energy Cluster

By: William W. George

Keywords: Energy; Industry Clusters; Economic Growth; Infrastructure; North Carolina

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19 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Business Research that Makes for Smarter Public Policy

Ginger Jin, of the Maryland Center for Economics and Policy, is just one example. They invited regulatory officials from several leading federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Mar 2020
News

Green Light

told Lo. “Because if the unit economics of this thing turn out to be even remotely true, it’s the future of food.” Lo’s interest was piqued. She knew almost nothing about farming and had always just trusted... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; photographed by Scott Nobles

25 Aug 2015
First Look

First Look Tuesday

monetary effect of athletic success to many academic institutions in the United States. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49494 Forthcoming IMF Economic Review An Evaluation of... View Details

06 Apr 2016
What Do You Think?

As Tim Cook, How Would You Tackle Apple's Next Challenge?

Summing Up--Is Product Security A Potential Distraction for Apple’s Leadership? The saga of Apple’s stand-off with the United States government over the Company’s refusal to assist the FBI in hacking its own iPhone product to aid in a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer

25 Sep 2008
News

Been There, Seen That

the energy crisis, and (2) the economic meltdown. I’ve been rereading Energy Future, HBS professor emeritus Robert Stobaugh’s 1979 best-seller that predicted America’s dependence on foreign oil could well lead the country into serious... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Government; Management

Fast Answer

Music & Activism: Market Research Resources

code/local level? Cambridge, MA Town Gown Reports – yearly report produced for the City of Cambridge by each local university, including demographic information on students SimplyAnalytics generates tables and maps for the View Details

July 1991
Case

Managing the U.S. Dollar in the 1980s

By: W. Carl Kester and Richard P. Melnick

Provides numerical data and alternative explanations concerning the U.S. dollar's rise and subsequent fall in value from 1981 through 1987. Students are challenged to study the evidence and make their own inferences concerning the dollar's movements and the degree of... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Theory; United States

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January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Supplement

The Congressional Oversight Panel's Valuation of the TARP Warrants (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The Congressional Oversight Panel wants to value the warrants issued to the government in connection with the TARP investments of 2008, in order to increase the transparency of options repurchases. The case describes the methodology used to value the warrants. This... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Public Opinion; Valuation; Banking Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

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20 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals

At a recent Harvard Business School conference, dozens of CEOs committed to the idea of working toward "higher-ambition" goals that go beyond just short-term shareholder value. Inspired by the book Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

17 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why E-commerce Didn’t Die With the Fall of Webvan

case was taught, the general consensus was that the economics of the business were very shaky. Q: How so? A: There were two parts to the economics. You could say there was the part of the business that ran in the digital world and there... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products; Retail

26 Apr 2011
News

BioMine Strikes Gold

Fellowship winner. The organization is based in New Delhi, India, where it provides economically viable housing solutions for under-served populations, starting with India and for communities around the world. (Watch Mehra explain how... View Details

Keywords: Mining (except Oil and Gas); Mining; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

24 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Climate Finance in Africa: Health, Self-Interest, Avoided Future Cost

investment – at huge scale – with transparency and accountability – to attack these challenges? Papa Njiae, Madani Tall, Pippa Tubman Armerding and John Macomber. I’m the faculty chair of the HBS Africa Research Center and a member of the Finance View Details

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

responses by firms that receive poor ratings, especially those that face lower cost opportunities to improve and that operate in highly regulated industries. Our empirical analysis examines how nearly 600 firms in the United States... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 13, 2025
Article

Research: The Costs of Circumventing Tariffs

By: Jaya Y. Wen, Ebehi Iyoha, Edmund Malesky and Sung-Ju Wu

When tariffs are levied against a specific country, that country might attempt to circumvent the tariff by rerouting products through a third country to avoid the higher taxes. Research in the aftermath of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war examined this phenomenon, finding... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Global Strategy; International Relations; United States; China

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12 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 12, 2008

Working Papers Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-term Consequences (revised) Author: Lakshmi Iyer Abstract This paper compares economic outcomes across areas in India which were under direct British colonial rule with... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Profile

Damien Hooper-Campbell

was to major in political science. But when he discovered economics, he saw that "politics could be seen as a part of economics – and economics was the key to so many things happening in the... View Details

December 2004 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Brcko and the Arizona Market

By: Bruce R. Scott and Edward Murphy

Explores the role of the U.S. military in facilitating the establishment of a spectacularly successful free trade area in one of the most devastated areas of Bosnia. NATO's imposition of law and order, plus protection from local political protection rackets, led to... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Trade; Economic Growth; Industry Growth; Government Legislation; Emerging Markets; Bosnia and Hercegovina; United States

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