Publications

30 Jan 2006
HBS Case

The Case of the Mystery Writer’s Brand

As a longtime authority on marketing communications, HBS professor John Deighton has analyzed the consumer-product relationship from every angle. But when he heard the best-selling author James Patterson address a meeting of the Direct... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

2018
Book

The Academy of Fisticuffs: Political Economy and Commercial Society in Enlightenment Italy

By: Sophus A. Reinert

The terms “capitalism” and “socialism” continue to haunt our political and economic imaginations, but we rarely consider their interconnected early history. Even the 18th century had its “socialists,” but unlike those of the 19th, they paradoxically sought to make the... View Details

Keywords: Enlightenment; Political Economy; Italy; Commercial Society; Economic Systems; Trade; History; Markets; Society; Italy

20 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

Gaps in the Historical Record: Development of the Electronics Industry

new electronic-based century. I hope that this review of the opportunities for writing the history of electronic-based businesses and industries—the industries that created the infrastructure for the new... View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.; Consumer Products

October 2024
Teaching Note

Taiwan After Globalization: Twilight of the Developmental State?

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-032. In the last 70 years, the small island of Taiwan has achieved what many believe to be a “miracle”: its economy has grown at a record-setting pace, driven and guided by one of the world's most successful set of industrial... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Trade; Policy; Government and Politics; Globalized Economies and Regions; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry; Taiwan; China; Asia; United States

July – August 2009
Article

Preferential Treatment: The New Face of Protectionism?

Free trade agreements have increased dramatically over the past decade. This forethought considers how they present global executives with thorny strategic and operational decisions, a piece of which has to do with China's entry into the FTA scene. View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Trade; Strategy; Operations; Decisions; Practice; China

2018
Working Paper

The Digital Commons: Tragedy or Opportunity? A Reflection on the 50th Anniversary of Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons

By: Frank Nagle

On the 50th anniversary of Garrett Hardin’s “The Tragedy of the Commons,” this article considers the benefits and potential downsides of the digital commons, which emerged well after Hardin wrote his seminal article. Unlike the physical world Hardin wrote about, the... View Details

Keywords: Digital Commons; Economics; Society; Transformation; Opportunities

SSRN

2011
Working Paper

Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm Level Evidence

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of the business cycle. Yet fluctuations in bank-loan supply have been hard to quantify in the time-series. While loan issuance falls in recessions, it is not clear if this is due to... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Banks and Banking; Bonds; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

SSRN

23 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

The Future of the Venture Capital Cycle

implies that the side effects associated with periods of rapid growth generate sufficient difficulties that periods of retrenchment are sure to follow. Neoclassical economics... View Details

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers & Josh Lerner; Financial Services

01 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

The Big Influence of Small Countries in the United Nations Secretariat

In the past 35 years, however, the US has diverged from positions of its allies, leading to a decline in its relative power within the organization. Perhaps the most surprising finding in the survey is the degree to which burgeoning View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2017
Book

Democracy: A Case Study

By: David Moss

Democracy: A Case Study invites readers to experience American history anew and come away with a deeper understanding of the greatest strengths and vulnerabilities of the nation’s democracy as well as its resilience over time. The book adapts the case method to... View Details

Keywords: Democracy; Political Economy; Constitution; Productive Tension; Culture Of Democracy; E Pluribus Unum; United States; History; Government and Politics; Governance; Economic Systems; United States

17 May 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Keywords: by Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim

Article

The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

Three trends will drive urban investment, development, and entrepreneurship in the next two decades. This article provides tools to identify the situations and circumstances that will be most favorable for private sector involvement in consideration of these trends.... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Demographics; Private Sector; Investment; City; Infrastructure; Opportunities; Urban Development

March 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Service on the Internet: The Effect of Physical Service on Scalability

Develops a framework for exploring the idea of, how service affects the economics of Internet organizations. Development of the framework requires an understanding of the different forms service takes in organizations that conduct business through the Internet. These... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Service Industry

Educators

08 May 2013
Research & Ideas

A Company’s Evolving View of Gender Equity

identify, validate, and implement change. During analysis phases, outside experts provide credibility; during action phases, they offer accountability. The future of work As the authors suggest, technology and growing View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting

2012
Chapter

The Availability and Utilization of 401(k) Loans

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We document the loan provisions in 401(k) savings plans and how participants use 401(k) loans. Although only about 22% of savings plan participants who are allowed to borrow from their 401(k) have such a loan at any given point in time, almost half had used a 401(k)... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Finance; Retirement; Financing and Loans; Microeconomics

2024
Working Paper

How Real Is Hypothetical?: A High-Stakes Test of the Allais Paradox

By: Uri Gneezy, Yoram Halevy, Brian Hall, Theo Offerman and Jeroen van de Ven

Researchers in behavioral and experimental economics often argue that only incentive-compatible mechanisms can elicit effort and truthful responses from participants. Others argue that participants make less-biased decisions when the stakes are sufficiently high.... View Details

Keywords: Research; Behavioral Finance; Economics; Behavior; Prejudice and Bias