Publications

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07 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Big Infrastructure May Not Always Produce Big Benefits

of incumbents so there can be better investments and so we can learn about broader economic phenomena. This is particularly true and interesting in developing View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Construction

October 1986
Supplement

Americana (B)

A completely unexpected telephone call comes from the Jamaican Prime Minister. The government's position provides an interesting look into government-business relationships, especially in third-world nations. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations; Jamaica

01 Mar 2025
News

Forward Thinking

There was a time when human activity in outer space was a highly centralized, government-led endeavor, says Professor and Senior Associate Dean Matthew Weinzierl. But that era has passed: Over the past two decades, a calcified space bureaucracy has given way to a... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; Illustrations by Franziska Barczyk; Space Research and Technology; Government

March 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Doing Business in São Paulo, Brazil

By: Laura Alfaro, Hise O. Gibson, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Pedro Levindo

The case gives readers an overview of key factors of doing business in Brazil, including Brazil’s economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economy; Macroeconomics; Business History; International Relations; Political Elections; Taxation; Consumer Behavior; Brazil; Latin America; Sao Paulo

Educators

01 Dec 2003
News

The Next Big Thing

prominence to the role of dynamic clusters as a key to regional and national economic success. He defines clusters as geographic concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular... View Details

Keywords: life sciences; Scientific Research and Development Services

01 Mar 2014
News

Faculty Q&A: The Future of Foreign Aid

worked for the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Is the MCC development model an effective one? The MCC, a US agency established in 2004, is viewed by many as a success, in part because it aims to depoliticize aid. To be eligible for MCC... View Details

Keywords: foreign aid; Government

08 Mar 2017
Blog Post

Education Sector Opportunities at HBS

Education Network, the Gates Foundation, New Schools Venture Fund, and the Harlem Children's Zone have in common? Our HBS friends work there. The education sector needs talent and expertise from a variety... View Details

01 Mar 2023
News

The Exchange: Micro Management

convincing story about the sector’s success, but to what extent have the loans meaningfully improved livelihoods? That question has been more difficult to track, say Natalia Rigol and Ben Roth. Both View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

20 May 2013
Research & Ideas

The Long-Term Fix to US Competitiveness

16-to 24-year-olds with a high school education are out of school and out of work, he said. Yet, "Thirty percent of jobs in this country are middle-skilled jobs, which means you need a high school... View Details

Keywords: by Stephanie Schorow & Harvard Gazette

24 Sep 2020
News

The Race for a Vaccine

accusations of price gouging and calls for generic alternatives. The few big companies still investing in vaccines saw their fortunes take an upward turn in the mid-2010s, as countries with growing... View Details

Keywords: April White; COVID-19; Scientific Research and Development Services

October 2006
Background Note

China's Financial Markets: 2006

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Li Jin and Tracy Manty

Provides an overview of capital markets in mainland China, evaluating the up-to-date performance of key components of the markets, highlighting concerns as China strives to modernize its financial system to meet global competition and support its fast growing economy. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Markets; Competition; China

May 2020
Article

Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Inter-Generational Investment

By: Nava Ashraf, Natalie Bau, Corinne Low and Kathleen McGinn

Using a randomized control trial, we examine whether offering adolescent girls nonmaterial resources—specifically, negotiation skills—can improve educational outcomes in a low-income country. In so doing, we provide the first evidence on the effects of an intervention... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Competency and Skills; Training; Age; Gender; Education; Investment; Outcome or Result; Developing Countries and Economies

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August 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Case

Veraguas (B): Engine of Change

By: George C. Lodge

Keywords: Change Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Development Economics; Panama

February 1997 (Revised October 2002)
Case

The Exxel Group: September 1995

By: Josh Lerner, Alex Hoye and Gonzalo Pacanins

The Exxel Group, a private equity group based in Buenos Aires, is considering a buyout of Argencard, Mastercard's exclusive licensee in Argentina. To complete the deal, however, it will need to raise additional financing from U.S. investors. Both the valuation and the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Developing Countries and Economies; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment; Negotiation Deal; Problems and Challenges; Valuation; United States; Buenos Aires

Educators

April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Malaysia: People First?

By: Diego A. Comin and John Abraham

On March 30, 2010, Prime Minister Najib Razak presented his new economic model (NEM) for Malaysia. With the goal of raising per capita income to over $15,000 by 2020 from the current level of $6,634, the plan included measures to improve human capital, reduce migration... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Problems and Challenges; Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Development Economics; Emerging Markets; Transformation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Wealth and Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Malaysia

Educators

1969
Report

Some Proposals for Ghana's Industrialization Policies

By: Louis T Wells Jr

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Policy; Ghana