Publications

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

business. In Europe, Unilever's organizational legacy, as well as social legislation in most of Europe, imposed constraints on what could be achieved in the rationalization of production facilities and brands. In some respects the most... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

01 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

Keywords: by Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo & Robert C. Merton; Construction; Real Estate

Web

1929: The Great Crash - Bubbles, Panics & Crashes – Historical Collections – Harvard Business School

securities legislation of 1933–1934 and subsequent founding of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have been regarded as a successful chapter in financial regulation. These efforts bear the stamp of Harvard Professor of Law James... View Details

February 2016 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The Battle over the Initiative and Referendum in Massachusetts (1918)

By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

On Election Day in 1918, Massachusetts voters would have to decide not only on their preferred candidates for governor and U.S. Senator, but also whether or not to approve 19 proposed amendments to the state constitution. By far the most controversial of these would... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government Legislation; Power and Influence; History; Massachusetts

02 Mar 2016
News

David Moss is Rewriting History

her presentations filled with motion and funny sound effects, and the students reflect that enthusiasm back to her. The case is complex in its details—focusing on the legislative and judicial machinations over New York State’s 1849 Free... View Details

Keywords: April White

Web

Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

systematic runs of short-term creditors, still imposes great risks on the global financial system. Hal warns that recent legislative efforts by the US congress have weakened the ability of regulatory bodies to adequately combat contagion.... View Details

30 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

Repugnant Markets and How They Get That Way

"Kidney exchange is something we have gotten going in New England and elsewhere that doesn't involve any monetary transfers," Roth explains. "It has not aroused any repugnance at all. We've just gotten legislation through... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

31 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

Can a ‘Basic Bundle’ of Health Insurance Cure Coverage Gaps and Spur Innovation?

team says. Deciding who makes decisions So, who gets to make those choices? One possibility would be to set broad guidelines via legislation and empower a medical board or government agency to define the details, the researchers argue.... View Details

Keywords: by Kasandra Brabaw; Insurance; Health

April 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Reaganomics: Impact and Legacy

By: Tom Nicholas, John Masko and Matthew G. Preble

During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and his administration instituted several far-reaching economic policies that had both near- and long-term impacts on such aspects of the U.S. economy as monetary policy, inflation, the tax structure, and the role of... View Details

Keywords: Wealth and Poverty; Business and Government Relations; Leadership; Taxation; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Inflation and Deflation; Money; Economy; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; United States

Web

The 20th Century Zeitgeist - Leadership

legislation overturned Influence: High 30 1930 s 19 Unemployment peaks at 25% Unions surge, adding 7 million members in a single year Sit-down strikes at GM and other auto makers Government work programs launched: CCC, PWA, WPA CIO union... View Details

Web

Modern Capitalism: Mergers and Syndicates - Railroads and the Transformation of Capitalism | Harvard Business School

in favor of the railroads and firms having interests in each other. “[The railroads] sought to influence the people who could regulate and control the bottlenecks and choke points of legislation and administration,” Richard White... View Details

15 Nov 2018
Book

Can the Global Food Industry Overcome Public Distrust?

JamesBrey Food is the largest segment of the global economy. It is also widely recognized as more critical for human health than any pharmaceutical drug on the planet. But significant changes in the industry are making people lose trust in many institutions involved in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Agriculture & Agribusiness

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

years. The British merchants also sometimes formed locally registered firms, especially in British colonies where the company legislation was modelled on Britain, which mobilized the pools of capital accumulated by resident Europeans in... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

May 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Bank of America Acquires Merrill Lynch (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Charles E. Beresford

On December 22, 2008, Bank of America (BofA) chairman and CEO Ken Lewis convened a special board of directors meeting to review his company's pending acquisition of investment bank Merrill Lynch. Negotiations for the acquisition had begun a few months earlier, during... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Government Legislation; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry