Publications

Article

A 'Present' for the Future: The Unexpected Value of Rediscovery

By: Ting Zhang, Tami Kim, Alison Wood Brooks, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton

Although documenting everyday activities may seem trivial, four studies reveal that creating records of the present generates unexpected benefits by allowing future rediscoveries. In Study 1, we use a "time capsule" paradigm to show that individuals underestimate the... View Details

Keywords: History; Information Management; Cognition and Thinking

09 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 9, 2018

by the inability to make a downward social comparison; namely, when no one is behind a queuing individual, that person is less certain that continuing to wait is worthwhile. Furthermore, this paper provides evidence that queue... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Why Giving to Others Makes Us Happy

donating a lump sum, and telling employees after that fact. “That’s not likely going to feel as good,” Whillans says. 2. People prefer to have a choice about helping others People seem to express greater happiness when they have control... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Article

Populism and the Return of the 'Paranoid Style': Some Evidence and a Simple Model of Demand for Incompetence as Insurance against Elite Betrayal

By: Rafael Di Tella and Julio J. Rotemberg

We present a simple model of populism as the rejection of “disloyal” leaders. We show that adding the assumption that people are worse off when they experience low income as a result of leader betrayal (than when it is the result of bad luck) to a simple voter choice... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Corruption; Betrayal; Incompetence; Voting; Attitudes

04 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

Best of HBS Working Knowledge 2009

What were the management trends in 2009? Fascination with social networking and rethinking common wisdom about goal setting. Here are the Top 10 articles and Top 5 working papers that appeared in HBS Working Knowledge in 2009. Enjoy! TOP... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

May 2024
Article

Selfish Corporations

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Niels Gormsen and Timothy McQuade

We study how perceptions of corporate responsibility influence policy preferences and the effectiveness of corporate communication when agents have imperfect memory recall. Using a new large-scale survey of U.S. citizens on their support for corporate bailouts, we... View Details

Keywords: Public Opinion; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Policy

Purchase

March 2025
Article

Boomerasking: Answering Your Own Questions

By: Alison Wood Brooks and Michael Yeomans

Humans spend much of their lives in conversation, where they tend to hold many simultaneous motives. We examine two fundamental desires: to be responsive to a partner and to disclose about oneself. We introduce one pervasive way people attempt to reconcile these... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Motivation and Incentives; Perception; Behavior

13 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It)

communications device or even a personal care product invokes deep thoughts and feelings about social bonding can be very helpful to R&D experts. In the case of a communications device, this suggests that tactile experiences of View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

2016
Working Paper

Meet the Oligarchs: Business Legitimacy, State Capacity and Taxation

By: Rafael Di Tella, Juan Dubra and Alejandro Lagomarsino

We analyze the role of people’s beliefs about the rich in the determination of public policy in the context of a randomized online survey experiment. A question we study is the desirability of government-private sector meetings, a variable we argue is connected to... View Details

Keywords: Business Legitimacy; State Capacity; Meetings; Taxes; Top 1%; Regulation; Prejudice and Bias; Values and Beliefs; Taxation; Business and Government Relations

SSRN

2025
Working Paper

Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI

By: Nicholas G. Otis, Solène Delecourt, Katelynn Cranney and Rembrand Koning

Generative AI has the potential to transform productivity and reduce inequality, but only if adopted broadly. In this paper, we show that recently identified gender gaps in generative AI use are nearly universal. Synthesizing data from 18 studies covering more than... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Technology Adoption; Behavior

20 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Looking to Leave a Mark? Memorable Leaders Don't Just Spout Statistics, They Tell Stories

numbers, but by natural language, by stories.” The human mind’s love of stories over statistics can have serious implications that go beyond the question of the best approach for leaders. The preference for anecdote over stats can fuel... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

08 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Truth in Giving: Experimental Evidence on the Welfare Effects of Informed Giving to the Poor

Keywords: by Christina Fong & Felix Oberholzer-Gee

15 May 2024
Research & Ideas

A Major Roadblock for Autonomous Cars: Motorists Believe They Drive Better

automation but prefer higher levels of automation for others than themselves,” De Freitas says. “This is because they think that they are better at driving than increasingly automated systems. We believe this creates a barrier to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Transportation; Auto

Article

Guilt Enhances the Sense of Control and Drives Risky Judgments

By: Maryam Kouchaki, Christopher Oveis and F. Gino

The present studies investigate the hypothesis that guilt influences risk-taking by enhancing one's sense of control. Across multiple inductions of guilt, we demonstrate that experimentally induced guilt enhances optimism about risks for the self (Study 1), preferences... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Emotions

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Web

Help - Alumni

by using any of your preferred email clients: Android , Apple Mail , or Outlook . It will ask for your HBS email address and password to connect your account to the app. I had Office 365 as an MBA student or Executive Education... View Details

Web

Marketing - Faculty & Research

Social networks and user generated content have opened a new way for consumers to engage with each other as well as with brands and companies. There are significant changes in the attitudes of consumers and companies about View Details

January–February 2025
Article

What People Still Get Wrong About Negotiations: They Assume the Size of the Pie Is Fixed—and So Miss Opportunities to Create Value

By: Max H. Bazerman

Most executives leave value on the negotiating table, for two main reasons: First, many executives mistakenly believe that they’re negotiating over a fixed pie and that gains for one side necessarily mean losses for the other. Second, they focus exclusively on how to... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Tactics; Value; Communication; Trust