Publications

Research Summary

Accountability in the World Bank

This research, now complete, examines the roles of civil society actors in advocating for greater accountability at the World Bank at three levels of decision-making: (1) the project level, (2) the policy level, and (3) the board governance level. The research finds... View Details

Research Summary

The Ownership and Trading of Debt Claims in Chapter 11 Restructurings (with Victoria Ivashina and David Smith)

This paper explores a novel data set that identifies over 71,000 investors holding debt claims of 136 companies filing for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during the period of 1998 through 2009. We investigate how concentration in debt ownership relates to... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Corporate Misgovernance at the World Bank

By: Ashwin Kaja and Eric D. Werker

We test for evidence of corporate misgovernance at the World Bank. Most major decisions at the World Bank are made by its Board of Executive Directors. However, in any given year the majority of the Bank's member countries do not get a chance to serve on this powerful... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

October 1996 (Revised December 1997)
Case

American Cyanamid (A): Boardroom Response to a Hostile Takeover Offer

American Home Products' (AHP) $9 billion hostile takeover of American Cyanamid (Cyanamid) was the largest mergers and-acquistions transaction in 1994, and made AHP the fourth largest pharmaceutical firm in the United States. At the time of AHP's offer, Cyanamid had... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Research Summary

Fabrizio Ferri's research focuses on a number of corporate governance issues, with particular emphasis on executive compensation and shareholder activism. His dissertation investigates the determinants and consequences of firms' decision to reprice... View Details

January 1999
Article

An Analysis of Value Destruction and Recovery in the Alliance and Proposed Merger of Volvo and Renault

By: Robert Bruner

Volvo's attempt to merge with Renault in 1993 temporarily destroyed SEK 8.6 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) in Volvo shareholder wealth. This study traces the destruction to hubris, managerialism, and the escalation of commitment—elements suggested in previous research. In... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Institutional Investors; Alliances; Privatization; Mergers and Acquisitions; Institutional Investing; Auto Industry

2021
Working Paper

Being the Boss: Gig Workers' Value of Flexible Work

By: Laura Katsnelson and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Workers who join the gig economy face a challenging trade-off. Gig work provides worktime flexibility and a sense of being one’s own boss, but gig workers forgo certain protections that employees enjoy. In this paper, we study the work patterns of a large sample of... View Details

Keywords: Gig Workers; Flexible Work Arrangements; Worker Welfare; Labor; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

05 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

Lessons in Decision-Making: Confident People Aren't Always Correct (Except When They Are)

vote for the accuracy of their own solution to each task. These decisions served to find out whether the aggregate outcomes that emerge from people self-selecting into participating more or less aggressively in an auction, market, or... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

18 Apr 2022
HBS Case

Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

move, built consensus, and communicated effectively, Riedel says. The company undoubtedly benefited from the fact that Stack controlled nearly two-thirds of the company’s common share votes and had the personal authority to take a moral... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

2013
Case

Career Pathways, Performance Pay, and Peer-review Promotion in Baltimore City Public Schools

By: Susan Moore Johnson, John J-H Kim, Geoff Marietta, S. Elisabeth Faller and James Noonan

In the fall of 2012, Dr. Andres Alonso had much to celebrate about in his five-year tenure as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, including the approval and implementation of an innovative teachers' contract with a jointly-governed four-tier career pathway that tied... View Details

Keywords: Labor Management; Public Education; PELP; Union; Compensation; Collaboration; Public Education Leadership Project; Education; Labor; Compensation and Benefits; Education Industry; United States

January 2022 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Steem Versus Hive: Testing Blockchain Governance

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

This case examines a pivotal governance conflict that occurred in 2020 when Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain, acquired Steemit Inc., the company behind a popular social media platform operating on the Steem blockchain. Steem, launched in 2016 by Daniel... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Mergers and Acquisitions; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Social and Collaborative Networks; Technology Industry

December 2017 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Tesla's Bid for SolarCity

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Raaj Zutshi

In October 2016, Tesla asked its shareholders to ratify their $2.4 billion bid for SolarCity. Tesla had announced a series of large projects in the preceding months including the unveiling of the Model 3, the new Solar Roof, and pushing forward the opening of the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business and Shareholder Relations; Project Finance

October 2002 (Revised November 2002)
Case

The EU's 13th Directive on Takeover Bids: Unlucky for Some?

By: Huw Pill and Ingrid Vogel

In the late 1990s, the United States boomed in the context of the so-called New Economy. The countries of the European Union--despite their progress with integration in the form of the Single Market 1992 program and the adoption of a single currency in January... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Corporate Governance; Germany; European Union

15 Mar 2024
HBS Case

Let's Talk: Why It's Time to Stop Avoiding Taboo Topics at Work

global businesses where if we aren’t talking about the politics in those countries, how do we have a proper supply chain? Do we just guess?” Wing asks. While personal voting records and political party affiliations don’t need to be... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

September 2024
Article

Political Elite Cues and Attitude Formation in Post-Conflict Contexts

By: Natalia Garbiras-Díaz, Miguel Garcia-Sanchez and Aila M. Matanock

Civil conflicts typically end with negotiated settlements, but many settlements fail, often during the implementation stage when average citizens have increasing influence. Citizens sometimes evaluate peace agreements by voting on referendums or the negotiating... View Details

Keywords: Civil Unrest; Peace Process; Political Leadership; Peace; Politics; Policy Change; Policy; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Governance; Political Elections; Civil Society or Community; Negotiation; Negotiation Participants; Public Relations Industry; Colombia; Latin America; South America

January 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Ford Motor Company's Value Enhancement Plan

By: Andre F. Perold

In April 2000, Ford Motor Co. announced a shareholder Value Enhancement Plan (VEP) to significantly recapitalize the firm's ownership structure. Ford had accumulated $23 billion in cash reserves and under the VEP would return as much as $10 billion of this cash to... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Capital Structure; Cash; Financial Liquidity; Policy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Auto Industry

February 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Poseidon Carlsbad: Desalination and the San Diego County Water Authority

By: John Macomber

Extreme drought conditions in California have significant impacts on the ability of the San Diego County Water Authority to provide adequate water for current users. Water shortfalls also could curtail the economic development of one of the fastest growing regions in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships; Resource Allocation; Public Sector; Private Sector; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Infrastructure; Green Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; California

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Sam Walton: Great From the Start

Street had to close its doors. You can't say we ran that guy—the landlord's son—out of business. His customers were the ones who shut him down. They voted with their feet." Perhaps Walton did not have revenge uppermost in mind. But... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow; Retail

2014
Article

Models of Caring, or Acting as if One Cared, About the Welfare of Others

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This paper surveys the theoretical literature in which people are modeled as taking other people's payoffs into account either because this affects their utility directly or because they wish to impress others with their social-mindedness. Key experimental results that... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving