Publications

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05 Jan 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Using Behavioral Science to Improve Well-Being for Social Workers

Keywords: Re: Ashley V. Whillans

January 2024
Article

Helping Children Catch Up: Early Life Shocks and the PROGRESA Experiment

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Theresa Molina, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

Can investing in children who faced adverse events in early childhood help them catch up? We answer this question using two orthogonal sources of variation – resource availability at birth (local rainfall) and cash incentives for school enrollment – to identify the... View Details

Keywords: Children; Outcome or Result; Welfare; Early Childhood Education; Weather

Article

Corruption and Firms

By: Emanuele Colonnelli and Mounu Prem

We estimate the causal real economic effects of a randomized anti-corruption crackdown on local governments in Brazil using rich micro-data on corruption and firms. After anti-corruption audits, municipalities experience an increase in the number of firms concentrated... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economy; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Brazil

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August 2023
Article

Anti-Corruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China

By: Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, Chaopeng Wu and Qi Zhang

We leverage an exogenous shock—the crackdown on corrupt Chinese officials beginning in 2012—and examine how the allocation of research subsidies and innovative outcomes were affected. We argue that the staggered removal of provincial heads on corruption charges during... View Details

Keywords: Government Subsidies; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Crime and Corruption; Government and Politics; China

Find at Harvard

2014
Working Paper

Evolution of Land Distribution in West Bengal 1967-2004: Role of Land Reform and Demographic Changes

By: Pranab Bardhan, Michael Luca, Dilip Mookherjee and Francisco Pino

This paper studies how land reform and population growth affect land inequality and landlessness, focusing particularly on indirect effects owing to their influence on household divisions and land market transactions. Theoretical predictions of a model of household... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Land Reform; Household Division; Land Markets; Equality and Inequality; Property; West Bengal

SSRN

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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

July 2010
Article

The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and U.S. Ethnic Invention

By: William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln

This study evaluates the impact of high-skilled immigrants on U.S. technology formation. We use reduced-form specifications that exploit large changes in the H-1B visa program. Higher H-1B admissions increase immigrant science and engineering (SE) employment and... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Immigration; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Business and Government Relations; Science; United States

May 2007 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Bankinter: Deploying the Mortgage Simulator to the Branches

Describes how Bankinter, a mid-sized Spanish bank, altered the information set available to its customer-facing employees. In the spring of 2003, Bankinter introduced an Excel-based program called the Mortgage Simulator that helped branch managers calculate the price... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Banks and Banking; Mortgages; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Spain

June 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Siemens Medical Solutions: Strategic Turnaround

By: D. Quinn Mills and Julian Kurz

Describes how Siemens Medical Solutions (MED) accomplished a remarkable turnaround from a money-losing operation to one of Siemens' most profitable divisions. By late 1996, a challenging market environment in the health care industry as well as inefficiencies in the... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Globalized Firms and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

December 1992 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Siemens Corporation (A): Corporate Advertising for 1992

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

Describes the approach of the German-based multinational company, Siemens Corp., to establishing an identity in the United States. The specific goals for the 1991-92 corporate advertising campaign are described. Examples of print and television messages are included,... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Trade; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Performance Evaluation; Germany; United States

January 1991 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (A)

In 1970 Xerox had a very progressive affirmative action program yet, once hired, black employees faced serious problems, due both to overt discrimination and to their exclusion from the informal networks of support, information and mentoring that the other salespeople... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Alliances; Race Characteristics; Employees; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; United States