Publications

July 2011
Article

Institutions and Inequality in Single Party Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Vietnam and China

Despite the fact that China and Vietnam have been the world's two fastest growing economies over the past two decades, their income inequality patterns are very different. In this paper, we take a deep look at political institutions in the two countries, demonstrating... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Developing Countries and Economies; Motivation and Incentives; Government and Politics; Policy; Power and Influence; Decision Making; Income; China; Viet Nam

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15 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 15, 2008

China's economy in context; and finally (3) "China and the Global Economy" shows how China's engagement with the global economy has... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2015
Article

The Multinational Firm and Geopolitics: Europe, Russian Energy, and Power

By: Rawi Abdelal

Multinational firms unavoidably exert influence over politics through power that is generated by both structure and process. While both political economy and management scholars address international firms, neither field has an adequate understanding of the reciprocal... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Government and Politics; Economics; Europe; Russia

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May 2007 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Ernesto Tornquist: Making a Fortune on the Pampas

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrea Lluch

Examines the career of Ernesto Tornquist, a cosmopolitan financier considered to be the most significant entrepreneur in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. Tornquist created a diversified business group, linked to the political elite, which integrated Argentina... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Development Economics; Partners and Partnerships; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Trade; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economy; Performance; Argentina

23 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

China’s 60-Year Road from Revolution to World Power

They saw a stagnant or even declining economy during China's Republican period, divided sharply between the internationally-oriented port cities and the unchanging, "feudal" interior, with its... View Details

Keywords: by William C. Kirby

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

and Sugata Roychowdhury Abstract We examine the accrual choices of outsourcing firms with links to U.S. congressional candidates during the 2004 elections, when corporate outsourcing was a major campaign issue. We find that politically... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2006 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Capitalism and Democracy in a New World

By: Bruce R. Scott, Sarah Potvin and Alison Adams

Focuses on the formulation of the Northwestern Ordinance as the core of a development strategy for capitalism and democracy in the United States. A precursor to the Constitution, the Northwestern Ordinance was based on the New England Model to achieve a broad and... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Economic Systems; Income; Laws and Statutes; Government and Politics; Growth and Development Strategy; Power and Influence; United States

August 2017 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Exotic Interest Rate Swaps: Snowballs in Portugal

By: Boris Vallee, Patrick Augustin and Philippe Rich

This case explores a complex swap transaction implemented by Metro do Porto in 2007. It represents an opportunity to study fixed income derivative instruments, such as plain-vanilla swaps and structured swaps, as well as understand the opportunities and challenges of... View Details

Keywords: Swaps; Public Finance; Structured Finance; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Public Sector; Transportation Industry; Rail Industry; Portugal

October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Automercados Plaza's: Surviving Venezuela's Hyperinflation

By: Alberto Cavallo, Mariana Cal and Carla Larangeira

Under the rule of presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela experienced one of the worst economic and political meltdowns in modern history, culminating with a massive hyperinflation. Remarkably, during this dramatic times Automercados Plaza's had grown to... View Details

Keywords: Hyperinflation; Populism; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Management; Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Retail Industry; South America; Venezuela

December 2013 (Revised May 2015)
Supplement

Land Acquisition in India: Public Purpose and Private Property (C)

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Rachna Tahilyani

Keywords: India; Special Economic Zones; Land Markets; Land Politics; Industrial Development; Land Reform; Developing Markets; Developing Countries; Industrialization; Industrial Property; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Economics; Economy; Macroeconomics; Social Issues; India; Asia; South Asia

11 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Branding Sells Cereal, Handbags, and Vacations. Can It Sell a Country?

Santa Clara County into Silicon Valley. “Countries are beginning to realize—Israel being one of them—that they need to engage in public diplomacy, not just a foreign diplomacy, and in place branding, not just political advocacy, ” says... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Tourism

2012
Working Paper

Big BRICs, Weak Foundations: The Beginning of Public Elementary Education in Brazil, Russia, India, and China

By: Latika Chaudhary, Aldo Musacchio, Steven Nafziger and Se Yan

Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50% of the world's population in 1910,... View Details

Keywords: History; Middle School Education; Data and Data Sets; Residency; Integration; Perspective; Surveys; Geographic Location; Welfare or Wellbeing; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development; China; India; Brazil; Russia

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2018
Introduction

Introduction

By: Sophus A. Reinert

BOOK ABSTRACT: When Istvan Hont died in 2013, the world lost a giant of intellectual history. A leader of the Cambridge School of Political Thought, Hont argued passionately for a global-historical approach to political ideas. To better understand the development of... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Moral Sensibility; Government and Politics; Trade; History

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Research Summary

Overview

Dr. Sheth's research focuses on Indian political economy and social history from the sixteenth century to the contemporary, concentrating on the relationship between business households, financial capital, landed rights, and the dissolution and formation of states.... View Details

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

Crossroads.” HBS research associate Julia M. Comeau contributed to the study, along with the School’s Europe Research Center. While the country’s well-paid, high-tech economy is humming, and the country continues to generate an outsized... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

April 2012
Article

Big BRICs, Weak Foundations: The Beginning of Public Elementary Education in Brazil, Russia, India, and China

By: Latika Chaudhary, Aldo Musacchio, Steven Nafziger and Se Yan

Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50% of the world's population in... View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Growth and Development; Middle School Education; Developing Countries and Economies; Data and Data Sets; Geographic Location; Public Administration Industry; Brazil; Russia; India; China

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October 2012
Teaching Note

Liberia (TN)

By: Eric Werker and Ian Cornell

From 1989 to 2003 civil war raged in Liberia, causing GDP per capita to drop an unprecedented 90% from peak to trough. The roots of Liberia's conflict and economic decline are complex and intertwined, resting on over a century of discriminatory elite rule and twisted... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Economic Systems; War; Economy; Government and Politics; Liberia

October 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Succession Planning at Samsung: The Merger Formula of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T

By: Gwen Yu and Tim Gray

A merger deal of two Samsung group companies becomes a center of a corruption scandal. The merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T was seen as a crucial step to transfer power to Lee Jae Yong, the heir of Samsung group. The deal was criticized to purposefully... View Details

Keywords: Merger; Mergers and Acquisitions