Publications

March 2005 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Capital Controls in Chile in the 1990s (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

In 1991, Chile adopted a framework of capital controls focused on reducing the massive flows of foreign investment coming into the country as international interest rates remained low. Capital inflows threatened the Central Bank's ability to manage the exchange rate... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Capital; Governance Controls; Business and Government Relations; Chile

This paper proposes a new approach to social cost-benefit analysis using a model in which a benevolent government chooses risky projects in the presence of market failures and tax distortions. The government internalizes market failures and therefore perceives project... View Details

Research Summary

The Panama Canal

The Big Ditch is the first quantitative economic history of the Panama Canal and its effect on Panama, the United States, and the world economy. It makes three general arguments. First, that the Panama Canal was very important to... View Details

February 13, 2025
Article

Research: The Costs of Circumventing Tariffs

By: Jaya Y. Wen, Ebehi Iyoha, Edmund Malesky and Sung-Ju Wu

When tariffs are levied against a specific country, that country might attempt to circumvent the tariff by rerouting products through a third country to avoid the higher taxes. Research in the aftermath of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war examined this phenomenon, finding... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Global Strategy; International Relations; United States; China

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2010
Chapter

Backlash to Arbitration: Three Causes

By: Louis T. Wells

There are at least three reasons for the current backlash among developing countries against the international regime that governs disputes between foreign investors and host governments. First is the inconsistency of the decisions rendered by arbitration panels... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Conflict Management

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Web

Publications - Faculty & Research

Economic Integration ; International Trade ; Democracy ; Political Preferences ; Institutions ; Trade ; Global Range ; Economics ; Government and Politics Citation Find at... View Details

February 2010
Case

Real Blue? Viagra and Intellectual Property Rights Law in China

By: Regina M. Abrami and Tracy Manty

On July 5, 2004, Pfizer's China team received disappointing news. China's patent review board just invalidated the company's existing patent on one of its most successful drugs, Viagra. Making matters worse, a Guangdong-based pharmaceutical company laid claim to... View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Relations; Patents; Trademarks; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights; Business and Government Relations; Pharmaceutical Industry; China

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Corporate Transparency Improves For Foreign Firms in U.S. Markets

Are international firms that interact with U.S. capital, labor, and product markets more likely to be more transparent than companies without those interactions? In this e-mail interview, HBS Suraj Srinivasan delves into a recent working... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

2010
Working Paper

Medium Term Business Cycles in Developing Countries

By: Diego A. Comin, Norman Loayza, Farooq Pasha and Luis Serven

We build a two-country asymmetric DSGE model with two features: (i) endogenous and slow diffusion of technologies from the developed to the developing country, and (ii) adjustment costs to investment flows. We calibrate the model to match the Mexico-U.S. trade and FDI... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Developing Countries and Economies; Trade; International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Mathematical Methods; Mexico; United States

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Henry McGee joined the HBS faculty in 2013 after retiring as President of HBO Home Entertainment, the digital and DVD program distribution division of Home Box Office, the pioneering premium television company. A member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit,... View Details

Keywords: television; motion pictures; media; e-commerce industry; entertainment; broadcasting; distribution; health care; journalism; wholesale; arts; nonprofit industry

September 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Audrey Tang: Using Technology to Strengthen Democracy in Taiwan

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

Since the early days of the internet, Taiwan had a vibrant community of civic hackers and open-source programmers who engaged with social issues. Audrey Tang was one of them. She spearheaded the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan, where protestors peacefully... View Details

Keywords: Democracy; Internet; Web Technology; Digital Transformation; Digital Platform; COVID; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Governance; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Taiwan; China; Asia

2013
Chapter

Who Chooses Board Members?

By: Ali Akyol and Lauren Cohen

We exploit a recent regulation passed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to explore the nomination of board members to US publicly traded firms. In particular, we focus on firms’ use of executive search firms versus allowing internal members (often... View Details

Keywords: Boards; Boards Of Directors; Executive Search Firms; Governance; SEC Regulation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Succession; Executive Compensation

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21 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 21

customs and port authority data on the international shipments of all U.S. publicly-traded firms, we show that firms are significantly more likely to trade with countries that have a strong resident... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Controlling Hot Money

By: Robert C. Pozen

The manager of the Japan Equities Fund is faced with an increase in "hot money" moving quickly in and out of the Fund. This short-term trading is an attempt to take advantage of the difference between the closing times of the Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges. The CFO... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; International Finance; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Timing; Market Transactions; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

September 2017
Case

Christine Lagarde

By: Julie Battilana, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Vanessa Ampelas and Noemie Assenat

The case covers the youth and career trajectory of Christine Lagarde across her time at Baker & McKenzie, as a minister in the government of France and as the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The case highlights the challenges and opportunities she faced... View Details

Keywords: Change; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Leadership; Gender; Leading Change

October 2014
Case

Mothercare, 2014

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In early 2014, Mothercare was the UK's leading retailer of mother-and-baby products. In fiscal 2013, it generated £341 million in revenues from its 255 UK stores and £128 million online, and was more than three times the size of its next biggest competitor, Mama and... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Turnaround; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; United Kingdom