Publications

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

Working PapersThe New Market for Federal Judicial Law Clerks Authors:Christopher Avery, Christine Jolls, Richard Posner, and Alvin E. Roth Abstract In the past, judges have often hired applicants for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2007
Case

Ruling the Modern Corporation: The Debate over Limited Liability in Massachusetts

By: David A. Moss and Eugene Kintgen

In 1830, Governor Levi Lincoln, Jr. urged the Massachusetts state legislature to introduce a limited liability regime for manufacturing corporations similar to that adopted in neighboring states. At least since 1809, shareholders in the state's manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Debt Securities; Legal Liability; Production; Business and Shareholder Relations; Manufacturing Industry; Massachusetts

November 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Hollywood in India: Protecting Intellectual Property (A)

By: Lakshmi Iyer and Namrata Arora

In January 2010, Fox Star Studios is preparing to release the Bollywood film My Name is Khan in Indian and international markets. What strategies should the company adopt to protect their intellectual property? How much should the company invest in anti-piracy... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Copyright; Lawsuits and Litigation; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

June 2013
Article

What Is Privacy Worth?

By: Alessandro Acquisti, Leslie K. John and George Loewenstein

Understanding the value that individuals assign to the protection of their personal data is of great importance for business, law, and public policy. We use a field experiment informed by behavioral economics and decision research to investigate individual privacy... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Valuation; Ethics; Identity

March 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences

By: Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki and Courtney Hyland

Gordon Zong is trying to teach Chinese universities and research institutes how to do effective technology transfer and IP licensing, but he is trying to do it in an environment with weak property rights and an underdeveloped support infrastructure. As the managing... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Patents; Knowledge Management; Law Enforcement; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; China

Summer 2013
Article

Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

By: William W. Fisher III and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In many organizations, the R&D, strategy, and legal functions are poorly integrated. As a consequence, firms miss opportunities to create and exploit the value of intellectual property. Functional silos are one reason for the lack of integration. More important,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Strategic Management; Legal Aspects Of Business; Licensing; Law; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy

Keywords: Education; Government

June 2024
Case

Caesars Entertainment: Governance on the Road to Bankruptcy

By: Kristin Mugford

Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas

09 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 9

against price gouging and laws regulating the terms of mortgages may have support because consumers recognize that many people do not optimize their consumption effectively... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Private Meetings of Public Companies Thwart Disclosure Rules

In the fall of, the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a new rule meant to combat the problem of selective disclosure among public companies and their favorite investors. View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

28 Jan 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Discrimination: The Case of Airbnb.com

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman & Michael Luca; Construction; Real Estate

Career Coach

Phillip Andrews

Phillip (MPA, New Hampshire ’06; JD, Suffolk Law ’09) is formerly a Corporate Relations Director in HBS Career & Professional Development responsible for employer relations in Africa, Europe, Latin America, View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Education; Emerging Markets; Investment Management; Financial Services (All); Private Equity; Financial Services (All); Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Government; Social Enterprise; Clean Technology; Energy; Telecommunications; Impact Investing; Financial Services (All); Manufacturing; Auto/Transportation/Logistics

9 May 2011 - 11 May 2011
Conference Presentation

How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure

By: Anil Doshi, Michael Toffel and Glen W. S. Dowell

When new institutional pressures arise, which organizations are particularly likely to resist or acquiesce? When subjected to new information disclosure mandates, an increasingly popular form of market-based government regulation, which types of organizations are... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Regulation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation

August 1987 (Revised June 1989)
Background Note

Note on Financial Contracting: ""Deals""

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes the issues involved in designing and evaluating financial contracts between users and suppliers of capital and between companies and employees. A simple conceptual framework is introduced and some critical issues addressed: 1) How is cash allocated? 2) How is... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Framework; Problems and Challenges; Corporate Finance

June 2008
Journal Article

Strategic Alliances: Bridges Between 'Islands of Conscious Power'

By: George P. Baker, Robert Gibbons and Kevin J. Murphy

Strategic alliances range from unstructured collaborations, through consortia and joint ventures that superimpose new governance structures on existing firms, to transactions that restructure firm boundaries and asset ownership. In this paper, we draw on detailed... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Strategy; Theory

December 1984 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Burnet vs. Logan

By: Henry B. Reiling

The taxpayer sold mining company stocks and was to be paid royalty as ore was extracted from the corporation's mine. Because the factual issues of whether ore would be extracted and, if so, how much and when were so indeterminate, the court held that the contract right... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Law Enforcement; Asset Management; Valuation; Policy; Mining Industry

July 2024
Article

Buying the Verdict

By: Lauren Cohen and Umit Gurun

We document evidence that firms systematically increase specialized, locally targeted advertising following the firm being taken to trial in that given location, precisely following initiation of the suit. In particular, we use legal actions brought against publicly... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Advertising; Marketing Strategy

May 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

SOX-POX?

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Describes the experiences of audit committee chairmen in responding to and implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Teaching Purpose: To help students understand the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on audit committees. View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Financial Reporting; Laws and Statutes; Accounting Audits

2024
Working Paper

The Efficiency of Patent Litigation

By: Samuel Antill, Murat Alp Celik, Xu Tian and Toni M. Whited

How efficient is the U.S. patent litigation system? We quantify the extent to which the litigation system shapes innovation using a novel dynamic model, in which heterogeneous firms innovate and face potential patent lawsuits. We show that the impact of a litigation... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Lawsuits and Litigation; Growth and Development; Welfare; Patents