Publications

January 2019 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Chinese Infrastructure Investments in Sri Lanka: A Pearl or a Teardrop on the Belt and Road?

By: Meg Rithmire and Yihao Li

In 2015, a surprise presidential election result seemed to imperil Chinese investments in Sri Lanka, which were associated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative to build global infrastructure. In the previous decade, China had undertaken two major projects in the... View Details

Keywords: Belt And Road Initiative; Investment; Infrastructure; China; Sri Lanka

Dr. Josh Baron is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a part of the Strategy Unit. In the MBA program, he teaches in the Required Core Strategy course as well as elective courses on Ownership and Leading a Family Business. He... View Details

28 Nov 2006
Other Presentation

Singapore Competitiveness: A Nation in Transition

By: Michael E. Porter

This presentation draws on ideas from Professor Porter's books and articles, in particular, "Building the Microeconomic Foundations of Prosperity," in The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-07(World Economic Forum, 2006); "Clusters and the New Competitive Agenda for... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Singapore

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9 AM – 9 AM EST, 09 Jan 2018
HBS Online

HBX CORe

CORe (Credential of Readiness) is HBX's primer on the fundamentals of business thinking - a three-course online program covering Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting. Target audience: Individuals without a post-graduate degree in... View Details

2016
Working Paper

Wesley Mitchell's Business Cycles after 100 Years

By: Walter A. Friedman

This article looks back at the publication and influence of Wesley Mitchell's Business Cycles, published in 1913. It surveys some of the key ideas in the book and explains the reasons why it resonated with a variety of people, including economists,... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Books

05 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

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

the right people are confident, suggests recent research by Thomas Graeber, assistant professor at Harvard Business School. His work tested the effects of meta-cognition—essentially, whether more skilled people are also more confident... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

Teaching

Overview

By: Jerry R. Green

I teach the main PhD course that is taken by all Economics and Business Economics Ph.D. students. Together with two colleagues I wrote the book on which this course is based. It is the main book that our field has used for the past 25 years. The book is supplemented by... View Details

January 2002
Compilation

Perspectives on Terrorism

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 have enormous economic and political implications. Terrorism itself is a complicated phenomenon. A viable and successful strategy to deal with terrorism would depend on a good understanding of the origins and the mechanisms... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Economics

Article

Optimal Taxation When Children's Abilities Depend on Parents' Resources

By: Alexander Gelber and Matthew Weinzierl

Empirical research suggests that parents' economic resources affect their children's future earnings abilities. Optimal tax policy therefore treats future ability distributions as endogenous to current taxes. We model this endogeneity, calibrate the model to match... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Welfare

March 2012
Article

How Early Adoption Has Increased Wealth--Until Now

By: Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn

Societies that are better at utilizing tools are likely to be more productive. The authors have studied when 161 countries adopted 104 technologies over the past 200 years, and they conclude that profound economic advantages-as measured by per capita income-accrue to... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Wealth; Development Economics; Performance Productivity; Competitive Advantage

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25 Aug 2016
Video

Seth Pinsky responds to MOC class discussion in 2016

January 2009
Background Note

Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides an analysis of why informal financial networks and institutions still play an extremely important role in China's economy in the 21st century. Although China has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it still suffers from a weak... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Networks; China

Profile

Mira Mehta

my goal of supporting economic development in West Africa through the for-profit sector, and participating in the New Venture Competition gave me the confidence I needed to launch my own company directly... View Details

Video

Louisa Mojela & Gloria Serobe

Louisa Mojela and Gloria Serobe, Co-Founders and leading executives of WIPHOLD, discuss what South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies and legislation have meant for the company and the country's business landscape as a whole. View Details

29 Jan 2010
News

Rebooting Households: The View From Davos

27 Oct 2017
News

Experts hope cities rise to the occasion

2013
Book

Business Analysis and Valuation: Using Financial Statements, Text and Cases

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Paul M. Healy

This book provides a framework for business analysis and has been used by business schools throughout the world. It provides a foundation for analysis using four key steps: 1) Strategy analysis: Identifying a firm's strategy and understanding sources of its competitive... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Debt Securities; Valuation; Performance Evaluation; Financial Statements; Credit; Business Ventures; Strategy; Financial Condition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Forecasting and Prediction

Janice H. Hammond is the Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing. She currently serves as coursehead for the new MBA required course, Data Science for Managers. She serves as program chair for the HBS Executive Education International Women’s Foundation and Women’s... View Details

Keywords: apparel; distribution; e-commerce industry; manufacturing; retailing; textiles; transportation

February 2001
Case

Mavesa (B): International Strategy and Valuation Concerns

Examines Mavesa's response to economic liberalization. Looks at Mavesa's efforts to expand into neighboring countries. Also looks at efforts to support the firm's stock price. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Global Strategy