Publications

SSRN

2017
Working Paper

Biased Beliefs About Random Samples: Evidence from Two Integrated Experiments

By: Daniel J. Benjamin, Don A. Moore and Matthew Rabin

This paper describes results of a pair of incentivized experiments on biases in judgments about random samples. Consistent with the Law of Small Numbers (LSN), participants exaggerated the likelihood that short sequences and random subsets of coin flips would be... View Details

Keywords: Probability; Economic Theory; Analysis; Incentives

2010
Article

Zwischen Familienerbe und globalem Markt. Eigentum und Management von großen westdeutschen Familienunternehmen im Wandel (1960-2008)

"Between Family Heritage and Global Market. Changes in Ownership and Management of Large West-German Family Firms (1960-2008)" Large family firms fall between two theoretical accounts. They neither follow the development path described by Alfred D. Chandler nor do they... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Family Ownership; Germany

July 2008
Article

Crime and Punishment in the 'American Dream'

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

We observe that countries where belief in the "American dream" (i.e., effort pays) prevails also set harsher punishment for criminals. We know that beliefs are also correlated with several features of the economic system (taxation, social insurance, etc). Our objective... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economic Systems; Values and Beliefs; Law Enforcement; Mathematical Methods; Personal Characteristics; United States

03 May 2011
Working Paper Summaries

How Do Risk Managers Become Influential? A Field Study of Toolmaking and Expertise in Two Financial Institutions

Keywords: by Matthew Hall, Anette Mikes & Yuval Millo; Banking

February 2024
Teaching Note

AB InBev: Brewing Up Forecasts during COVID-19

By: Mark Egan and C. Fritz Foley

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 224-020. In July 2021, the CEO of AB InBev's European operations and his team strategized to position the company for success post-pandemic. As the world's largest beer company, boasting over 500 brands, revenue of $46 billion, and a... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Investor Relations; Beverage Industry; Corporate Finance; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Health Pandemics; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Transformation; Crisis Management; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe

Purchase

2018
Working Paper

Black Out-Migration and Southern Political Realignment

By: Leah Boustan and Marco Tabellini

Can emigration from less democratic and economically less developed areas induce political and economic change? We study this question in the context of the second Great Migration of African Americans (1940–1970), when more than 4 million blacks left the U.S. South and... View Details

Keywords: Great Migration; Immigration; Race; Government and Politics; Economics; United States

March 2009
Article

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis

By: Juan Alcacer, Michelle Gittelman and Bhaven Sampat

Prior art patent citations have become a popular measure of patent quality and knowledge flow between firms. Interpreting these measurements is complicated, in some cases, because prior art citations are added by patent examiners as well as by patent applicants. The... View Details

Keywords: Citations; Patents; Knowledge Sharing; Measurement and Metrics; Quality; United States

Purchase

Rakesh Khurana is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School. He is also Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, co-Master of Cabot House at Harvard College, and the Danoff Dean of Harvard College.

Professor... View Details

Keywords: executive search

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

turbulence, Sucher says. “There’s a tendency to think that our rules, or any way that we interpret the law, is universal,” she says. “It’s just not true.” 2. Reduce costs without cutting people Layoffs can be effective in certain... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

14 Dec 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Regulating for Legitimacy: Consumer Credit Access in France and America

Keywords: by Gunnar Trumbull

May 2014
Article

Group Membership Alters the Threshold for Mind Perception: The Role of Social Identity, Collective Identification, and Intergroup Threat

By: Leor M. Hackel, Christine E. Looser and Jay J. Van Bavel

Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds and mental states in others occupies a central role in social interaction. In the current research, we present evidence that the human propensity for mind perception is bound... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Cognition and Thinking

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

Automating these tasks will enable knowledge workers to concentrate on value-adding activities where human expertise is indispensable, such as interpreting context and nuance, exercising emotional intelligence, addressing moral and... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

Article

The Effect of Background Music in Shark Documentaries on Viewers' Perceptions of Sharks

By: Andy Nosal, Elizabeth A. Keenan, Philip A. Hastings and Ayelet Gneezy

Despite the ongoing need for shark conservation and management, prevailing negative sentiments marginalize these animals and legitimize permissive exploitation. These negative attitudes arise from an instinctive yet exaggerated fear, which is validated and reinforced... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Prejudice and Bias; Marketing; Attitudes; Music Entertainment

2008
Working Paper

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis

By: Juan Alcacer, Michelle Gittelman and Bhaven Sampat

Researchers studying innovation increasingly use indicators based on patent citations. However, it is well known that not all citations originate from applicants—patent examiners contribute to citations listed in issued patents—and that this could complicate... View Details

Keywords: Citations; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Research; United States

01 Apr 2025
HBS Seminar

Eric Bradlow, University of Pennsylvania

Working Paper

Group Fairness in Dynamic Refugee Assignment

By: Daniel Freund, Thodoris Lykouris, Elisabeth Paulson, Bradley Sturt and Wentao Weng

Ensuring that refugees and asylum seekers thrive (e.g., find employment) in their host countries is a profound humanitarian goal, and a primary driver of employment is the geographic location within a host country to which the refugee or asylum seeker is... View Details

Keywords: Refugees; Geographic Location; Mathematical Methods; Employment; Fairness

December 2014
Article

The Discipline of Business Experimentation

By: Stefan Thomke and Jim Manzi

The data you already have can't tell you how customers will react to innovations. To discover if a truly novel concept will succeed, you must subject it to a rigorous experiment. In most companies, tests do not adhere to scientific and statistical principles. As a... View Details

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September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details