Publications

Research Summary

Overview

By: Iavor I. Bojinov

Over the last decade, technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have pioneered data-driven research and development processes centered on massive experimentation. However, as companies increase the breadth and scale of their experiments to millions of... View Details

Research Summary

Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows and Global Imbalances

By: Laura Alfaro

We construct measures of net private and public capital flows for a large cross-section of developing countries considering both creditor and debtor side of the international debt transactions. Using these measures, we demonstrate that sovereign-to-sovereign... View Details

2024
Working Paper

The New Digital Divide

By: Mayana Pereira, Shane Greenstein, Raffaella Sadun, Prasanna Tambe, Lucia Ronchi Darre, Tammy Glazer, Allen Kim, Rahul Dodhia and Juan Lavista Ferres

We build and analyze new metrics of digital usage that leverage telemetry data collected by Microsoft during operating system updates across forty million Windows devices in U.S. households. These measures of US household digital usage are much more comprehensive than... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Measurement and Metrics; Geographic Location; Behavior; Technology Adoption; Demographics

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March 2024
Article

Human Capital Affects Religious Identity: Causal Evidence from Kenya

By: Livia Alfonsi, Michal Bauer, Julie Chytilová and Edward Miguel

We study how human capital and economic conditions causally affect the choice of religious denomination. We utilize a longitudinal dataset monitoring the religious history of more than 5,000 Kenyans over 20 years, in tandem with a randomized experiment (deworming) that... View Details

Keywords: Religion; Human Capital; Developing Countries and Economies; Welfare; Kenya

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2010
Working Paper

Accounting Scholarship that Advances Professional Knowledge and Practice

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Recent accounting scholarship has used statistical analysis on asset prices, financial reports and disclosures, laboratory experiments, and surveys of practice. The research has studied the interface among accounting information, capital markets, standard setters, and... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Education; Information; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Practice

October 2014
Article

Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows and Global Imbalances

By: Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Vadym Volosovych

We construct measures of net private and public capital flows for a large cross-section of developing countries considering both creditor and debtor side of the international debt transactions. Using these measures, we demonstrate that sovereign-to-sovereign... View Details

Keywords: Current Account; Aid/government Debt; Reserves; Puzzles; Productivity; Sovereign Finance; Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics

2010
Working Paper

The Job Market for New Economists: A Market Design Perspective

By: Peter A. Coles, John Cawley, Phillip B. Levine, Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth and John J. Siegfried

This paper provides an overview of the market for new Ph.D. economists. It describes the role of the American Economic Association (AEA) in the market and focuses in particular on two mechanisms adopted in recent years at the suggestion of our committee. First, job... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Information; Surveys; Jobs and Positions; Job Interviews; Job Search; Emerging Markets; Digital Platforms; Service Operations; Internet and the Web

October 2009
Article

Attracting Flows by Attracting Big Clients

By: Lauren Cohen and Breno Schmidt

We explore a new channel for attracting inflows using a unique dataset of corporate 401(k) retirement plans and their mutual fund family trustees. Families secure substantial inflows by being named the trustee of a 401(k) plan. We find that family trustees... View Details

Keywords: Value; Information; Investment Funds; Stocks; Relationships; Financial Services Industry

April, 2023
Article

Reducing Information Barriers to Solar Adoption: Experimental Evidence from India

By: Meera Mahadevan, Robyn C. Meeks and Takashi Yamano

Off-grid solar technologies hold promise for unelectrified and low-quality electricity settings; however, their adoption remains low. Important barriers to adoption, such as incomplete information remain relatively unexplored in developing countries. In collaboration... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Renewable Energy; Knowledge Sharing; Developing Countries and Economies; India

2015
Working Paper

Selling to a Moving Target: Dynamic Marketing Effects in US Presidential Elections

By: Doug J. Chung and Lingling Zhang

We examine the effects of various political campaign activities on voter preferences in the domain of US Presidential elections. We construct a comprehensive data set that covers the three most recent elections, with detailed records of voter preferences at the... View Details

Keywords: Multi-channel Marketing; Personal Selling; Advertising; Political Campaigns; Dynamic Panel Data; Instrumental Variables; Marketing Communications; Political Elections; Advertising Campaigns; United States

2010
Working Paper

Report on the State of Available Data for the Study of International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment

By: Robert C. Feenstra, Robert E. Lipsey, Lee G. Branstetter, C. Fritz Foley, James Harrigan, J. Bradford Jensen, Lori Kletzer, Catherine Mann, Peter K. Schott and Greg C. Wright

This report, prepared for the Committee on Economic Statistics of the American Economic Association, examines the state of available data for the study of international trade and foreign direct investment. Data on values of imports and exports of goods are of high... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Price; Globalization; Policy; Information; Intellectual Property

31 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Competition May Not Improve Credit Rating Agencies

The largest issue is how to assign ratings tasks to firms. There are currently 10 nationally recognized statistical ratings organizations (NRSROs), which is the classification used by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a firm... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

Research Summary

Overview

Over the last decade, technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have pioneered data-driven research and development processes centered on massive experimentation. However, as companies increase the breadth and scale of their experiments to millions of... View Details

Research Summary

Family, Inc. Historical Development of German and US Family Firm

Family-owned businesses are the most common form of business organization worldwide. This project deals with the main characteristics of closely-held ownership and more precisely families as majority owners. It strives for an international comparison of family firms... View Details

Research Summary

The Future of MBA Education

David Garvin, together with Srikant Datar and Patrick Cullen, is examining the future of MBA education and the evolving role of business schools. The research has several components: interviews with business school deans and business executives to identify the... View Details

2022
Working Paper

Causal Inference During A Pandemic: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nebulized Ibuprofen as an Unproven Treatment for COVID-19 in Argentina

By: Sebastian Calonico, Rafael Di Tella and Juan Cruz Lopez Del Valle

Many medical decisions during the pandemic were made without the support of causal evidence obtained in clinical trials. We study the case of nebulized ibuprofen (NaIHS), a drug that was extensively used on COVID-19 patients in Argentina amidst wild claims about its... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Drug Treatment; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Decision Making; Outcome or Result; Argentina

Article

What We Can Learn from Five Naturalistic Field Experiments that Failed to Shift Commuter Behaviour

By: Ariella S. Kristal and A.V. Whillans

Across five field experiments with employees of a large organization (n = 68,915), we examined whether standard behavioural interventions (“nudges”) successfully reduced single-occupancy vehicle commutes. In Studies 1 and 2, we sent letters and emails with nudges... View Details

Keywords: Commuting; Field Experiments; Nudges; Behavior; Change

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Research Summary

An Uncomfortable Predictability Paradox

In predictive regressions, we test the null hypothesis that a predictor has no information about expected returns, i.e. beta equals zero. However, the literature neglects to recognize that we are testing a joint hypothesis. The maintained... View Details

November 2022
Article

Impacts of Micromobility on Car Displacement with Evidence from a Natural Experiment and Geofencing Policy

By: Omar Isaac Asensio, Camila Apablaza, M. Cade Lawson, Edward W Chen and Savannah J Horner

Micromobility, such as electric scooters and electric bikes—an estimated US$300 billion global market by 2030—will accelerate electrification efforts and fundamentally change urban mobility patterns. However, the impacts of micromobility adoption on traffic congestion... View Details

Keywords: City; Policy; Transportation; Sustainable Cities