Publications

September 2020
Case

West Side United: Hospitals Tackle the Racial Health and Wealth Gap

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Paul Stramaglia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. David Ansell, Darlene Hightower, and Ayesho Jaco, leaders of West Side United (WSU), a coalition of Chicago hospitals, community residents, banks, and small businesses conceived in 2016, reviewed progress toward WSU’s goal of ending... View Details

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19; Hospital; Coalition; Health Pandemics; Race; Health; Wealth and Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Change; Leadership; Chicago

21 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Malcolm McClain (MBA/MPP 2023) Named First RISE Career Fellow

business that is creating economic opportunity for marginalized communities in the United States. McClain, who also completed a master’s in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, will serve as chief of... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

Sebastian Hillenbrand

Sebastian Hillenbrand is an Assistant Professor in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches the Finance I course in the MBA required curriculum.

Sebastian’s research interests are in behavioral and... View Details

01 Apr 2012
News

Celebrate Innovation, No Matter Where It Occurs

Eva J. Sudol

Eva Sudol is a Senior Lecturer in the Finance Unit at HBS, teaching Finance 1 in the required curriculum of the MBA program. She is also a Retired Partner at the Capital Group, a global investment management company, where she worked from 1994 – 2023 as an... View Details

December 2004 (Revised August 2007)
Background Note

LTCM's Profit Motive

By: Henry B. Reiling and Kevin Wall

This case summarizes the finding and reasoning inherent in the economic substance and penalty imposition holdings of the district court decision in Long Term Capital Holdings v. United States. The court upheld the IRS's contention that a transaction between Long Term... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Laws and Statutes; United States

Find at Harvard

July 1991 (Revised December 2018)
Compilation

Slavery

By: Thomas K. McCraw

Explores the general history of slavery in the United States. Through detailed exhibits and a text consisting of excerpts from six first-hand observations of slavery, this note is designed to present the ethics, economics (especially the perverse incentive systems),... View Details

Keywords: Slavery; Human Capital; History; Ethics; Social Issues; Motivation and Incentives; United States

March 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Pittsburgh: A Successful City?

By: Karen Mills, Caroline Elkins, Vikram Gandhi, Gabriella Elanbeck and Zeke Gillman

Pittsburgh, PA, was once the crown jewel of American heavy industry. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city was an undisputed leader in steel production, boasting some of the largest companies and wealthiest individuals in the world. Its abundance of... View Details

Keywords: Economic And Social Disparities; Economic Development; Local Economic Development; Contextual Intelligence; Contextual Knowledge; Context; City Growth; City Innovation; City Leadership; Pittsburgh; Local Government; Local Stakeholders; Business And Community; Business And Community Relations; Community Engagement; Community Relations; Cross-sector Collaboration; Innovation; Innovation Economy; Innovation Clusters; Innovation Ecosystems; Shared Prosperity; Equality Of Opportunity; Equity; Inclusion; Business And Government; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business And Government Relations; Business And Society; Neighborhoods; Race And Ethnicity; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Household; Income; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economics; Local Range; Urban Development; Urban Scope; City; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Growth and Development; History; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Society; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Public Sector; Social Issues; Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Education Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Pittsburgh; Pennsylvania

2014
Chapter

Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

By: Aaron Chatterji, Edward Glaeser and William R. Kerr

This chapter reviews recent academic work on the spatial concentration of entrepreneurship and innovation in the United States. We discuss rationales for the agglomeration of these activities and the economic consequences of clusters. We identify and discuss policies... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Agglomeration; Clusters; Place Making; Industry Clusters; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; United States

Read Now

October 2008 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Executive Pay and the Credit Crisis of 2008 (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and Lisa Brem

The credit crisis of 2008 placed compensation practices at publicly traded firms in the United States under scrutiny. This case examines perceived excessive pay and severance packages at several firms implicated in the credit crisis of 2008, the executive compensation... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Governing and Advisory Boards; Government Legislation; Executive Compensation; United States

Article

The Not-So-Common-Wealth of Australia: Evidence for a Cross-Cultural Desire for a More Equal Distribution of Wealth.

By: Michael I. Norton, David T. Neal, Cassandra L. Govan, Dan Ariely and Elise Holland

Recent evidence suggests that Americans underestimate wealth inequality in the United States and favor a more equal wealth distribution (Norton & Ariely, 2011). Does this pattern reflect ideological dynamics unique to the United States, or is the phenomenon evident in... View Details

Keywords: Wealth; Equality and Inequality; Australia; United States

Find at Harvard

Read Now

2021
Chapter

Digital Infrastructure

By: Shane Greenstein

What determines the supply of innovative digital infrastructure and how does variance in supply shape the performance of digital services? The essay reviews research into the economic impact of deployment, innovation, and adoption of digital infrastructure. It... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Infrastructure; Economics; Policy; Research; Analysis; United States

Shane Greenstein is the Martin Marshall Professor of Business Administration. He teaches in the Technology, Operations and Management Unit.

Encompassing a wide array of questions about computing, communication, and Internet markets, Professor Greenstein’s... View Details

Keywords: computer; information technology industry; electronics; information; e-commerce industry; internet; software

January 2022
Background Note

Native American Incarceration

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Sophus A. Reinert and Jordan Naylor

In the early twenty-first century the Native American populations of the United States continued to live with the legacy of colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and cultural destruction. Although other minority groups had increasingly been able to make their voices heard,... View Details

Keywords: Colonialism; Incarceration; Social Issues; Race; Equality and Inequality; History

November 1994 (Revised August 1997)
Case

TV Guide (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

TV Guide is the largest magazine in the United States and is attaining record profitability. This case details the economics of TV Guide's success by studying its advertiser and reader relationships. Presents a detailed look at how a large magazine manages all aspects... View Details

Keywords: Journals and Magazines; Customers; Marketing Strategy; Advertising; Publishing Industry; United States

September 1993 (Revised September 1997)
Case

China (A): The Great Awakening

By: Debora L. Spar

As the third largest economy after the United States and Japan, China's startling economic growth has spurred increasing interest in the economic, social, and political factors that catapulted the country to sudden prominence. This case starts with an overview of the... View Details

Keywords: History; Government and Politics; Society; Macroeconomics; China