Publications

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December 1995 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Lenzing AG: Expanding in Indonesia

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1994, Lenzing AG, the world's largest rayon manufacturer, is deciding whether to expand production in South Pacific Viscose, its Indonesian subsidiary. Indonesia is a booming market for rayon, but management still has some concerns about the expansion. First, for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Production; Expansion; Logistics; Manufacturing Industry; Indonesia

26 Apr 2016
News

The Quiet War on Corporate Accountability

April 2002
Article

The Determination of Unemployment Benefits

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert J. MacCulloch

While much empirical research exists on labor market consequences of unemployment benefits, there is remarkably little evidence on the forces determining benefits. We present a simple model where workers desire insurance against unemployment risk and benefits increase... View Details

Keywords: Unemployment; Compensation and Benefits

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11 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Politicians Benefited From Using Toxic Loans

Talk of the recent financial crisis often falls into a simplistic narrative of villainous banks, marketing toxic financial products to innocent customers who did not understand their risks. Among the storied victims are municipal... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

27 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 27

not had lower costs of equity (lower stock returns), consistent with a stock market anomaly previously documented in other samples. A calibration suggests that a binding 10 percentage point increase in Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

China and the WTO: Doing the Right Thing?

In late 2001, the People's Republic of China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Sets the terms of China's accession agreement against its compliance record some two years later. Discusses why key actors, such as business, organized labor, and other governments,... View Details

Keywords: Management; History; International Relations; Judgments; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics; Governance Compliance; Emerging Markets; Global Strategy; China

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Chiara Farronato is Glenn and Mary Jane Creamer Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School, and co-Principal Investigator of the Platform Lab at the Digital... View Details

July 2004 (Revised September 2004)
Case

China and the WTO: Doing the Right Thing? (Abridged)

In late 2001, the People's Republic of China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Sets the terms of China's accession agreement against its compliance record some two years later. Discusses why key actors, such as business, organized labor, and other governments,... View Details

Keywords: History; International Relations; Judgments; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Development Economics; Governance Compliance; Emerging Markets; Economic Growth; Global Strategy; China

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2009
Chapter

Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong

By: Elisabeth Koll

This chapter explores issues of how Chinese railroads improved social mobility and standards of living along major trunk lines, and how foreign investment shaped the integration of the Chinese railroad network from the early 1900s to 1949. As this case study of the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Industry Growth; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; China

November 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Dow Chemical's Bid for the Privatization of PBB in Argentina

By: Mihir A. Desai and Alexandra de Royere

What price should Dow Chemical bid for PBB, a petrochemical complex that is being privatized by the Argentine government? To answer this question, students are forced to consider the role of country risk, the underlying currency exposure of the business, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Privatization; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Valuation; Business and Government Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Energy Industry; Argentina

Mattias Fibiger is the Poronui Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Business, Government, and International Economy (BGIE) Unit. A historian by training, he conducts research on Asia's twentieth century. He teaches in the Business, Government, and... View Details

March 2010 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Russia: Revolution and Reform

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Sogomon Tarontsi

The collapse of central authority in the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a period of revolutionary transformations for the states that emerged in its wake. The leaders of Russia, the USSR's successor, since then have struggled to reestablish central authority while... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Systems; Government Administration; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry; Russia

September 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Can the Eurozone Survive?

By: Dante Roscini and Jonathan Schlefer

The sovereign debt crisis that took Greece by storm in 2010 began to spread to other European markets. Within a few months Ireland and Portugal had also lost access to the sovereign debt markets and had to rely on supranational loans for their financing. The risk of... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt Crisis; Currency Areas; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Currency Exchange Rate; International Relations; Banking Industry; European Union; Germany; France; Italy; Spain; Greece; Portugal

February 2002 (Revised March 2002)
Case

India's Intellectual Property Rights Regime and the Pharmaceutical Industry

In 1970, the Indian government significantly revised its patent law, Patents and Design Act of 1911. The 1911 act was enacted when India was a colony of Great Britain, and it was controversial because it led to the total dominance of India's pharmaceutical market by... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Pharmaceutical Industry; Great Britain; India

Laura Alfaro is the Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration. At Harvard since 1999, she served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Costa Rica from 2010-2012, taking a leave from HBS. She is Co-Editor of the Journal of International... View Details

May 2015
Teaching Note

The United Kingdom and the Means to Prosperity

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Hilary White

After struggling through the country's longest recession since 2008, the U.K. was expected to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2014. Analysts wondered whether the return to growth was because, or in spite of, Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial £113... View Details