Publications

June 2021
Supplement

Linda Oubré at Whittier College (B)

By: Debora L. Spar and Haley P. Brown

The case follows President Linda Oubré (HBS MBA Class of 1984) as she seeks to move Whittier College towards a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus.
In 2020, the student body of Whittier, a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles County, California,... View Details

Keywords: Women And Leadership; Racial Disparity; Higher Education; Education; Diversity; Race; Change Management; Gender; Los Angeles; California; United States

September–October 2021
Article

Frontiers: Can an AI Algorithm Mitigate Racial Economic Inequality? An Analysis in the Context of Airbnb

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Nitin Mehta, Param Singh and Kannan Srinivasan

We study the effect of Airbnb’s smart-pricing algorithm on the racial disparity in the daily revenue earned by Airbnb hosts. Our empirical strategy exploits Airbnb’s introduction of the algorithm and its voluntary adoption by hosts as a quasi-natural experiment. Among... View Details

Keywords: Smart Pricing; Pricing Algorithm; Machine Bias; Discrimination; Racial Disparity; Social Inequality; Airbnb Revenue; Revenue; Race; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Price; Mathematical Methods; Accommodations Industry

SSRN

Find at Harvard

2014
Other Unpublished Work

Nudging Physicians to Pursue Careers in Underserved Areas: A Case for Behavioral Economics

By: Joseph Lopez, Mona Singh, Nava Ashraf and Joel Weissman

Currently, more than 60 million Americans live in "Health Professional Shortage Areas." Unless policymakers can encourage more physicians to practice in medically under-resourced areas, an increased number of uninsured individuals newly able to obtain health insurance... View Details

Keywords: Access To Care; Health Economics; Health Reform; Minority Health; Disparities; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

2022
Working Paper

Distributional Consequences of Monetary Policy Across Races: Evidence from the U.S. Credit Register

By: Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia and Camelia Minoiu

We examine the consequences of monetary policy on racial disparities, focusing on the role of bank lending to firms through collateral and selection channels. Leveraging comprehensive loan-level data from the U.S. credit register (Y-14Q) of the Federal Reserve, we show... View Details

Keywords: Monetary Policy Transmission; Inequity; Credit Registry; Wealth; Collateral Channel; Selection; Racial Disparity; Racial Inequality; Equality and Inequality; Banks and Banking; Credit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banking Industry; United States

Read Now

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Black Employees Not Only Earn Less, But Deal with Bad Bosses and Poor Conditions

the people they refer are probably also going to be White.” The racial gap is worse in conservative areas The study provides valuable insights into the racial disparities that can make the difference between whether employees love or hate... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

02 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

A Rare Find in Health Care: A Simple Solution to Racial Inequity

documenting the disparities we’ve known about for 20 or 30 years,” says Harvard Business School Professor Amitabh Chandra. “One more research paper that finds that minority health care is separate and unequal may be important but is... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

07 May 2014
What Do You Think?

How Should Wealth Be Redistributed?

Summing Up Is Wealth Distribution a Problem Cause or Symptom? The passion and thought that went into this month's questions about wealth redistribution suggest that the topic is of more than passing interest. Some cautioned against hasty changes. Many used the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Nov 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Accounting for Organizational Employment Impact

Keywords: by David Freiberg, Katie Panella, George Serafeim, and T. Robert Zochowski

19 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

Studying How Income Inequality Shapes Behavior

It's clear that inequality in America has grown at a fast clip in recent years. From 1980 to 2010, the top 1 percent's share of income has doubled from 10 percent to 20 percent, while the income share of the bottom 90 percent fell from 65 percent to 52 percent. Those... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

July 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Call of Fiduciary Duty: Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard

By: Jonas Heese, Joseph Pacelli and James Barnett

In January 2022, Microsoft announces its acquisition of the video game company Activision Blizzard, in a deal valued at $68.7 billion, which would make Microsoft the world’s third largest video game company. The deal came as Activision Blizzard faced gender pay... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Goodwill Accounting; Analysis; Decision Making; Talent and Talent Management; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Ethics; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Mergers and Acquisitions; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Video Game Industry; North America; California

September 2024
Case

The Health Equity Accelerator at Boston Medical Center

By: Susanna Gallani, Mary Witkowski and Katie Sonnefeldt

This case describes how Boston Medical Center, a hospital and safety net organization, changed its strategic approach to health equity after realizing that previous efforts were not sufficient to address the health disparities among their patients. In 2021, the Health... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Diversity; Race; Ethnicity; Urban Scope; Local Range; Equality and Inequality; Health Industry; Boston

Research Summary

Overview

By: David S. Scharfstein

My research focuses on issues related to the structure and functioning of the financial system, including risk, competition and disparities in the banking system View Details

Keywords: Banking; Risk; Competition

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

Research Summary

Overview

By: Olivia S. Kim

My research examines how firms and households make financial decisions, with a focus on the role of the family. My work evaluates how financial regulations shape credit and consumption disparities within the household and the extent to which business owners' family... View Details

Keywords: Household Finance; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Financial Intermediation

2025
Working Paper

Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI

By: Nicholas G. Otis, Solène Delecourt, Katelynn Cranney and Rembrand Koning

Generative AI has the potential to transform productivity and reduce inequality, but only if adopted broadly. In this paper, we show that recently identified gender gaps in generative AI use are nearly universal. Synthesizing data from 18 studies covering more than... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Technology Adoption; Behavior

Read Now

July 1993 (Revised April 1999)
Case

ABB's Relays Business: Building and Managing a Global Matrix

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development and management of the relays business area (BA) in ABB's global matrix organization. Focuses on three levels of management--corporate, BA, and operating company. Highlights the roles and responsibilities of individuals at each level as ABB... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Organizational Structure; Managerial Roles; Management Practices and Processes; Employees; Organizational Culture; Success; Manufacturing Industry

Research Summary

The Fragile State of the World: Unfairness, Discontent, and Global Capitalism

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

In this project, Abdelal explores the varieties of domestic discontent that undermine the stability of global capitalism. Discontent has manifested itself in the rise of populist movements and parties on both the Left and the Right, thereby weakening the Center. The... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Populism; Inequality; Fairness; Geopolitics

Article

Private Enterprise for Public Health

By: Michael Chu and David E. Bloom

By many measures, the world today is a healthier place than ever before, yet a daunting set of deficits and disparities remains to be tackled. For various reasons, it is not clear that the traditional tandem of government and civil society are up to those challenges.... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Public Sector; Private Sector; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry