Publications

SSRN

21 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Debate Financial Reform Legislation

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act slated to be signed this week by U.S. President Barack Obama has been called the most sweeping set of rules for banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression. But what do... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

June 2015
Case

1996 Welfare Reform in the United States

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan and Alastair Su

On August 22, 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)—a dramatic reform of the American system of economic assistance for the poor that, as its title suggested, attempted to... View Details

Keywords: Welfare State; Public Goods; Moral Hazard; Median Voter Theorem; Poverty; Welfare; Public Administration Industry; United States

22 Apr 2015
Op-Ed

Reforming Greece: Myths and Truths

because they have not implemented reforms proposed to them by creditor nations. My belief is that there is plenty of blame to go around, but there is still a way for Greece to recover to the betterment of the entire European community.... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

April 2006 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Ghana: National Economic Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Kjell Ke-Li Carlsson

Set in the year 2001, as President John Kufuor contemplates a national economic strategy following his election in the first democratic transfer of power in Ghana's history. Focuses on Ghana's long history of poor economic performance and intractable poverty,... View Details

Keywords: History; Economic Growth; Government Administration; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Ghana

2004
Chapter

Banking Reform in India

By: Shawn A. Cole, A. Banerjee and E. Duflo

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Developing Countries and Economies; Banking Industry; India

01 Jun 2010
News

Paulson Advocates Regulatory Reform

PAULSON: “We were staving off economic Armageddon.” Hank Paulson (MBA ’70) is on a mission. As Treasury Secretary, the former Goldman Sachs CEO found himself in the distasteful position of championing massive taxpayer-funded bailouts for... View Details

Keywords: federal bailouts; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs

25 Jan 2012
News

Is Tax Reform Viable?

creates businesses, jobs, and prosperity? Sorry, I can’t buy that. Earned income has the potential to create the same sort of economic value as investment income. As for the argument that my investment was at risk and I deserved a little... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs

01 Dec 2009
News

Hope for Reform Dims

THAIN: Regulations failed to keep up with innovations in financial markets. A year after the federal government rushed to rescue Wall Street from its own nearly fatal excesses, former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain (MBA ’79) worries “that we aren’t using the crisis to... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs

October 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Transforming Korea Inc: Financial Crisis and Institutional Reform

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

South Korea, as one of the Asian "tiger" economies, transformed itself into the world's 11th largest economy and major exporter by 1996, emerging from being one of the lowest income countries in the region back in the 1960s. Yet one year later in 1997, Korea was swept... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Financial Crisis; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; South Korea

January 2011
Article

Does Intellectual Property Rights Reform Spur Industrial Development?

By: Lee G. Branstetter, Ray Fisman, C. Fritz Foley and Kamal Saggi

An extensive theoretical literature generates ambiguous predictions concerning the effects of intellectual property rights (IPR) reform on industrial development. The impact depends on whether multinational enterprises (MNEs) expand production in reforming countries... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Intellectual Property; Rights; Production; Expansion; United States

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February 2016 (Revised April 2020)
Case

In the Name of Democracy? The Rise and Decline of India's Congress Party

By: Akshay Mangla and Jonathan Schlefer

In 1950 it looked highly doubtful that Indian democracy would hold—typical family income was $6 a month, only about 15% of the population was literate, there were deep religious and ethnic differences, and more than a dozen national languages were spoken. But after a... View Details

Keywords: Congress Party; Economic Development; Democratization; Economic Reform; Economic Systems; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Development Economics; India

March 2017
Article

Land Institutions and Chinese Political Economy: Institutional Complementarities and Macroeconomic Management

By: Meg Rithmire

This article critically examines the origins and evolution of China’s unique land institutions and situates land policy in the larger context of China’s reforms and pursuit of economic growth. It argues that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has strengthened the... View Details

Keywords: China; Economic Reform; Land Politics; Macromanagement; Government and Politics; Macroeconomics; China

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2023
Other Unpublished Work

Urgent: The IMF Must Reform

By: Laura Alfaro, Guillermo Calvo, José de Gregorio, Augusto de la Torre, Roque Fernandez, Pablo Guidotti, Enrique Mendoza, Ernesto Talvi, Liliana Rojas-Suarez and Andrés Velasco

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Emerging Markets; Financial Markets; International Finance; Latin America

22 Sep 2009
News

The Case for Regulatory Reform

overview by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, in the June 15 Washington Post. Among other things, the proposed reforms will raise capital... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Government

03 Sep 2010
News

More PE reform and more emerging markets

Research Summary

Managing Workplace Reforms and Organization-Wide Transformations

Richard E. Walton is studying (with doctoral candidate Scott Hamlin and research associate Kathleen Scharf) the development and diffusion of new forms of union-management partnership together with other new practices in the steel industry. To test and elaborate... View Details

March 1998
Article

An Assessment of the Performance of Indian State-Owned Enterprises

By: Gautam Ahuja and Sumit K. Majumdar

We examine the determinants of performance of 68 Indian state-owned enterprises in the manufacturing sector for a five-year period: 1987 to 1991. Relative performance is determined using data envelopment analysis, with variations in performance patterns subsequently... View Details

Keywords: State-owned Enterprises; Economic Reform; Efficiency Analysis; Performance Efficiency; Privatization; Microeconomics; State Ownership; Manufacturing Industry; India

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April 2012
Case

Credit Rating Agency Reform in the US and EU

By: Robert C. Pozen and Brian Conroy

The purpose of this note is to explore reform options for the credit rating industry. The note examines the ways in which credit rating agencies contributed to the recent financial crisis, particularly through ratings of securitized products and sovereign debt. It... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financial Condition; Standards; Financial Crisis; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States; European Union