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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,209)
- People (1)
- News (272)
- Research (1,724)
- Events (12)
- Multimedia (4)
- Faculty Publications (832)
- April 2025
- Article
Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance
By: Belen Villalonga, Peter Tufano and Boya Wang
Using a sample of 3083 firms from 62 countries over 18 years, we analyze how the structure and identity of firms' material owners influence their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. We find that firms with founding families or other individual... View Details
Keywords: ESG; CSR; Family Firms; Social Responsibility; Environment; Sustainability; Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Governance; Environmental Sustainability
Villalonga, Belen, Peter Tufano, and Boya Wang. "Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance." Journal of Corporate Finance 91 (April 2025).
- 2017
- Working Paper
Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and its Relation to Firm Performance
By: Ethan Rouen
I develop measures of firm-level pay disparity and examine their relation to firm accounting performance. Using comprehensive compensation data for a large sample of firms, I find no statistically significant relation between the ratio of CEO-to-mean employee... View Details
Keywords: Pay Disparity; Pay Ratio; CEO Pay Ratio; Income Inequality; Executive Compensation; Wages; Equality and Inequality; Business Ventures; Performance
Rouen, Ethan. "Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and its Relation to Firm Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-007, July 2017.
- 2025
- Working Paper
Bringing Science to Market: Knowledge Foundations, Inventor-Founders, and Performance
By: Justine Boudou and Maria Roche
In this paper, we examine how a startup’s knowledge foundations—embedded in its
core technology—influence its performance in the exit market. Using a dataset of 1,006
biomedicine startups founded between 2005 and 2015, we focus on two key factors: (1)
the degree of... View Details
Keywords: Firm Performance; Knowledge Foundations; Exits; Academic Startups; Inventor-founder; Specialized Scientific Knowledge; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Research; Information Publishing; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship
Boudou, Justine, and Maria Roche. "Bringing Science to Market: Knowledge Foundations, Inventor-Founders, and Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-021, October 2023. (Revised February 2025.)
- April 2020
- Article
Long-term Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis of U.S. Manufacturers 1959–2015
By: Giovanni Dosi, Marco Grazzi, Daniele Moschella, Gary P. Pisano and Federico Tamagni
Firm growth is an essential feature of market economies, shaping together macroeconomic performance and the evolution of industry structures. As a potential indicator of organizational “fitness” within a competitive environment, firm growth is also a central concern to... View Details
Keywords: Firm Growth; Organizations; Growth and Development; Theory; Analysis; Production; Data and Data Sets
Dosi, Giovanni, Marco Grazzi, Daniele Moschella, Gary P. Pisano, and Federico Tamagni. "Long-term Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis of U.S. Manufacturers 1959–2015." Industrial and Corporate Change 29, no. 2 (April 2020): 309–332.
- March 2007
- Article
Authority, Risk, and Performance Incentives: Evidence from Division Manager Positions inside Firms
By: Julie Wulf
I show that performance incentives vary by decision-making authority of division managers. For division managers with broader authority, i.e., those designated as corporate officers, both the sensitivity of pay to global performance measures and the relative importance... View Details
Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Performance; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Model; Globalization; Measurement and Metrics; Status and Position; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Divisions
Wulf, Julie. "Authority, Risk, and Performance Incentives: Evidence from Division Manager Positions inside Firms." Journal of Industrial Economics 55, no. 1 (March 2007): 169–196.
- 11 Aug 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance
Keywords: by Ethan Rouen
- January 2020
- Article
Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance
By: Ethan Rouen
I develop measures of firm-level pay disparity and examine their relation to firm performance. Using comprehensive compensation data for a large sample of firms, I find no statistically significant relation between the ratio of CEO-to-mean employee compensation and... View Details
Keywords: Pay Disparity; Pay Ratio; CEO Pay Ratio; Income Inequality; Executive Compensation; Employees; Wages; Equality and Inequality; Business Ventures; Performance
Rouen, Ethan. "Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance." Accounting Review 95, no. 1 (January 2020): 343–378.
- Article
What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive
By: Ashish Nanda and Das Narayandas
When the going gets tough, professional service firms (PSFs) often get desperate and chase all kinds of business just to keep the lights on. Consultancies, financial services firms, VC/PE firms, and the like offer services and sign up clients they should never have... View Details
Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Client Mix; Strategic Positioning; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Decision Making; Framework
Nanda, Ashish, and Das Narayandas. "What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 2 (March–April 2021): 98–107.
- March 1988
- Article
Tobin's q and the Importance of Focus in Firm Performance
By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Birger Wernerfelt
Montgomery, Cynthia A., and Birger Wernerfelt. "Tobin's q and the Importance of Focus in Firm Performance." American Economic Review 78, no. 1 (March 1988).
- Article
Tigers, Dragons, and Others: Profiling High Performance in Asian Firms
By: Rohit Deshpandé, John U. Farley and Douglas Bowman
Deshpandé, Rohit, John U. Farley, and Douglas Bowman. "Tigers, Dragons, and Others: Profiling High Performance in Asian Firms." Journal of International Marketing 12, no. 3 (2004): 5–29.
- 2008
- Working Paper
Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items
By: Edward J. Riedl and Suraj Srinivasan
This paper investigates whether managers' presentation of special items within the financial statements reflects economic performance or opportunism. Specifically, we assess special items presented as a separate line item on the income statement (income statement... View Details
Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Disclosure; Performance
Riedl, Edward J., and Suraj Srinivasan. "Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 09-031, September 2008. (Conditionally accepted at Contemporary Accounting Research.)
- July–August 2022
- Article
Generalized Trust, External Sourcing, and Firm Performance in Economic Downturns
By: Ranjay Gulati and Bart S. Vanneste
Gulati, Ranjay, and Bart S. Vanneste. "Generalized Trust, External Sourcing, and Firm Performance in Economic Downturns." Organization Science 33, no. 4 (July–August 2022): 1599–1619.
- 2009
- Article
Acquisitions and the Evolution of Operational Performance across the Firm
By: Santiago Mingo
Mingo, Santiago. "Acquisitions and the Evolution of Operational Performance across the Firm." Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (2009).
- Article
Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items
By: Edward J. Riedl and Suraj Srinivasan
This paper investigates whether managers' presentation of special items within the financial statements reflects economic performance or opportunism. Specifically, we assess special items presented as a separate line item on the income statement (income statement... View Details
Keywords: Managerial Roles; Financial Statements; Economics; Performance; Research; Opportunities; Business Earnings; Motivation and Incentives
Riedl, Edward J., and Suraj Srinivasan. "Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items." Contemporary Accounting Research 27, no. 1 (Spring 2010): 289–332.
- January–February 2019
- Article
Corporate Purpose and Financial Performance
By: Claudine Gartenberg, Andrea Prat and George Serafeim
We construct a measure of corporate purpose within a sample of U.S. companies based on approximately 500,000 survey responses of worker perceptions about their employers. We find that this measure of purpose is not related to financial performance. However, high... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Purpose; Purpose; Employee Motivation; Belief Systems; Corporate Performance; Human Capital; Middle Management; Culture; Corporate Culture; Meaning; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Employees; Perception; Values and Beliefs; Performance Effectiveness
Gartenberg, Claudine, Andrea Prat, and George Serafeim. "Corporate Purpose and Financial Performance." Organization Science 30, no. 1 (January–February 2019): 1–18.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Zero-Sum Frames: The Paradox of Worker Satisfaction and Financial Firm Performance
By: Daniel A. Brown
- 01 Apr 2002
- News
Charting the Luminary Leadership in Professional Service Firms
investment banking, law, and management consulting firms — are unique in that they have no products, manufacturing plants, or distribution systems. Their financial success depends entirely upon the capability and View Details
- 27 Dec 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Team Learning Capabilities: A Meso Model of Sustained Innovation and Superior Firm Performance
- 24 Oct 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items
Keywords: by Edward J. Riedl & Suraj Srinivasan