Publications

2008
Working Paper

The Cost of Property Rights: Establishing Institutions on the Philippine Frontier Under American Rule, 1898-1918

By: Lakshmi Iyer and Noel Maurer

We examine three reforms to property rights introduced by the United States in the Philippines in the early 20th century: the redistribution of large estates to their tenants, the creation of a system of secure land titles, and a homestead program to encourage... View Details

Keywords: Property; Ownership; Rights; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cost; History; Philippines; United States

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December 2008 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Special Economic Zones in India: Public Purpose and Private Property (A)

By: Laura Alfaro and Lakshmi Iyer

In 2005, the government of India enacted the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act in order to attract investment, generate export revenues, and create manufacturing jobs. However, several planned projects faced difficulties in acquiring land for setting up the SEZ. In... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Development Economics; Economic Growth; Policy; Government Legislation; Property; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; India

12 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 12

will do so, which results in market inefficiency. Second, the model provides a new argument for why it is usually entrants, not incumbents, who bring major technological innovations to the market. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-080.pdf The... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Wal-Mart Lobbying in India?

By: Karthik Ramanna and Vidhya Muthuram

In 2012, as part of a routine disclosure under U.S. law, Wal-Mart revealed it had spent $25 million since 2008 on lobbying to "enhance market access for investment in India." This disclosure, which came weeks after the Indian government made a controversial decision to... View Details

Keywords: Lobbying; India; Multinational Corporations; Business and Government Relations; Crime and Corruption; Retail Industry; India

06 Jan 2003
What Do You Think?

China: The Next Big Market Opportunity or the Next Big Bubble?

other hand, Joshua Kurlantzick, writing from Shanghai in The New Republic three weeks ago, paints another picture. His is of a China with a failed banking system with 50 percent of non-performing loans made to state-owned enterprises to satisfy View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2006 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

Corporate Responsibility & Community Engagement at the Tintaya Copper Mine (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Brooke Barton and Ezequiel Reficco

Engaging local stakeholders and building strong relations has become a strategic imperative for multinational firms in the often politically charged mining, oil, and gas sectors. For BHP Billiton, the world's second largest mining company, its Tintaya copper mine in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mining Industry

29 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Do Disasters Rally Support for Climate Action? It's Complicated.

Environmental disasters like wildfires can ignite awareness of climate change and boost eco-friendly politicians’ careers. But do voters perceive a tradeoff between environmental policies and local economic growth? In Brazil, home to a majority of the Amazon tropical... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

May 2005 (Revised October 2022)
Case

The Octopus and the Generals: The United Fruit Company in Guatemala

By: Geoffrey Jones and Marcelo Bucheli

Examines the overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954 in a U.S.-backed coup in support of the United Fruit Co. Over the previous half century, United Fruit had built a large vertically integrated tropical fruit business that owned large banana... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Multinational Firms and Management; Policy; International Relations; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Central America; Guatemala; United States

January 2018
Supplement

In the Eye of a Geopolitical Storm: South Korea's Lotte Group, China and the U.S. THAAD Missile Defense System (B)

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

This case explores Lotte Group’s challenge of how to respond to Chinese government pressure in 2017, following the Group’s February decision to transfer land to the South Korean government, on which Seoul intended to deploy the U.S.-built THAAD missile defense system.... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Corporation; Corporate Governance; Leadership; International Relations; Decision Making; South Korea; China; Japan; United States

2010
Article

Geography, Poverty and Conflict in Nepal

By: Quy-Toan Do and Lakshmi Iyer

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the geographic, economic and social factors that contributed to the spread of civil war in Nepal over the period 1996-2006. This within-country analysis complements existing cross-country studies on the same subject. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity; War; Poverty; Geography; Conflict and Resolution; Government and Politics; Economics; Nepal

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20 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Here’s How Businessman Trump Is Likely to Approach the Presidency

Donald J. Trump brings business experience to the White House. Source: BasSlabbers Donald John Trump, the 45th president of the United States, will be the first to go straight from the boardroom to the Oval Office without any political... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese

2022
Book

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire

By: Caroline M. Elkins

Sprawling across a quarter of the world’s land mass and claiming nearly seven hundred million people, Britain’s twentieth-century empire was the largest empire in human history. For many Britons, it epitomized their nation’s cultural superiority, but what legacy did... View Details

Keywords: Imperialism; Violence; Colonialism; History; Government and Politics; Power and Influence; Race; Policy; United Kingdom

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2007
Working Paper

Geography, Poverty and Conflict in Nepal

By: Quy-Toan Do and Lakshmi Iyer

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the geographic, economic and social factors that contributed to the spread of civil war in Nepal over the period 1996-2006. This within-country analysis complements existing cross-country studies on the same subject. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; War; Poverty; Nepal

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March 1999 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Saevig Corporation

By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard

The taxpayer purchased land and later transferred it to a family controlled corporation in return for an earn out. When funds were eventually received, the IRS treated them as dividends, whereas the individual and corporate taxpayers contended they were sums paid on... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Debt Securities; Taxation; Outcome or Result; Financial Reporting; Family Business; Assets; Business and Stakeholder Relations

19 Jan 2016
First Look

January 19, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50346 Land Institutions and Chinese Political Economy: Institutional Complementarities and Macroeconomic Management By: Rithmire, Meg Abstract—A rich body of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

The Curse of Double-Digit Growth

are not unequivocally a club that one should strive to join," writes Werker in his April 2013 working paper, Learning from Double-Digit Growth Experiences, published by the International Growth Centre at the London School of Economics and View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

December 2022
Case

Mission Produce in 2022

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Founded by CEO Steve Barnard in 1983, California-based Mission Produce was a leading supplier of Hass avocados with a global sourcing, marketing, and distribution network and $892 million in 2021 sales. Barnard had been influential in the global avocado trade’s... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; California; Peru; Guatemala; Colombia; Mexico; Chile