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- All HBS Web (101)
- Faculty Publications (32)
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- September 2014
- Article
OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California
By: David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
For companies with strong internal occupational safety and health auditing programs, OSHA inspections might seem a formality that risk uncovering, at most, nitpicky deviations from the thousands of pages of safety regulations. For those with poor safety practices, OSHA... View Details
Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Operations; Safety; Governance Compliance; United States; California
Levine, David I., and Michael W. Toffel. "OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California." The Compass (Newsletter of the American Society of Safety Engineers) 14, no. 1 (September 2014): 4.
- 12 Sep 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Unexpected Link Between Cadavers and Careers
occupations are more likely to bequeath their corpses to medical research than those in male-dominated occupations. “There's a lot of discussion in the field of donation on how to morally increase the supply.” The finding is important... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
Health, Human Capital Development and the Longevity of Japanese Elites Since 710
By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu
We examine the lifespan of over 40,000 elites in Japan born between 710 and 1912, including samurai warriors, feudal lords, business, political, cultural, and religious leaders at the apex of the social hierarchy. Japanese elites experienced increases in lifespan about... View Details
Nicholas, Tom, and Hiroshi Shimizu. "Health, Human Capital Development and the Longevity of Japanese Elites Since 710." Working Paper, June 2024.
- October 2023
- Article
Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA
By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
We study how a regulator can best target inspections. Our case study is a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program that randomly allocated some inspections. On average, each inspection averted 2.4 serious injuries (9%) over the next five years.... View Details
Keywords: Safety Regulations; Regulations; Regulatory Enforcement; Machine Learning Models; Safety; Operations; Service Operations; Production; Forecasting and Prediction; Decisions; United States
Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 15, no. 4 (October 2023): 30–67. (Profiled in the Regulatory Review.)
- 2020
- Working Paper
Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA
By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
We study how a regulator can best target inspections. Our case study is a US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program that randomly allocated some inspections. On average, each inspection averted 2.4 serious injuries (9%) over the next five years.... View Details
Keywords: Government Administration; Working Conditions; Safety; Quality; Production; Analysis; Resource Allocation; Manufacturing Industry; United States
Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-019, August 2019. (Revised February 2020.)
- March 2009 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: Spine Care
By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael E. Porter, Rachel Gordon and Natalie Kindred
Describes the Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a multidisciplinary unit that offers patients suffering from spinal problems "one-stop" access to a range of providers including orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical specialists in... View Details
Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Integration; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States
Huckman, Robert S., Michael E. Porter, Rachel Gordon, and Natalie Kindred. "Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: Spine Care." Harvard Business School Case 609-016, March 2009. (Revised September 2010.)
- 2025
- Working Paper
How Firms Respond to Worker Activism: Evidence from Global Supply Chains
By: Yanhua Bird, Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
Social movement pressures can lead organizations to concede and improve social performance to avoid disruption costs, but we theorize that such responses evoke concession costs that prompt organizations to shift resources and attention from other social domains whose... View Details
Keywords: Worker Activism; Labor Standards; Tradeoffs; Global Supply Chains; Internal Governance Structure; Public Opinion; Supply Chain; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Working Conditions
Bird, Yanhua, Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Firms Respond to Worker Activism: Evidence from Global Supply Chains." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-061, June 2025.
- 06 Nov 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Extending Producer Responsibility: An Evaluation Framework for Product Take-Back Policies
- 2018
- Working Paper
How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections
By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
Many production processes are subject to inspection to ensure they meet quality, safety, and environmental standards imposed by companies and regulators. Inspection accuracy is critical to inspections being a useful input to assessing risks, allocating quality... View Details
Keywords: Assessment; Bias; Inspection; Scheduling; Econometric Analysis; Empirical Research; Regulation; Health; Food; Safety; Quality; Performance Consistency; Performance Evaluation; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry
Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-090, April 2017. (Revised October 2018. Formerly titled "Assessing the Quality of Quality Assessment: The Role of Scheduling". Featured in Forbes, Food Safety Magazine, and Food Safety News.)
- 26 Nov 2013
- First Look
First Look: November 26
http://www.ajmc.com/publications/issue/2013/2013-1-vol19-n9/Testimonials-Do-Not-Convert-Patients-From-Brand-to-Generic-Medication August 2013 Health Affairs Lessons from England's Health Care Workforce... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 21 Aug 2023
- Book
You’re More Than Your Job: 3 Tips for a Healthier Work-Life Balance
it part of your personal brand. The more you’re wedded to one position, the harder it will be to find a new one if layoffs happen. “Older generations are going to feel this most acutely: Equating your identity with your occupation is... View Details
Keywords: by Kara Baskin
- June 2020
- Article
How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections
By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
Accuracy and consistency are critical for inspections to be an effective, fair, and useful tool for assessing risks, quality, and suppliers—and for making decisions based on those assessments. We examine how inspector schedules could introduce bias that erodes... View Details
Keywords: Assessment; Bias; Inspection; Scheduling; Econometric Analysis; Empirical Research; Regulation; Health; Food; Safety; Quality; Performance Consistency; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections." Management Science 66, no. 6 (June 2020): 2396–2416. (Revised February 2019. Featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Food Safety Magazine, Food Safety News, and KelloggInsight. (2020 MSOM Responsible Research Finalist.))
- 08 May 2018
- First Look
First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 8, 2018
Understanding these biases can help managers develop alternative scheduling regimes that reduce bias in quality assessments in domains such as food safety, process quality, occupational safety, working conditions, and regulatory... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 14 Mar 2018
- Research & Ideas
Feeling Stressed? Try Sniffing Your Romantic Partner's Shirt
Practical implications From an occupational perspective, the findings may prove valuable to business travelers—more than a third of whom believe work-related trips make them feel more stressed out than usual, according to the travel risk... View Details
Keywords: by Carmen Nobel
- 01 Mar 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Hurry Up and Wait: Differential Impacts of Congestion, Bottleneck Pressure, and Predictability on Patient Length of Stay
- 16 Mar 2020
- Research & Ideas
How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business
owners (and their investors and lenders) in all sectors will have to both outfit their buildings to measure components of public health and also respond to their occupants doing their own assessments. This... View Details
Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman
- 16 Jul 2020
- Research & Ideas
Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive
percentage rent above a specified revenue threshold. Normatively, the industry seeks to spend no more than 10 percent of revenue on occupancy costs, but when entering leases, restaurateurs may well be optimistic about their projected... View Details
- 17 Nov 2016
- Op-Ed
What's Behind the Unexpected Trump Support from Women
working-class women about diminished possibilities for their husbands and sons to provide for their families. Many supporters’ families work in blue-collar occupations such as construction, transportation, and infrastructure; live in low... View Details
Keywords: by Laura Morgan Roberts and Robin Ely
- 21 Feb 2005
- Op-Ed
Is Business Management a Profession?
executives is to imply that business management itself is a profession—but is it? Sociologists who study the professions have employed a wide range of perspectives and criteria for determining what makes an occupation a profession. For... View Details
- 15 Mar 2022
- Research & Ideas
This Workplace Certification Made Already Safe Companies Even Safer
according to the working paper Do Management System Standards Indicate Superior Performance? Evidence from the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard. To earn the voluntary certification,... View Details
Keywords: by Rachel Layne