Publications

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April 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Stalin’s Capitalists: American Business and Soviet Industrialization

By: Jeremy Friedman, Jingyu Liu and Christine Riggle

In the late 1920s and early 1930s when Joseph Stalin, leader of the world’s first Communist state, sought to industrialize his largely peasant country on an unprecedented scale, he turned for help to those who had the most experience constructing on such a scale:... View Details

Keywords: Communism; Industrialization; Socialism; History; Industry Growth; Economic Systems; Soviet Union

2022
Chapter

The Merits and Limits of China's Modern Universities

By: William C. Kirby

China has a long history of advanced learning, but its modern universities are quite young. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the establishment of Chinese universities based on international models signaled the end of a millennium of promoting talent through... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Education Industry; China

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

11 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Branding Sells Cereal, Handbags, and Vacations. Can It Sell a Country?

complicated history still dominate public consciousness. Memories of failed peace talks tend to loom larger than Israel’s image as a startup nation. Thousands of Instagram posts from Tel Aviv’s gay pride festivities or the buzz from winning the recent Eurovision song... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Tourism

August 2020 (Revised November 2022)
Case

George Soros: The Stateless Statesman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Wendy Ying

This case traces the business career and philanthropic activities of George Soros. The Hungarian-born Soros made a fortune as a hedge fund investor after establishing Quantum Fund on the tax haven island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles in 1973 where he was... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Philanthropy; Populism; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Political Elections; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Financial Services Industry; Europe; Hungary; United Kingdom; North and Central America; United States

2007
Book

Global Accountabilities: Participation, Pluralism, and Public Ethics

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and Edward Weisband

This edited volume contributes analytical depth to the diverse debates on accountability in modern organizations. It explores the nature, forms and impacts of accountability efforts in civil society organizations, public and inter-governmental agencies, and private... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Business and Government Relations

2008
Book

The Oxford Handbook of Business History

By: G. Jones and Jonathan Zeitlin

The Handbook of Business History contains 25 original chapters from around the world to present a comprehensive, critical and interdisciplinary examination of current research in business history. The Handbook reveals business history as a wide-ranging and... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Research; Economics; Government and Politics

March 2022 (Revised June 2022)
Case

The United States National Security Apparatus, Multipolarity, and the Rise of Commercial Space

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Brendan L. Rosseau

In 2019, the U.S. national security community crossed a Rubicon by declaring that space was “a war-fighting domain” and undergoing a major reorganization, including the creation of the U.S. Space Force, the first new military branch in over 70 years. Military and... View Details

Keywords: War; National Security; International Relations; Power and Influence

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

staff are well positioned to conceive improvement opportunities based on first-hand knowledge of what works and does not work. The innovation contest may be a relevant and useful vehicle to elicit staff ideas. However, the success of the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

14 Jun 2016
First Look

June 14, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50814 Fiscal Rules and Sovereign Default By: Alfaro, Laura, and Fabio Kanczuk Abstract—We provide a quantitative analysis of fiscal rules in a standard model of sovereign debt accumulation and default modified to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2018
Book

American Capitalism: New Histories

By: Sven Beckert and Christine Desan

The United States has long epitomized capitalism. From its enterprising shopkeepers, wildcat banks, violent slave plantations, huge industrial working class, and raucous commodities trade to its world-spanning multinationals, its massive factories, and the centripetal... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; History; Finance; Trade; Economy; Policy; United States

2018
Book

American Fair Trade: Proprietary Capitalism, Corporatism, and the 'New Competition,' 1890–1940

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

American Fair Trade explores the contested political and legal meanings of the term fair trade from the late nineteenth century through the New Deal era. This history of American capitalism argues that business associations partnered with regulators to... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Competition; Policy; Fairness; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

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

11 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Politicians Benefited From Using Toxic Loans

politicians running in "swing" areas. Incumbent politicians running in politically contested areas (where the local government had been ruled by the same party for fewer than 10 years) were more inclined to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

January 2016 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Citizens United and Corporate Speech

By: David Moss and Marc Campasano

The story of Citizens United began in late 2007, as leading members of the Republican and Democratic parties were preparing for the 2008 presidential primaries. Democrats expected a three-way contest in their party between Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, Senator (and... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Internet and the Web; Political Elections; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business and Government Relations

Research Summary

Overview

By: Boris Vallee

Professor Vallée focuses on financial innovation, investigating it from different angles. This research thread has led him to relate the methods and insights of corporate finance and banking with those of other subfields, including household finance, public finance,... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Trade Policy in the Shadow of Conflict: The Case of Dual-use Goods

By: Maxim Alekseev and Xinyue Lin

Policymakers increasingly use trade instruments to address national security concerns. This paper studies optimal policy for dual-use goods, items with both military and civilian applications. We begin by documenting that regulation and trade flows of dual-use goods... View Details

Keywords: Policy; National Security; Trade; Taxation; Financial Instruments; Macroeconomics