Publications

April 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Reaganomics: Impact and Legacy

By: Tom Nicholas, John Masko and Matthew G. Preble

During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and his administration instituted several far-reaching economic policies that had both near- and long-term impacts on such aspects of the U.S. economy as monetary policy, inflation, the tax structure, and the role of... View Details

Keywords: Wealth and Poverty; Business and Government Relations; Leadership; Taxation; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Inflation and Deflation; Money; Economy; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; United States

01 Sep 2024
News

Far-Reaching Impact

Above: Teachers in India's daycare system draw on Rocket Learning's digital platform to enhance learning. Photo courtesy Rocket Learning When the news reached Namya Mahajan (MBA 2022) as her HBS graduation was approaching that she would receive financial assistance to... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

March 1998 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Electronic Data Systems (EDS)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Thomas Dretler

Explores a global program of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) called "Global Volunteer Day" and examines the activities and business situation of the company in four countries. Asks students to address whether American values like "volunteerism" can be exported. View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; United States

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15 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk

agencies, uneven supervisory coverage, and politically driven legislative reactions. In the process, much of the initial beneficial impact of credit risk transfer technology may be negated. 3 steps can mitigate this new component of View Details

Keywords: by Mohamed El-Erian; Financial Services; Banking

February 2018
Case

Root Capital and the Efficient Impact Frontier

By: Shawn Cole and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

In 2015 Root Capital, a pioneer in the impact investing space, began to explore how to more systematically integrate impact and financial management. After much deliberation, Root Capital landed on ex-ante rating system for any potential investment that produced a... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Finance; Performance Efficiency; Boston

Web

Impact - Health Care

Impact Making a Difference in Health Care Harvard Business School Influencing the Industry With global health care spending greater than $8.5 trillion, there is no shortage of opportunities to make an impact... View Details

January 2023
Case

Year Up: Measuring and Scaling Impact

By: Natalia Rigol, Benjamin N. Roth, Brian Trelstad and Sarah Mehta

Year Up, a non-profit that provides training and practical work experience to low-income young people, has for years prioritized impact measurement. By 2022, it had built a robust body of evidence demonstrating that its program yields higher earnings for participants.... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Education; Jobs and Positions; Measurement and Metrics; Performance; Research; Social Enterprise; Growth Management; Education Industry; United States; Massachusetts; Boston

July 1989 (Revised April 1996)
Case

AUCNET: TV Auction Network System

The AUCNET system links buyers and sellers in the wholesale used car market in Japan. Video images delivered via videodisk or satellite along with an inspector's opinion and objective character based data are used to conduct a realtime auction over computers and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Auctions; Service Industry; Japan; United States

2009
Working Paper

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

By: Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo and Robert C. Merton

The confluence of three trends in the U.S. residential housing market—rising home prices, declining interest rates, and near-frictionless refinancing opportunities—led to vastly increased systemic risk in the financial system. Individually, each of these trends is... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Mortgages; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; Mathematical Methods; Real Estate Industry; United States

2009
Working Paper

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

By: Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo and Robert C. Merton

The confluence of three trends in the U.S. residential housing market-rising home prices, declining interest rates, and near-frictionless refinancing opportunities-led to vastly increased systemic risk in the financial system. Individually, each of these trends is... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Mortgages; Interest Rates; Price; Housing; Risk and Uncertainty; United States

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2018
Working Paper

Zig-Zagging Your Way to Transformative Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Tricia Gregg

Achieving transformative impact has been much discussed by social entrepreneurs, funders, and consultants. These discussions have focused on issues of increasing impact and scale, but often with no clear distinction between the two terms. In order to provide clarity,... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Performance Efficiency; Growth and Development; Outcome or Result; Strategy

09 Jul 2010
News

Poised for Impact

Keywords: Finance

Article

Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

This paper surveys recent empirical studies on the economic impacts of immigration. The survey first examines the magnitude of immigration as an economic phenomenon in various host countries. The second part deals with the assimilation of immigrant workers into... View Details

Keywords: Surveys; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Immigration; Economic Systems; Human Capital; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Fluctuation; Situation or Environment; Labor and Management Relations; United States; Europe

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May 25, 2004
Article

Specialization and Its Discontents: The Pernicious Impact of Regulations Against Specialization and Physician Ownership on the U.S. Healthcare System

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Ownership; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Industry; United States

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Research Summary

The Impact of ABC on Managerial Decisions

In this type of research, Ratna Sarkar seeks to determine whether, in fact, new cost systems such as ABC (Activity Based Costing) have a measurable effect on managerial decisions regarding product and customer mix.

The theory of ABC is now academically established,... View Details

Fast Answer

Social Entrepreneurship & Systems Change

the impact investment sector. Also includes the ImpactSpace database that includes information on and investors and over 4,000 impact investment deals Preqin - profiles and screening capability for socially... View Details

03 Jun 2021
Blog Post

HBS Pilots First Impact Investing Fund

This year, HBS piloted its first student-run Impact Investing Fund, focused on investing in BIPOC-led and owned small businesses in the Massachusetts area. Since launching, the fund has raised $200k, completed diligence on eight... View Details

April 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Ariadne Labs: Building Impactful Partnerships

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

In September 2018, the executive team at Ariadne Labs (Ariadne), a Boston-based organization dedicated to improving health systems through the discovery and implementation of simple tools, faced a number of strategic decisions. Chief among them, the seven-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Health Industry; Boston