Publications

September 2015 (Revised July 2017)
Case

The TTIP: Bridging the Transatlantic Economy

By: Dante Roscini and Christina Marin

In 2016, the United States and the European Union struggled to reach an agreement over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Started in June 2013, TTIP negotiations had gone on much longer than anyone had expected. With elections coming on both... View Details

Keywords: International Trade; European Union; United States; Agreements and Arrangements; Trade; United States; European Union

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Porter’s Perspective: Competing in the Global Economy

Competitive advantage. Corporate strategy. The competitive advantage of nations. All over the world these terms quickly bring to mind the groundbreaking work of HBS professor Michael Porter, whose two decades of research on these and... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter

1983
Book

Third World Multinationals

By: L. T. Wells Jr.

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Multinational Firms and Management

January 2002 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Finland and Nokia: Creating the World's Most Competitive Economy

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Finland, with a special language and culture, has developed as a country in between the west (the Nordic region and Europe) and the east (especially its neighbor Russia). In the 1980s, a process started of moving out of an investment-driven economy into an... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Finland

September 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Bunge: Food, Fuel, and World Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Santiago Mingo and Jonathan West

In 2007, Bunge, an agribusiness company, had over $26 billion in worldwide sales and was considered, along with Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), one of three very integrated worldwide agribusiness companies. Headquartered in White Plains, NY, the company has... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Operations; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; White Plains; Brazil

December 2002
Article

Business Enterprises and Global Worlds

By: G. Jones

The role of business enterprise in integrating economies is one of the central historical themes of the last two centuries. Although globalization—both in its current iteration and in its nineteenth-century form—has been widely studied, the role of the firm, as opposed... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizations; Emerging Markets; Behavior; Business Ventures; United States

2021
Book

Global Goliaths: Multinational Corporations in the 21st Century Economy

By: C. Fritz Foley, James R. Hines Jr. and David Wessel

Globalization and multinational corporations have long seemed partners in the enterprise of economic growth: globalization-led prosperity was the goal, and giant corporations spanning the globe would help achieve it. In recent years, however, the notion that all... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Globalization; Economy; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; Employment; Policy

30 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

How Technology Adoption Affects Global Economies

borders of modern-day nations with the cultures and civilizations of the ancient time periods, the team used maps from the 2006 edition of The World Factbook, published by the Central Intelligence Agency.) There appeared to be no... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2009
Working Paper

Corporate Misgovernance at the World Bank

By: Ashwin Kaja and Eric D. Werker

We test for evidence of corporate misgovernance at the World Bank. Most major decisions at the World Bank are made by its Board of Executive Directors. However, in any given year the majority of the Bank's member countries do not get a chance to serve on this powerful... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

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June 2017
Case

Veolia: Resourcing the World

By: Gautam Ahuja, Tarun Khanna, Kristina Maslauskaite and Vincent Dessain

In March 2016, Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, a global environmental services provider, was undergoing an important transformation of the company. In 2013, Frérot presented a growth strategy that focused on increasing the share of industrial clients, enhancing growth... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Circular; Emerging Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Economy

December 2017 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Globalization Past, 1850–1914 (A)

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Federica Gabrieli

On the evening of 3 August 1914, British Foreign Secretary Lord Edward Grey contemplated whether to advise King and Parliament to declare war on Germany in the wake of the country’s invasion of Belgium or to stay out of what quickly was becoming a world war triggered... View Details

Keywords: The World; The Rise And Fall Of Globalization; World War; Globalization; War; Economics; Trade; Business Cycles; Economic Growth; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Society; History; Values and Beliefs; Macroeconomics

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Privatization and the New European Economy

efforts will be in the long run. "Under our system," he observed, "this is very difficult to do." In contrast, Paul Reutlinger has encountered no such hurdles at Sabena. Long known as Belgium's world airline, the... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Air Transportation; Transportation

07 Nov 2011
Research & Ideas

The Forgotten Book that Helped Shape the Modern Economy

A British merchant's long-forgotten seventeenth-century book may not only fuel a radical rethinking about how modern economies developed in Europe and America, but also add historical perspective on today's hot-button issue of the proper... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2019
Book

The Economic Turn: Recasting Political Economy in Enlightenment Europe

By: Steven L. Kaplan and Sophus A. Reinert

The mid-eighteenth century witnessed what might be dubbed an “economic turn” that resolutely changed the trajectory of world history. From the birth of new agricultural practices and the foundation of private societies to the sustained and popular theorization of... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Trade; History; Markets; Society; France; Europe

20 May 2016
Op-Ed

World Health Organization Lacks Leadership to Combat Pandemics

programs than the entire budget of the WHO and has played a major role in aiding recovery in the Ebola-hit economies of West Africa. The Commission's report hints at but never quite concedes that the World... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Health

02 Apr 2014
What Do You Think?

Has the Post-Capitalist Economy Finally Arrived?

sell when it costs so little to be happy ." Warren speculated that "we are going to come up with a self-sustaining economy meaning that we will revert back to small towns that depend less on trade and more about the common... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

02 Jul 2015
Op-Ed

The Future of the Greek Economy

mutual financial "safety net" has been achieved, it has come in fits and starts and is not sufficient to ensure an organic approach to the solution of European issues. In a world economy... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Dante Roscini & George Serafeim; Banking

May 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Global Economy (A)

By: Alberto Cavallo and Christian Godwin

In April 2020, the world struggled to contain the exponential escalation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dozens of countries had imposed restrictions on travel, work, and social gatherings. A large share of the global population was under lockdowns and... View Details