Publications

November 2018 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Universal Basic Income, Job Guarantees, or None of the Above?

By: William R. Kerr, Reilly Kiernan and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

How can policymakers and business leaders address AI and automation's potential for widespread labor market displacement? This case examines potential policy responses, looking closely at the United States' existing social safety net and the impacts of implementing... View Details

Keywords: UBI; Job Guarantee; Managing The Future Of Work; EITC; Employment; Labor; Social Issues; Income; Government and Politics; Policy; Problems and Challenges

09 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Aggregate and Firm-Level Stock Returns During Pandemics, in Real Time

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Anusha Chari, Andrew Greenland, and Peter K. Schott

December 2020
Article

The Employment Effects of Faster Payment: Evidence from the Federal Quickpay Reform

By: Jean-Noel Barrot and Ramana Nanda

We study the impact of Quickpay, a federal reform that indefinitely accelerated payments to small business contractors of the U.S. government. We find a strong direct effect of the reform on employment growth at the firm level. Importantly, however, we also... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Employment; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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Research Summary

Overview

By: Ashish Nanda

Ashish Nanda’s research focuses on leadership, particularly in the context of professional services and institutions of higher education. He has published case studies and articles on professional services in three primary streams: management of professional service... View Details

Keywords: Professional Services; Professionalism; Strategy; Leadership; Higher Education; Asia; India; Latin America; China

April 2006 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Peoplepower, Inc.: The Republic of the Philippines

By: Noel Maurer

In 2006, the Philippines faces a difficult choice. Japan has offered the country a trade agreement that includes access to the Japanese labor market for Philippine nurses and other professionals. The same trade agreement, however, means opening the country's... View Details

Keywords: Diasporas; Developing Countries and Economies; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Human Capital; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Japan; Philippines

June 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Renewing Germany: Kohl's Legacy and Schroder's Dilemma

By: Huw Pill, Michael Linse, Marie-Anne Popp and Ingrid Vogel

The German economy has long been seen as the locomotive of European (and, on occasion, global) growth. Germany appeared to weather the stagflation of the 1970s more successfully than many other economies, and reunification in 1990 appeared to present opportunities for... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Economy; Policy; Germany

06 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Behavioral Finance—Benefiting from Irrational Investors

of individual investors and 30 percent of institutional investors appear to be more inertial than logical. They take the default option, passively accepting the shares offered as consideration in stock mergers and acquisitions. In... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

QuikTrip

QuikTrip, a large convenience store chain with over 500 stores, was known for its outstanding labor practices and fast, reliable, and friendly customer service. In November 2010, the CEO Chet Cadieux, had to decide how many new locations to open when QuikTrip entered a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Service Delivery; Performance Effectiveness; Expansion; Retail Industry; United States

13 Jul 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Catering Through Disclosure: Evidence from Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect

Keywords: by Aaron S. Yoon

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

May 1998 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Japan: "Free, Fair, and Global?"

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Stephen E. Lynagh

In April 1998, Prime Minister Hashimoto faced serious problems, both with his program of six systemic reforms and with his fiscal policy. Japan had been in effective recession for six years, unable to retain the miracle-growth achieved in earlier decades. Hashimoto has... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Development Economics; Social Issues; Policy; Economy; Government Administration; Financial Crisis; Japan

December 2008
Background Note

Incentives in the NFL (Abridged)

By: Brian J. Hall, Andrew Wasynczuk, Jonathan Paul Lim, Sara del Nido and Katherine Dowd

This note briefly describes compensation and incentive issues in one of the major US professional sports leagues, the National Football League (NFL). It first provides some background information on the labor market for players and the salary cap, and then describes... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Groups and Teams; Conflict of Interests; Motivation and Incentives; Sports Industry; United States

21 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China

Keywords: by Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, and Chaopeng Wu

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Truck Driver Who Reinvented Shipping

"revolutionize trade with Asia." To achieve the dramatic reductions in labor and dock servicing time, McLean was vigilant about standardization. The labor savings associated with McLean's... View Details

Keywords: by Anthony J. Mayo & Nitin Nohria; Manufacturing; Transportation; Aerospace

2019
Working Paper

Do Banks Have an Edge?

By: Juliane Begenau and Erik Stafford

Overall, no! We show that the level and time series variation in cash flows for most bank activities are well matched by capital market portfolios with similar interest rate and credit risk to what banks report to hold. Ignoring operating expenses, bank loans earn high... View Details

Keywords: Banks; Market Efficiency; Bank Capital; Bank Debt; CAPM; Banking; Bank Deposits; Bank Funding Advantage; Leverage; Maturity Transformation; Replicating Portfolio; Efficiency; Banks and Banking; Capital Markets; Performance Evaluation; Performance Efficiency; Banking Industry; United States

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October 2004 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Spain: Straddling the Atlantic

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

Provides a broad overview of economic and political developments in Spain from the 1940s to the present day. Examines the emergence of Spain from the Franco dictatorship and its convergence into a vibrant democracy, as reflected in the surprising election results of... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Government and Politics; Spain; European Union

August 29, 2017
Article

How to Successfully Work Across Countries, Languages, and Cultures

By: Tsedal Neeley

According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report, the number of people in the global labor force will reach 3.5 billion by 2030. Among the enormous changes this will demand are new skills, attitudes, and behaviors. A five-year study of the global workforce at... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Competency and Skills; Success

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April 1996 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Australia in the 1990s: Lucky or Broke?

By: George C. Lodge

In 1996, Australia had a new prime minister, John Howard, ending 13 years of Labor Party rule. This case allows an analysis of the challenges that the new government faces and invites thought about the choices that the government has in meeting those challenges. Large... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Government and Politics; Markets; Problems and Challenges; Australia