Publications

May 1999
Case

The Saga of Prince Jefri and KPMG (A): Mystery of the Missing Billions

By: Ashish Nanda

Accounting and law firms around the globe are following with great interest the progress through British courts of a lawsuit. Those familiar with the suit, filed by Prince Jefri of Brunei against the professional service firm KPMG Peat Marwick, remark that its judgment... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Service Industry

February 2016 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The Battle over the Initiative and Referendum in Massachusetts (1918)

By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

On Election Day in 1918, Massachusetts voters would have to decide not only on their preferred candidates for governor and U.S. Senator, but also whether or not to approve 19 proposed amendments to the state constitution. By far the most controversial of these would... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government Legislation; Power and Influence; History; Massachusetts

17 Jun 2015
News

Excellence Comes From Saying No

06 May 2025
Video

Columbia Law’s Timothy Wu on Silicon Valley’s Dangerous Alliance with Government

28 Dec 2021
News

How Businesses Could Approach Return to Work in 2022

Winter 2021
Article

Can Staggered Boards Improve Value? Causal Evidence from Massachusetts

By: Robert Daines, Shelley Xin Li and Charles C.Y. Wang

We study the effect of staggered boards (SBs) using a quasi-experiment: a 1990 law that imposed an SB on all Massachusetts-incorporated firms. The law led to an increase in Tobin's Q, investment in CAPEX and R&D, patents, higher-quality patented innovations, and... View Details

Keywords: Staggered Board; Entrenchment; Life-cycle; Tobin's Q; Innovation; Profitability; Investor Composition; Governing and Advisory Boards; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Institutional Investing; Value

SSRN

Find at Harvard

2017
Working Paper

Patent Trolls and Small Business Employment

By: Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa and Elena Simintzi

We analyze how frivolous patent-infringement claims made by “patent trolls” affect small firms’ ability to create jobs, raise capital, and survive. Our identification strategy exploits the staggered passage of anti-patent-troll laws at the state level. We find that the... View Details

Keywords: Patent Trolls; Patents; Small Business; Employment; Venture Capital

SSRN

Read Now

20 Nov 2019
Video

Zia Mody

Zia Mody, a founder of AZB & Partners, a leading corporate law firm in India, describes the role of an active judiciary and an independent press in bringing societal and corporate change.

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January 2013 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Four businesses had, by 2012, grown to dominate the infrastructure that all firms rely on to reach online customers. Will the balance of power among the four persist, will one take command at the expense of the other three, or are all four more vulnerable than they... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competitive Advantage; Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development; Service Industry; Retail Industry; United States

David Moss is the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) unit. He earned his B.A. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from Yale. In 1992-1993, he served as a... View Details

Keywords: banking; credit card; federal government; financial services; health care; insurance industry; state government

2016
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Alberto Mora and the Costs and Consequences of Torture

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Benjamin Summers

Alberto Mora's time as General Counsel of the Navy from 2001–2006 greatly influenced his mission to illuminate the policy consequences of torture. Mora's drive to restore the nation's awareness and conscience against torture was gaining traction. Prominent... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Skills; Torture; Costs And Consequences; Humane; Restraint; Human Dignity; Treatment Of Prisoners; Prison; Repression; Opposition; Revolution; Democracy; Communism; International Affairs; Public Service; September 11; War On Terror; Operation Enduring Freedom; Guantanamo; Cuba; Coalition; Working Group; Cruelty; Interrogation; Memorandum; American Law; Authority; Authoritative; Quadrennial Defense Review; National Defense Authorization Act; Public Engagement; Advocacy; Law; Accountability; Center For The Victims Of Torture; Human Rights; Public Policy; Legality; Morality; Legal System; Tactical Military Operations; West Point; NGO; Human Rights First; American Civil Liberties Union; Human Rights Watch; Amnesty International; Constitution Project; Center For Constitutional Rights; Strategic Military Effect; National Security; Weapon; Terrorism; Prisoners Of War; Abu Ghraib; Pentagon; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Leadership; Rights; Policy; Public Opinion; United States

Research Summary

(Avalok @ Harvard)

Bhaskar's research program is aimed at applying and developing methods of computer science, social science and law to problems that significantly have both political and technical dimensions. (Avalok @ Harvard) is the primary vehicle for this research... View Details

15 May 2019
News

The Case For Breaking Up Big Tech

Nori Gerardo Lietz

Nori Gerardo Lietz is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Finance and Entrepreneurial Management Units. She presently teaches Real Estate Private Equity and Starting a Private Investment Firm.

Nori Gerardo Lietz is the founder of Areté... View Details

22 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Government Technology Policy, Social Value, and National Competitiveness

Keywords: by Frank Nagle

February 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Yahoo! in China (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Daniel Baer

In 2007 Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo!, was lambasted by U.S. Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, for Yahoo's role in the arrest and imprisonment of Chinese journalist and democracy advocate Shi Tao. The case describes the... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governance Compliance; Laws and Statutes; Rights; Business and Government Relations; Internet; Information Technology Industry; China; United States

July 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Collaborating for Growth: Duane Morris in a Turbulent Legal Sector

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Annelena Lobb

By the late 2000s, the law firm Duane Morris had transformed itself from a growing U.S. law firm to a significant global player. The firm's uniquely collaborative organizational culture, which featured a transparent, data-driven compensation system, practice-group... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firm; Collaboration; Performance Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Performance; Cooperation; Globalized Firms and Management; Compensation and Benefits; Volatility; Growth and Development Strategy; Legal Services Industry; United States

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Paul Lee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Frank Jerome LaNasa and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Paul Lee and Asian Americans Advancing Justice 2013 AL Fellow, 2014 Senior AL Fellow
Two years after the formation of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), a national affiliation of four independent Asian American civil rights groups, Paul Lee, who... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Skills; Asian; Asian Americans; Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Civil Rights; Asian Law Caucus; Asian Pacific American Legal Center; Asian American Institute; Asian American Justice Center; Immigration Issues; Immigration Reform; Affirmative Action; Coalition; Asian American Activism; Japanese; Chinese; Korean; Indian; Pakistani; Hmong; Cambodian; Laotians; Filipino; Vietnamese; Pacific Islanders; Ethnic Group; Model Minority; Anti-asian Prejudice; Pan-asian; Discrimination; Immigrants; Immigration Acts; Alien Land Laws; Sei Fujii; Naturalize; Interracial; Immigration And Nationality Act Of 1965; Refugees; War; Warfare; Vincent Chin; Bigotry; Chinatown; Boston; Social Impact; Asian American Lawyers Association; National Asian Pacific Bar Association; Asian Community Development Corporation; Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence; Southeast Asia; Mee Moua; Change Management; Demographics; Prejudice and Bias; Rights; Immigration; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Society; North and Central America

Article

Spontaneous Deregulation: How to Compete with Platforms That Ignore the Rules

By: Benjamin Edelman and Damien Geradin

Many successful platform businesses—think Airbnb, Uber, and YouTube—ignore laws and regulations that appear to preclude their approach. The rule-flouting phenomenon is something we call "spontaneous private deregulation," and it is not new. Benign or otherwise,... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Deregulation; Innovation And Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Laws and Statutes; Transportation Industry; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry