Publications

March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Micro Insurance Agency: Helping the Poor Manage Risk

By: Michael Chu and Jean Hazell

The notable success of insurance products for low-income clients of its microfinance network leads Opportunity International to launch the first global specialized microinsurance company, the Micro Insurance Agency (MIA). Building on the experience in 10 countries... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Cost Management; Microfinance; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America

Educators

Purchase

08 Oct 2020
News

How to Manage a Hybrid Team

03 Mar 2022
HBS Seminar

Daniela Saban, Stanford

23 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

All Those Zoom Meetings May Boost Connection and Curb Loneliness

Americans are lonelier than ever—a problem the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated. Could interactions on platforms like Zoom and Twitch come close to replicating the real-life contact people crave? New research suggests that’s more likely to happen if the virtual... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Oct 2001
News

Guy de Chazal: Changing Focus

venture capital with Citicorp. "The industry was much, much smaller in those days," he says. "A few hundred million dollars a year, versus almost a hundred billion today." Drawing on his experience with Morgan Stanley since 1986, he... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

Blog

Eight Steps to Board Success for Female Executives

industry. Early-stage companies might give only stock or a blend of stock and cash. If you are receiving stock, identify any restrictions on it. And remember—as with any contract, terms can be negotiated. Step 7: Prepare for a Productive Onboarding View Details

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

at Mac’s Convenience Stores, implemented between 2007 and 2017. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/918002-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 318-002 Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV In May 2017,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

How Hormones Foretell Whether People Will Cheat

we see so frequently in the real world." The Lab Experiments The research team conducted a series of experiments to study the effect of two important hormones: testosterone (associated with decreased fear... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

22 Sep 2022
News

The Beauty Guide

be talking to you today if I hadn’t left marketing,” declares Freyre. The move to sales taught her about retailers, how consumers shop, and ultimately made her a better marketer and leader. “I tap into that diversity of experience every... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

28 Jun 2020
News

Perfect Your Pitch

Keywords: HBS Career Programs

Research Summary

Social Entrepreneurship

By: James L. Heskett

This project is centered around an analysis of data and experiences of 31 executive directors of not-for-profit organizations who completed the Denali Initiative on social entrepreneurship, of which I was volunteer faculty chairperson, between 1999 and 2002. The... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

An AI Method to Score Celebrity Visual Potential from Human Faces

By: Flora Feng, Shunyuan Zhang, Xiao Liu, Kannan Srinivasan and Cait Lamberton

It has long been a mantra of marketing practice that, particularly in low-involvement situations, spokespeople should be physically attractive. This paper suggests there is a higher probability of gaining fame and influence (i.e., celebrity potential) than is captured... View Details

Keywords: Personal Characteristics; AI and Machine Learning; Forecasting and Prediction; Marketing

2024
Working Paper

The Golden Revolving Door

By: Ling Cen, Lauren Cohen, Jing Wu and Fan Zhang

Using both the onset of the US-China trade war in 2018 and the most recent Russia-Ukraine war and associated trade tensions, we show a counterintuitive pattern in global trade. Namely, while the average firm trading with these nations significantly decreases their... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Business and Government Relations; International Relations

Register to Read

July 2024
Article

Demographic 'Stickiness': The Demographic Identity of Departing Group Members Influences Who Is Chosen to Replace Them

By: Edward H. Chang and Erika Kirgios

People tasked with replacing a departing group member are disproportionately likely to choose a replacement with the same demographic identity, leading to demographic “stickiness” in group composition. We examine this effect in 2,163 U.S. federal judge appointments... View Details

Keywords: Loss Aversion; Diversity; Race; Gender; Decisions

December 2023
Article

Recover, Explore, Practice: The Transformative Potential of Sabbaticals

By: Kira Schabram, Matt Bloom and DJ DiDonna

Sabbaticals have seen an exponential growth in adoption over the last two decades and are ascribed extensive benefits by employers and employees alike. Little is known, however, about how individuals spend their time or how their experiences impact them after they... View Details

Keywords: Sabbatical; Personal Development and Career; Employees

Register to Read

2022
Working Paper

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Satisfaction of Workers in Low-Wage Jobs

By: Elizabeth R. Johnson and Ashley V. Whillans

How did job satisfaction change during the pandemic for workers in low-wage jobs, and how did workers’ experiences compare to those in professional jobs? Using nationally representative survey data, we show that the pandemic increased the dissatisfaction of workers in... View Details

Keywords: Low-Wage Jobs; COVID-19 Pandemic; Pay; Job Satisfaction; Income Inequality; Stereotypes; Satisfaction; Compensation and Benefits; Working Conditions

September 2020
Article

Dignity, Inequality, and the Populist Backlash: Lessons from America and Europe for a Sustainable Globalization

By: Rawi Abdelal

The greatest challenge to the sustainability of our current era of globalization comes from within the United States. Most Americans have come to reject globalization. We must discern the lessons from the parts of the developed world where the backlash is also... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Backlash; Dignity; Globalization; Economic Systems; Equality and Inequality; Policy; Values and Beliefs; United States; Europe

2020
Working Paper

Dignity, Inequality, and the Populist Backlash: Lessons from America and Europe for a Sustainable Globalization

By: Rawi Abdelal

The greatest challenge to the sustainability of our current era of globalization comes from within the United States. Most Americans have come to reject globalization. We must discern the lessons from the parts of the developed world where the backlash is also... View Details

Keywords: Pandemics; Populism; Dignity; Globalization; Economic Systems; Equality and Inequality; Policy; Values and Beliefs; United States; Europe; France; Germany

March 2020
Article

Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Jung Sakong

Previous research has shown that some people voluntarily use commitment contracts that restrict their own choice sets. We study how people divide money between two accounts: a liquid account that permits unrestricted withdrawals and a commitment account that is... View Details

Keywords: Quasi-hyperbolic Discounting; Present Bias; Sophistication; Naiveté; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Contract Design; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); IRA; Saving; Behavior; Contracts; Design; Interest Rates