Publications

2010
Working Paper

Law and Finance c. 1900

By: Aldo Musacchio

How persistent are the effects of legal institutions adopted or inherited in the distant past? A substantial literature argues that legal origins have persistent effects that explain clear differences in investor protections and financial development around the world... View Details

Keywords: Law; Finance; Corporate Governance; Practice; Growth and Development

Read Now

09 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Matchmaker of the Modern Economy

contribution? As Ante writes, "ARD was the first professional venture firm that sought to raise money from nonfamily sources—primarily institutional investors such as insurance companies, educational organizations, and investment trusts. This was a critical View Details

Keywords: by Spencer E. Ante

Linda A. Hill

Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and Faculty Chair of the Leadership Initiative. Hill is regarded as one of the top experts on leadership and innovation. Hill is... View Details

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

How can schools around the world educate their students better? What does the future hold? Most researchers who study these questions in the field of education peer through the lenses of sociology and public policy. HBS professor Clayton... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

February 1993 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Sharp Corporation: Technology Strategy

By: David J. Collis and Tomo Noda

Teaches the evolution of the corporate strategy of Sharp Corp., Japan. Sharp Corp., a second-tier assembler of TV sets and home appliances, gradually and consistently improved performance by developing expertise in electronic device technologies such as specialized ICs... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Performance Improvement; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Technology Adoption; Electronics Industry; Japan

December 2010 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

Stalemate at the WTO: TRIPS, Agricultural Subsidies, and the Doha Round

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This note analyzes disputes over intellectual property enforcement and agricultural trade barriers at the center of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. Fundamental principles of intellectual property rights and agricultural subsidies are... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Trade; Globalization; Governance; International Relations; Intellectual Property; Agreements and Arrangements; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

12 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Finance and Social Responsibility in the Informal Economy: Institutional Voids, Globalization, and Microfinance Institutions

Keywords: by Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis & Sunny Li Sun

January–February 2014
Other Article

Barriers to Health Care Innovation: Regina Herzlinger Warns That Innovators Need to Know What Obstacles They Face and How to Overcome Them

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Health care in the United States and in most other developed countries is ailing, says Regina E. Herzlinger. A chaired professor of business administration specializing in health care at Harvard Business School, Herzlinger says that although the world has witnessed... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare IT; Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Health; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Laura Alfaro

Laura Alfaro is the Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration. At Harvard since 1999, she served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Costa Rica from 2010-2012, taking a leave from HBS. She is Co-Editor of the Journal of International... View Details

Retail Doesn't Cross Borders: Here's Why and What to Do about It

Most companies assume that the easiest way to grow is by investing overseas and that the developing world offers the best opportunities for boosting revenues and profits today. However, success abroad varies widely, and research shows that it's often tough to increase... View Details

March 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Worker Rights and Global Trade: The U.S.-Cambodia Bilateral Textile Trade Agreement

Examines the political and economic dimensions of the campaign to improve workers' rights around the world through the inclusion of labor standards in international trade agreements. The U.S.-Cambodia Textile Trade Agreement was the first agreement of its kind to link... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Agreements and Arrangements; Rights; Working Conditions; Globalization; Consumer Products Industry; Cambodia; United States

Trust

Entrepreneurial ventures often fail in the developing world because of the lack of something taken for granted in the developed world: trust. Over centuries, the developed world has built customs and institutions such as enforceable contracts, an impartial legal... View Details

July 2004 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Getting Participant-centered Learning to Work

By: Thomas R. Piper, James L. Heskett and Gustavo Herrero

The newly appointed dean of a South American business school is eager to transform the learning process from the traditional lecture method to one that actively engages students and contributes to the development of critical managerial skills, attitudes, and world... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Business Education; Leading Change; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alliances; Education Industry; South America

March 2001 (Revised June 2003)
Case

FDI in China

China is one of the most popular investment destinations in the world. Throughout much of the 1990s, China accounted for 50% of foreign direct investment (FDI) going into developing countries, and between 1994 and 1997, China was the second-largest recipient of FDI in... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Foreign Direct Investment; China

April 1983 (Revised October 1990)
Background Note

Textiles and the Multi-Fiber Arrangement

By: David B. Yoffie

What happens to an industry with millions of employees that loses its comparative advantage? This note examines this question by looking at the global textile and apparel industry. With the Multi-Fiber Arrangement coming up for renewal in December 1981, the United... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Cost vs Benefits; Developing Countries and Economies; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; Europe

2006
Working Paper

Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia

By: Nava Ashraf, James Berry and Jesse M. Shapiro

The controversy over whether and how much to charge for health products in the developing world rests, in part, on whether higher prices can increase use, either by targeting distribution to high-use households (a screening effect), or by stimulating use... View Details

Keywords: Price; Attitudes; Health Industry; Zambia

Read Now

Himabindu Lakkaraju

Himabindu "Hima" Lakkaraju is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She is also a faculty affiliate in the Department of Computer Science at Harvard University, the Harvard Data Science Initiative, Center for Research on... View Details

February 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Coca-Cola's New Vending Machine (A): Pricing To Capture Value, or Not?

By: Charles King III and Das Narayandas

Chairman and CEO M. Douglas Ivester stumbles when he tells a Brazilian newsmagazine about a new Coke vending machine that can automatically raise prices in hot weather. Reaction around the world is swift and negative. View Details

Keywords: Price; Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Global Range; Public Opinion; Value Creation