Publications

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March 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Opportunity Insights: Research and Policy for Social Mobility

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Jeffrey Huizinga and Allison Ciechanover

Opportunity Insights -- a non-profit that researches drivers of economic opportunity and develops policy solutions to help families achieve better life outcomes -- seeks to expand its impact. View Details

Keywords: Economic Opportunity; Social Mobility; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues; Housing; Policy; Opportunities

1995
Dissertation

The Economics of Experimentation in the Design of New Products and Processes

By: Stefan Thomke

Keywords: Economics; Research and Development; Operations; Product Launch

2011
Working Paper

Leviathan as a Minority Shareholder: A Study of Equity Purchases by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), 1995-2003

By: Sergio G. Lazzarini and Aldo Musacchio

There is a growing literature comparing the performance of private vs. state-owned companies. Yet, there is little work examining the effects of having the government as a minority shareholder of private companies. We conduct such a study using data for 296 publicly... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Ownership Stake; State Ownership; Private Ownership; Performance Evaluation; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Brazil

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April 2019
Case

American Ballet Theatre

By: Anita Elberse, Tsubasa Nakajima and Melissa Rodman

Kara Medoff Barnett, executive director of American Ballet Theatre (ABT), widely regarded as one of the world’s premier ballet companies, faces several challenges. It is June 2018. Despite its prestige, the company’s $45 million annual budget and $22 million endowment... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts; Superstars; Talent; Talent Development; Non-profit; Contracts; Labor Economics; General Management; Arts; Entertainment; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Marketing; Strategy

February 2000
Article

Location, Competition and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy

By: Michael E. Porter

Keywords: Competition; Economics; Growth and Development; Global Range; Geographic Location; Economy

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November 2021 (Revised January 2024)
Case

The Global Great Depression, 1929-1939

By: Alberto Cavallo, Sophus A. Reinert and Federica Gabrieli

The Great Depression was, by far, the worst economic contraction of the twentieth century, and some of the most important ideas about both fiscal and monetary policy in the second half of the century were developed in response to it. The economic collapse, which... View Details

Keywords: Great Depression; Economic Conditions; Unemployment; Homelessness; Financial Crisis; History; Economy; Policy; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

spring 2007
Article

Corporate Legitimacy and Advertising: British Companies and the Rhetoric of Development in West Africa, 1950-1970

Around 1960, the first independent African nations emerged, marking the beginning of the momentous political event that, among other things, would change the visual representations and the copy of advertisements. Development, modernity, and industrialization became... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Developing Countries and Economies; Africa; Great Britain

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Web

Delving Deeper into Development with the Joint MBA/MPA-ID Program | MBA

response needed to help prevent communities in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa from falling deeper into poverty every time disease outbreaks and other macro shocks occurred. I discovered a pathway to economic View Details

December 2017
Case

Piracy in Somalia (A)

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Alissa Davies

A Somali fisherman stands on a beach in early 2011, considering his options: should he embark in his tiny fishing vessel or join a nearby pirate crew? His war-ravaged country, entering its 20th year of civil war, was in the midst of a famine that had claimed hundreds... View Details

Keywords: Pirates; Foreign Aid; Civil War; Private Property; Human Rights; Economic Development; Globalization; War; Property; Crime and Corruption; Rights; Development Economics; Moral Sensibility; Shipping Industry; Somalia

2023
White Paper

Unlocking Economic Prosperity: Career Navigation in a Time of Rapid Change

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Kerry McKittrick, Sherry Seibel, Cole Wilson, Vasundhara Dash and Ali Epstein

Keywords: Wages; Personal Development and Career; Equality and Inequality

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16 Mar 2017
News

The CEO Who's Turning the Global Development Movement on Its Head

1994
Book

The Making of Global Enterprises

By: G. Jones

This volume presents new insights on the history of international business. Two main themes are addressed: how and when has global business developed over the last century? and what has been its impact on host economies? The volume includes a pioneering study by Mira... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Business Subsidiaries; Economy; Trade; Globalized Firms and Management; Information Technology

March 2016 (Revised September 2021)
Case

South Africa: A Fractured Rainbow?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Twenty years after the end of Apartheid, South Africa's democracy persists, albeit with problems. A tripartite coalition — the African National Congress, the labor unions, and the Communist Party — still controls the political system but with diminishing economic... View Details

Keywords: Politics; Development; Productivity; Labor; Labor Unions; Infrastructure; Government and Politics; Economic Growth; Performance Productivity; Economy; Social Issues; South Africa

December 2017
Supplement

Piracy in Somalia (B)

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Alissa Davies

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Piracy; Foreign Aid; Civil War; Private Property; Human Rights; Economic Development; Globalization; War; Property; Crime and Corruption; Rights; Development Economics; Moral Sensibility; Somalia

2012
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Richard Fahey and Robert Saudek (A): Lighting Liberia

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Anne Arlinghaus

After successful careers as lawyers Richard Fahey and Robert Saudek set out to tackle a large-scale infrastructure challenge in a complex environment by increasing Liberian citizens’ access to lighting solutions. They developed the Liberian Energy Network, which aimed... View Details

13 Nov 2006
Other Presentation

Clusters and Economic Development: Towards a New Model for Regions and Inner Cities

By: Michael E. Porter

Presentation delivered at the Brownfields Conference, Boston, MA. View Details

Keywords: Economics; Growth and Development; Society; United States

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10 Apr 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: SELCO - Decentralized Renewable Energy to Develop While Decarbonizing

technologies. Over our ten days in India, we explored numerous decarbonization solutions, but for true climate action to succeed in India, it must be inclusive. SELCO is achieving this by using DRE to catalyze economic View Details

May 1997
Case

Center for Women & Enterprise: Looking for a Director of Development with "The Scrappiness Factor"

By: Thomas J. Kosnik and Natalie Zakarian

Andrea Silbert is founder of the Center for Women & Enterprise, a nonprofit with a mission to empower women to become economically self-sufficient and prosperous through entrepreneurship. She must select a new senior sales executive, decide how to share... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Selection and Staffing; Entrepreneurship