Publications

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June 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

"One Country, Two Systems"? Italy and the Mezzogiorno (A)

By: Bruce R. Scott and Jamie Matthews

GDP per person in northern Italy caught up with average incomes in Britain, France, and Germany in the 1970s, but incomes in southern Italy (the Mezzogiorno) fell further behind. This was partly due to cultural and societal differences that dated to the Renaissance,... View Details

Keywords: History; Development Economics; Crime and Corruption; Social Issues; Economy; Government and Politics; Macroeconomics; Italy

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Accounting for Productivity Growth

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Introduces students to the arithmetic of the accounting for national productivity growth. It defines labor productivity, capital productivity, and total factor productivity, describes the relationships among them, and discusses the phenomena that cause them to change... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Macroeconomics; Analytics and Data Science; Government and Politics; Mathematical Methods; United States; Singapore

2008
Working Paper

New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Central Banking; Risk Management

Read Now

September 2011 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Liberia

By: Eric Werker and Jasmina Beganovic

From 1989 to 2003 civil war raged in Liberia, causing GDP per capita to drop an unprecedented 90% from peak to trough. The roots of Liberia's conflict and economic decline are complex and intertwined, resting on over a century of discriminatory elite rule and twisted... View Details

Keywords: War; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Government and Politics; Macroeconomics; Liberia

April 2013 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Norway: The Embarrassment of Riches

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Senny Munthe-Kaas

In early 2013, Norway was by many accounts the world’s most developed country; it topped various indices for everything from democracy to happiness, had a comprehensive welfare state, and massive oil revenues endowed it with a substantial, and growing, Sovereign Wealth... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Welfare State; Natural Resources; Internationalization; Dutch Disease; Happiness; Macroeconomics; Energy Sources; Values and Beliefs; Sovereign Finance; Immigration; Welfare; Energy Industry; Norway

01 Jun 2009
News

Entrepreneur’s Rwandan Start-Up Gets HBS Support

currently available brands and use locally sourced materials. The female workers ultimately will become owners of the business through microfinance loans. “Lack of access to pads affects not only the prospects of girls and women, it also has significant View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance

15 May 2015
Blog Post

How to Get a Global Perspective at HBS

Economy) was one of my favorite classes of the first year. We learned macroeconomic tools and then spent the second half of the semester applying them to different countries around the globe in detail. We were forced to think about... View Details

19 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 19

negative in the 2000s, a period during which Treasury bonds enabled investors to hedge macroeconomic risks. This paper explores the effects of monetary policy rules, monetary policy uncertainty, and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jan 2008
News

James D. Wolfensohn, MBA 1959

decisions managers must make.” ADVICE TO STUDENTS “Spend at least as much time focusing on people as you do on numbers.” ON LEADERSHIP “Too many of our leaders fail to translate macroeconomic trends into human experience. Increasing... View Details

28 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

It’s India Above China in New World Order

use of its resources, India's long-term outlook may be far stronger, they suggest. Macroeconomic statistics cited by Huang and Khanna show China clearly in the lead. "But," the authors wonder in Foreign Policy, "the real... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

December 2013 (Revised May 2015)
Supplement

Land Acquisition in India: Public Purpose and Private Property (C)

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Rachna Tahilyani

Keywords: India; Special Economic Zones; Land Markets; Land Politics; Industrial Development; Land Reform; Developing Markets; Developing Countries; Industrialization; Industrial Property; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Economics; Economy; Macroeconomics; Social Issues; India; Asia; South Asia

March 1996 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Singapore's Trade in Services

By: Debora L. Spar

Focuses on the efforts of Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) to grow the tiny island almost wholly through an expansion of its service economy. Between 1965 and 1990, Singapore achieved a remarkable rate of growth, largely by opening its economy to foreign... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Service Operations; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics; Service Industry; Singapore

April 2015 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Japan's Missing Arrow?

By: Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

In late December 2014, Shinzo Abe was elected to another term as the prime minister of Japan. His re-election was largely interpreted as a vote of confidence for his economics policies, collectively referred to as "Abenomics." Comprised of three "arrows," including... View Details

April 1998
Supplement

United States Financial Crisis of 1931, Note on Franklin D. Roosevelt, and A Keynesian Cure for The Depression,The Data Supplement

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Supplement to (9-384-115), (9-382-073), and (9-382-065). View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; United States

February 1997 (Revised May 1997)
Background Note

Modern India

By: Tarun Khanna and Danielle J. Melito

Describes India's move from a controlled economy toward a more market-oriented one, commencing in 1991. Highlights the extent of changes in the product, capital, and labor markets, and the political situation at the central government, as these stood in 1995. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Systems; Economy; Macroeconomics; Government and Politics; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; India

December 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Case

The “Chongqing Model” and the Future of China

By: Meg Rithmire

Since opening to the global economy in 1979, but especially since entering the WTO in 2001, China's economy grew at rates around 10% annually by attracting FDI and promoting exports. After the financial crisis that began in 2008 and depressed demand in the United... View Details

Keywords: China; Public Sector; Private Sector; Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics; Public Administration Industry; China

17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Building Communities as Well as Companies

"beyond the call of duty," these firms were able to foresee the macroeconomic shifts already in the works and drop their valuations to get VC cash in the door. "Take the cookies when they're passed," she advised.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

07 Jul 2016
Blog Post

Can You Learn Finance through the Case Method?

of micro and macroeconomics was one of the things I was most looking forward to about business school. I had heard that HBS did a great job of supporting people like me in getting up to speed quickly in these subjects through... View Details

March 2006 (Revised April 2010)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (A)

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

On July 21, 2005 China revalued its decade-long quasi-fixed exchange rate of approximately 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar by 2.1% to 8.11 and, at the same time, introduced a more market-based exchange rate system. Many analysts and economists were disappointed with what... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Trade; Currency Exchange Rate; Governance Controls; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; China