Publications

November–December 2014
Article

Accountable? The Problems and Solutions of Online Ad Optimization

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertising might seem to be the most measurable form of marketing ever invented. Comprehensive records can track who clicked what ad—and often who saw what ad—to compare those clicks with users' subsequent purchases. Ever-cheaper IT makes this tracking... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Fraud; Optimization; Incentives; Digital Marketing; Contracts; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design

January 2, 2008
Editorial

A Better Way to Pay CEOs: Smarter Incentives Could Reduce the Risks They Pursue

By: A. Zelleke

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Management; Motivation and Incentives; Risk and Uncertainty

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Article

Temporal View of the Costs and Benefits of Self-Deception

By: Zoe Chance, Michael I. Norton, Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely

Researchers have documented many cases in which individuals rationalize their regrettable actions. Four experiments examine situations in which people go beyond merely explaining away their misconduct to actively deceiving themselves. We find that those who exploit... View Details

Keywords: Hindsight Bias; Lying; Motivated Reasoning; Self-enhancement; Social Psychology; Perception; Performance Expectations

June 2016
Article

Corporate Governance and Executive Compensation for Corporate Social Responsibility

By: Bryan Hong, Zhichuan (Frank) Li and Dylan B. Minor

We link the corporate governance literature in financial economics to the agency cost perspective of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to derive theoretical predictions about the relationship between corporate governance and the existence of executive compensation... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Incentives For CSR; Non-financial Performance Measures; Agency Costs; Board Independence; Institutional Holdings; Managerial Power; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance

Article

The Pursuit of Power Corrupts: How Investing in Outside Options Motivates Opportunism in Relationships

By: D. Malhotra and F. Gino

Across three laboratory studies, this paper illustrates how a common strategic decision aimed at increasing one's own power—investing in outside options—can lead to opportunistic behavior in exchange relationships. We show that the extent to which individuals have... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities; Relationships

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April 2011
Case

Porcini's Pronto: "Great Italian cuisine without the wait!"

By: James L. Heskett and Richard Luecke

Porcini's Inc. operates a chain of 23 full-service restaurants located near shopping malls and downtown areas in the northeastern United States. Known for providing excellent service, Porcini's serves high-quality Italian cuisine made from fresh ingredients. Looking... View Details

Educators

2001
Other Unpublished Work

Using Tax Incentives to Compete for Foreign Investment: Are They Worth the Costs?

By: L. T. Wells Jr., Nancy J. Allen, Jacques Morisset and Neda Pirnia

Keywords: Taxation; Motivation and Incentives; Foreign Direct Investment; Cost vs Benefits

29 Aug 2014
News

Good research, great video: what’s the best way to motivate community health workers?

2015
Working Paper

Do People Who Care About Others Cooperate More? Experimental Evidence from Relative Incentive Pay

By: Pablo Hernandez, Dylan B. Minor and Dana Sisak

We experimentally study ways in which the social preferences of individuals and groups affect performance when faced with relative incentives. We also identify the mediating role that communication and leadership play in generating these effects. We find... View Details

Keywords: Social Preferences; Relative Performance; Collusion; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Attitudes; Performance

SSRN

September 1991 (Revised January 2017)
Teaching Note

Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A) and (B)

By: Robert Simons

Teaching Note for Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks, Case A (191-002) and Case B (192-027) View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Control Systems; Performance Goals; Incentives; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry

2024
Article

Beyond the 510(k): The Regulation of Novel Moderate-Risk Medical Devices, Intellectual Property Considerations, and Innovation Incentives in the FDA’s De Novo Pathway

By: Mateo Aboy, Cristina Crespo and Ariel Stern

Moderate-risk medical devices constitute 99% of those that have been regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since it gained authority to regulate medical technology nearly five decades ago. This article presents an analysis of the interaction between... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Safety; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

1988
Chapter

Evaluation of Government Financial Incentives to Large Scale Energy Projects: A Contingent Claims Approach

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Scott P. Mason

Keywords: Energy; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Sovereign Finance; Business and Government Relations; Mathematical Methods; Energy Industry

August 19, 2015
Article

The Slow Decay and Quick Revival of Self-deception

By: Zoe Chance, Francesca Gino, Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely

People demonstrate an impressive ability to self-deceive, distorting misbehavior to reflect positively on themselves—for example, by cheating on a test and believing that their inflated performance reflects their true ability. But what happens to self-deception when... View Details

Keywords: Self-deception; Cheating; Self-enhancement; Positive Illusions; Motivated Reasoning; Perception; Behavior; Ethics

June 2014
Supplement

Chung and Dasgupta: Information for Jordan Ramirez

By: Ian Larkin and Karen Huang

The "Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP" set of cases explores the roles of general and firm-specific human capital in employee performance measurement, feedback, and promotion/compensation decisions. In the cases, a leading law firm must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Performance Appraisal; Performance Measurement; Employee Feedback; Motivation; Promotions; Human Capital; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Legal Services Industry; United States; Massachusetts

10 Jan 2020
News

New research finds people are selfishly motivated (even if they are unaware of it)

Article

The Effect of Incentive Regulation on Local Exchange Companies' Deployment of Digital Infrastructure

By: Shane Greenstein, Susan McMaster and Pablo Spiller

Article

Association of the Meaningful Use Electronic Health Record Incentive Program with Health Information Technology Venture Capital Funding

By: Samuel Lite, William J. Gordon and Ariel Dora Stern

IMPORTANCE
Although the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has accelerated electronic health record (EHR) adoption since its passage, clinician satisfaction with EHRs remains low, and the association of HITECH with... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Laws and Statutes; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital

June 2014
Case

The Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP

By: Ian Larkin and Karen Huang

The "Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP" set of cases explores the roles of general and firm-specific human capital in employee performance measurement, feedback, and promotion/compensation decisions. In the cases, a leading law firm must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Performance Appraisal; Performance Measurement; Employee Feedback; Motivation; Promotions; Human Capital; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Legal Services Industry; United States; Massachusetts

Educators