Publications

January 2008 (Revised November 2009)
Supplement

China's Evolving Labor Laws (B)

By: Lynn Sharp Paine and Aldo Sesia Jr.

The (B) case describes how the various business groups responded to the Chinese government's invitation to submit comments on its draft labor contract law and details the ensuing global controversy. The (B) case also describes changes made to the working draft and... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Labor; Contracts; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Conflict and Resolution; China

2023
Working Paper

Saving and Consumption Responses to Student Loan Forbearance

By: Justin Katz

How do households adjust savings and consumption in response to liquidity from debt relief? I study this question using policy variation induced by federal student loan forbearance in the 2020 CARES Act and an individual-level panel of daily financial transactions for... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Consumer Behavior; Borrowing and Debt; Interest Rates; Financial Liquidity; Personal Finance; Government Legislation

SSRN

September 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Twiddy & Company: Trust in a Chaotic Environment

By: Sandra J. Sucher, Shalene Gupta and Tom Quinn

Twiddy & Company, known for Southern hospitality rooted in personal interactions, needed to adjust to contactless remote customer service as fear of the contagious virus prevented person-to-person contact. Local elected officials, in a bid to stop tourists from... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Health Pandemics; Organizational Culture; Disruption; Government Legislation; Transportation; Tourism Industry; North Carolina; United States

October 2019
Article

Partial Deregulation and Competition: Effects on Risky Mortgage Origination

By: Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani and Sanket Korgaonkar

We exploit the OCC's preemption of national banks from state laws against predatory lending as a quasi-experiment to study the effect of deregulation and its interaction with competition on the supply of complex mortgages. Following the preemption ruling, national... View Details

Keywords: Great Recession; Subprime; Complex Mortgages; Credit Supply; Household Debt; Preemption Rule; Competition; Mortgages; Government Legislation; Credit; Financial Crisis

Find at Harvard

01 Mar 2009
News

Model Patient

change, numerous devils emerged in the legislative details before passage was ultimately achieved in 2006. Looking back, Pozen observes, “It’s important to consider a few things we did well — and one we did not — in determining whether... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Health, Social Assistance

19 May 2015
News

Getting Ready for Success

Leanne Huebner (MBA 1997) was just out of college, working at her first job and volunteering her free time with foster children when a little girl asked: “Will you adopt me?” Just 22 and single, Huebner wasn’t in a position to raise children. But she committed herself... View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Educational Services

01 Sep 2015
News

An Unconventional Suggestion

© Alexandra Hootnick/zumapress.com The United States needs to find a “rational middle” ground on the topic of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, says Professor Michael Porter. In a report released this summer, America’s Unconventional Energy Opportunity, Porter and his... View Details

Keywords: April White; Natural Gas Distribution; Utilities

August 2003 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Multinational Corporations in Apartheid-era South Africa: The Issue of Reparations

By: Geoffrey Jones and Cate Reavis

Considers the lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of apartheid against multinationals who operated in South Africa prior to 1994. Reviews the debates about divestment from and sanctions against South Africa from the 1950s. Includes case studies of companies that... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Multinational Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business and Government Relations; Prejudice and Bias; South Africa

01 Sep 2008
News

In Africa, Porter Sees Lessons for Health Care

economic development. Binagwaho explained that rolling back disease by fighting poverty — and vice versa — is at the core of public-health policy in Rwanda; sweeping government legislation specifically... View Details

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

26 May 2015
News

Exploring tax policy and our quality of life

For Professor Matthew Weinzierl, tax policy is about much more than dollars and cents. The questions of why we tax and what we tax, and similar policy decisions, offer a window on our society. “People don’t always understand the technical details of these policies; but... View Details

September 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

The Dubai Ports World Debacle and its Aftermath

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

Describes the political ramifications in the United States of Dubai-based DP World's acquisition of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). Because P&O operated some port terminals in the United States, DP World obtained clearance from the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; National Security; Business and Government Relations; Ship Transportation; Dubai; United States

January 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Financing American Housing Construction in the Aftermath of War

By: David Moss and Cole Bolton

At the start of WWI, the United States faced a significant housing shortage. Public officials feared the spread of disease—and even communism—in the nation's cramped urban centers where vacancy rates held near zero and families often "doubled up" in single-housing... View Details

Keywords: Central Banking; Bonds; Mortgages; Government Legislation; Business History; Housing; Banking Industry; United States

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

Earth Day focuses the world's attention on the both the dangers and opportunities facing the planet. But sustainability and the intersection between business and the environment are issues that need to be addressed all the time, as cities grow, resources diminish, and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

December 1992
Exercise

Negotiation Exercise on Tradeable Pollution Allowances: Group B, Utility #1

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Describes the position of Utility #1 in negotiating Group B with respect to 1) its SO emissions reduction requirements; 2) the costs of its alternative compliance strategies; and 3) the nature of its state regulatory environment. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Negotiation; Pollutants; Strategy; Utilities Industry

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Consumers the Cure for Broken Health Insurance?

patient-protection legislation promising to set off a round of expensive lawsuits, and costly genomic technologies on the horizon, the price of insurance is almost certain to continue its upward spiral in the years ahead. And what do... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

01 Apr 2000
News

Q & A: A Conversation with IRS Chief Charles Rossotti

opportunity to develop themselves, to make a contribution, and to work well with their peers. What's your opinion about corporate tax shelters? Abusive tax shelters are a major problem, and the Treasury Department has proposed new View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

14 Dec 2016
Working Paper Summaries

The State of Small Business Lending: Innovation and Technology and the Implications for Regulation

Keywords: by Karen Gordon Mills and Brayden McCarthy; Financial Services

29 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel

run we've got to have a system that substantially readdresses leverage, transparency, and liquidity. "It will be in fact a whole new ballgame that takes many years to play out. It will be years before we figure out where the crucial financial functions lie, in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

2023
Working Paper

Market Exclusivity and Innovation: Evidence From Antibiotics

By: Edward Kong and Olivia Zhao

The US incentivizes drug innovation via patents as well as market exclusivity periods awarded by the US Food and Drug Administration. We estimate the causal effects of extending market exclusivity for an important drug class: antibiotics. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Innovation and Invention; Motivation and Incentives; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States