Publications

January 1971 (Revised November 1975)
Background Note

Linear Programming: A Technique for Analyzing Resource Allocation Problems

By: Paul W. Marshall

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Mathematical Methods; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

2020
Working Paper

Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions

By: Alexander MacKay

The optimal duration of a supply contract balances the costs of reselecting a supplier against the costs of being matched to an inefficient supplier when the contract lasts too long. I develop a structural model of contract duration that captures this tradeoff and... View Details

Keywords: Vertical Relationships; Transaction Costs; Contract Duration; Identification; Supply Chain; Cost; Contracts; Auctions; Mathematical Methods

SSRN

1977
Chapter

A Diagnostic Model for Organizational Behavior

By: D. Nadler and M. Tushman

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Behavior

Article

Formal Measures in Informal Management: Can a Balanced Scorecard Change a Culture?

By: Robert Gibbons and Robert S. Kaplan

Agency theorists, historically, have analyzed what kinds of performance measures should be used in formal incentive contracts. For example, after Kaplan-Norton proposed a balanced scorecard of both financial and non-financial measures, some envisioned its role only in... View Details

Keywords: Relational Contracts; Performance Measurement; Informal Management; Balanced Scorecard; Economics; Mathematical Methods

2007
Working Paper

Deferred Acceptance Algorithms: History, Theory, Practice, and Open Questions

By: Alvin E. Roth

The deferred acceptance algorithm proposed by Gale and Shapley (1962) has had a profound influence on market design, both directly, by being adapted into practical matching mechanisms, and, indirectly, by raising new theoretical questions. Deferred acceptance... View Details

Keywords: Education; Marketplace Matching; Market Design; Mathematical Methods; Theory; Practice

December 2024
Article

Respect for Improvements and Comparative Statics in Matching Markets

By: Scott Duke Kominers

One of the oldest results in the theory of two-sided matching is the entry comparative static, which shows that under the Gale–Shapley deferred acceptance algorithm, adding a new agent to one side of the market makes all the agents on the other side weakly... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Marketplace Matching; Mathematical Methods; Market Design

September – October 2007
Article

Trading Patterns and Excess Comovement of Stock Returns

By: Robin Greenwood and Nathan Sosner

n April 2000, 30 stocks were replaced in the Nikkei 225 Index. The unusually broad index redefinition allowed for a study of the effects of index-linked trading on the excess comovement of stock returns. A large increase occurred in the correlation of trading volume of... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Mathematical Methods

09 Mar 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Impact Investing: A Theory of Financing Social Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Benjamin N. Roth; Financial Services

August 2012
Article

Organ Allocation Policy and the Decision to Donate

By: Judd B. Kessler and Alvin E. Roth

Organ donations from deceased donors (cadavers) provide the majority of transplanted organs in the United States, and one deceased donor can save numerous lives by providing multiple organs. Nevertheless, most Americans are not registered organ donors despite the... View Details

Keywords: Organ Donation; Health; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Decision Making; Resource Allocation; Mathematical Methods; United States

2006
Working Paper

On the Origin of Shared Beliefs (and Corporate Culture)

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper shows why members of an organization often share similar beliefs. I argue that there are two mechanisms. First, when performance depends on making correct decisions, people prefer to work with others who share their beliefs and assumptions, since such... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Employees; Values and Beliefs; Mathematical Methods

SSRN

December 1998
Case

Origins of National Income Accounting

By: David A. Moss and Joseph P Gownder

Set in the Great Depression, this case explores the origins of national income accounting in the United States. Highlights Senator La Follette's 1932 proposal for the federal government to begin collecting national income statistics. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Crisis; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; United States

1980
Article

Consumer Impulse Purchase and Credit Card Usage: An Empirical Examination Using the Log Linear Model

By: Rohit Deshpandé and S. Krishnan

Most of the work in impulse purchase behavior has investigated the association of socioeconomic variables and unplanned purchases with equivocal results. This paper examines the interrelationship between impulse purchases, credit card usage, cost of items bought, and... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Mathematical Methods; Credit Cards; Income

April 2022
Article

Predictable Financial Crises

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, Andrei Shleifer and Jakob Ahm Sørensen

Using historical data on post-war financial crises around the world, we show that crises are substantially predictable. The combination of rapid credit and asset price growth over the prior three years, whether in the nonfinancial business or the household sector, is... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Global Range; Forecasting and Prediction; Mathematical Methods

January 2008
Background Note

Convertible Arbitrage

By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford

The goal of this simulation is to understand how convertible bonds can be viewed as a portfolio of simpler securities and to introduce an over-the-counter market. The convertible bonds that are available during the simulation are at-the-money and in-the-money so that... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Investment Portfolio; Price; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods

November 2001 (Revised October 2017)
Case

GuestFirst Hotel (A): Customer Loyalty

By: Frances X. Frei and Dennis Campbell

Provides a hotel context in which to explore the link between customer loyalty and financial performance, using four years of hotel data. Challenges students to find the extent of the relationship between loyalty and performance. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Mathematical Methods; Finance; Performance; Relationships; Customer Focus and Relationships; Data and Data Sets; Accommodations Industry

March 2022
Article

Targeting High Ability Entrepreneurs Using Community Information: Mechanism Design in the Field

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth

Identifying high-growth microentrepreneurs in low-income countries remains a challenge due to a scarcity of verifiable information. With a cash grant experiment in India we demonstrate that community knowledge can help target high-growth microentrepreneurs; while the... View Details

Keywords: Microentrepreneurs; Community Information; Field Experiment; Loans; Entrepreneurship; Developing Countries and Economies; Financing and Loans; Information; Mathematical Methods; India

January 2002
Background Note

Note on Business Model Analysis for the Entrepreneur

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Paul W. Marshall and Taslim Pirmohamed

Describes the primary elements and defining characteristics of a company's business model from the perspective of an entrepreneur. Introduces several analytic techniques and provides illustrative examples of business models to support the analytic framework presented. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Framework; Mathematical Methods; Opportunities; Perspective

April 1999 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Compaq Computer: Intel Inside?

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Presents the results of quantitative and qualitative market research on the possible acceptance of a non-Intel processor in Compaq Computer's consumer notebook line. If the low-priced, non-Intel notebook is a success, the company will maintain or increase its 45% share... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Production; Success; Performance Evaluation; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Computer Industry

August 1983
Background Note

Balance of Payments: Accounting and Presentation

By: David B. Yoffie

Provides an overview of balance of payments accounting and analytical presentation of balance of payments data. Includes sample transactions to illustrate the application of the basic accounting principles and definitions of the standard balances. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Analytics and Data Science; Management; Standards; Mathematical Methods