Publications

March 24, 2020
Article

Delayed Negative Effects of Prosocial Spending on Happiness

By: Armin Falk and Thomas Graeber

Does prosocial behavior promote happiness? We test this longstanding hypothesis in a behavioral experiment that extends the scope of previous research. In our Saving a Life paradigm, every participant either saved one human life in expectation by triggering a targeted... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Happiness; Well-being; Spending; Behavior

Read Now

16 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs

people, rotating them, developing them, putting them in challenging assignments. Those are things you can actually do something about. What I am saying is that companies should clone the processes in developing effective leaders, not hope for a messiah to swoop in and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

May 2020 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Gavi and COVID-19: Pandemic of the Century

By: Tarun Khanna and Sid Misra

Gavi has helped immunize over 760 million children in the world's poorest countries over the past 20 years saving 13 million lives. How should Gavi respond to the need for a vaccine for the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic? View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Pandemics; Healthcare; COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Emerging Markets; Crisis Management; Alliances

13 Apr 2020
News

Helping Small Businesses Survive COVID-19

Fall 2024
Article

The Case for Climate Alliances

By: Matteo Gasparini, Knut Haanaes, Emily Tedards and Peter Tufano

Business leaders are under pressure to address the climate crisis, but they can’t do so alone. Climate alliances can help leaders and firms be more ambitious, responsible, and effective in driving the systems change necessary to save the planet. View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

11 Aug 2010
News

Will FreshDirect's Changes Work?

18 May 2023
Video

Caroline Shenaz Hossein presents "Radical Love in Business & Society: The Banker Ladies and the ROSCA System"

November 2022 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At the time, there was little medication... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Organ Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; District of Columbia

18 Jun 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How Natural Winemaker Frank Cornelissen Innovated While Staying True to His Brand

Keywords: Re: Tiona W. Zuzul; Food & Beverage; Agriculture & Agribusiness

31 May 2023
Video

Martine Rothblatt: Making Implausible Dreams Reality

Article

Does Front-Loading Taxation Increase Savings?: Evidence from Roth 401(k) Introductions

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

Can governments increase private savings by taxing savings up front instead of in retirement? Roth 401(k) contributions are not tax-deductible in the contribution year, but withdrawals in retirement are untaxed. The more common before-tax 401(k) contribution is... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Retirement; Taxation

Read Now

31 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 31

develop and may interact with credibility in complex ways, so that relational contracts may often be difficult to build. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-061.pdf Under-Savers Anonymous: Evidence on Self-Help Groups and Peer Pressure as a View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne & Carmen Nobel

054: Christine Exley on the Economics of Volunteering, Market Failure in the Homeless Dog Market and Wagaroo

Frank Conway, host of Economic Rockstar, interviews Christine Exley about why she co-founded Wagaroo to help save dogs, how a trip to Honduras changed Christine’s academic path from mathematics to economics, and her work on what factors influence volunteer and... View Details

31 Aug 2020
Working Paper Summaries

The Pass-Through of Uncertainty Shocks to Households

Keywords: by Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani, Rodney Ramcharan, Vincent Yao, and Edison Yu

Research Summary

Technology Adoption

Professor Ashraf's research in technology adoption addresses the puzzling question of why easy and accessible technology is not used, even when it has the potential to save lives or significantly increase income.

"View Details

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens

By: Mihir A. Desai, James R. Hines, Jr and Mark Veblen

In response to Stanley Work's announcement that it is moving to Bermuda--and the associated jump in market value--a major competitor sets out to determine how the market is valuing the consequences of moving to a tax haven and whether his company should invert to a tax... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Taxation; Financial Strategy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; International Finance; Valuation; Financial Markets; Financial Statements; United States