Publications

May 1991
Article

Presidential Commitment and the Veto

By: Daniel E. Ingberman and Dennis Yao

A president's power to veto is widely recognized as an important weapon in the struggle with Congress over legislation. In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of the veto weapon with a simple model of presidential powers that incorporates informal institutional... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Laws and Statutes; Financial Markets; Value; Taxation; Conflict and Resolution; Research; Performance Effectiveness; Legal Services Industry

Article

An Exploration of Optimal Stabilization Policy

By: N. Gregory Mankiw and Matthew C. Weinzierl

This paper examines the optimal response of monetary and fiscal policy to a decline in aggregate demand. The theoretical framework is a two-period general equilibrium model in which prices are sticky in the short-run and flexible in the long-run. Policy is evaluated by... View Details

Keywords: Fiscal Policy; Monetary Policy; Economic Models; Aggregate Demand; Demand and Consumers; Money; Mathematical Methods; Taxation; Spending; Policy; Welfare; Household; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

Read Now

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

defaulting issuers and that the adjustments are generally useful in assessing eventual lender recovery following default. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52018 Meet the Oligarchs: Business Legitimacy, State Capacity and View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Mar 2016
First Look

March 22, 2016

Acceptance of Morally Arbitrary Luck and Widespread Support for Classical Benefit-Based Taxation By: Weinzierl, Matthew C. Abstract—Public moral reasoning is shown to differ in three specific ways from what is conventionally assumed in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

De Gustibus non est Taxandum: Heterogeneity in Preferences and Optimal Redistribution

By: Benjamin B Lockwood and Matthew Weinzierl

The prominent but unproven intuition that preference heterogeneity reduces redistribution in a standard optimal tax model is shown to hold under the plausible condition that the distribution of preferences for consumption relative to leisure rises, in terms of... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Income; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Taxation; Microeconomics; Macroeconomics

September 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Case

U.S. Market Framework for Gasoline, The: Individual Incentives and Societal Goals in Global Markets

By: Bruce R. Scott and Edward Murphy

Traces the role of gasoline taxes in financing U.S. highways and the use of regulations to increase fuel economy to show how and why the U.S. market framework for gasoline is so different from that in Europe. Focuses on whether the U.S. tax should be raised, as... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Sources; Digital Platforms; Sovereign Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; United States; Europe

December 2004 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Esrey & LeMay Sprint Options, The

By: Henry B. Reiling and Kevin Wall

Sprint's outside auditor simultaneously provided tax advice--including the recommendation of tax shelters related to Sprint options--to senior Sprint officers. These tax structures were called into question amid circumstances that raise a variety of conflicting issues... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Conflict of Interests; Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Telecommunications Industry

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

frictions play a first-order role in determining market prices. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49425 Popular Acceptance of Inequality Due to Brute Luck and Support for Classical Benefit-Based View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2017
Response

Reply: Do Powerful Politicians Really Cause Corporate Downsizing?

By: Lauren Cohen, Joshua D. Coval and Christopher J. Malloy

While we commend the initiative of Snyder and Welch (2017), we lay out in this short reply why we remain highly confident in our results and our interpretation thereof. We welcome authors to continue to explore the data for themselves and look forward to the new... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Private Sector; Taxation; Interest Rates; Business and Government Relations; Investment; Employment; Power and Influence

08 Nov 2016
First Look

November 8, 2016

markets where rules, legislation, and taxation can change and thus affect investment outcomes. The case challenges the students to ponder what companies should think about when investing in volatile markets and what it takes for them to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 29

at the individual level. We discuss the implications of our results for the study of learning as well as for providers and consumers of outsourced services. Preference Heterogeneity and Optimal Capital Income Taxation Authors:Golosov,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2018
Teaching Note

Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity (A) and (B)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu

Through the challenges facing Target, the case examines the ways in which corporations can become involved in political and legislative debates and processes, ranging from campaign contributions to lobbying. In 2016, Target CEO Brian Cornell must determine how to... View Details

20 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Here’s How Businessman Trump Is Likely to Approach the Presidency

dictate the broad outlines of any proposed legislation. His proposal, also known as the Ryan-Brady plan, is not just a renovation or a gut-rehab, it’s a teardown. It shifts the base of taxation to consumption from income through a... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese

22 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 22

empirical evidence is most persuasive in favor of agency considerations. Studies centered on the May 2003 dividend tax cut confirm that differences in the taxation of dividends and capital gains have only a second-order impact on setting... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1993 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Continental Airlines--1992 (Abridged)

By: Stuart C. Gilson

The CEO is preparing a recommendation to the board regarding several potential outside investments in the company, which is currently operating in bankruptcy. In making his decision, the CEO has to consider various financial and strategic factors, including possible... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Taxation; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Aerospace Industry; United States

2010
Chapter

The Many Faces of Nonprofit Accountability

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

Calls for greater accountability are not new. Leaders of organizations, be they nonprofit, business, or government, face a constant stream of demands from various constituents demanding accountable behavior. But what does it mean to be accountable? By and large,... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Corporate Accountability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Taxation; Leadership; Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Behavior; Trust

January 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

By: James E. Austin and Kim Slack

Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) is a $74 million nonprofit social enterprise that combats poverty by helping community development organizations build affordable housing and create economic development opportunities through public-private partnerships. Poses a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Development Economics; Education; Capital; Investment Funds; Taxation; Growth and Development; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Segmentation; Service Industry

November 2000
Background Note

Note on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and Phantom Stock Plans

By: Dwight B. Crane and Indra Reinbergs

Provides a brief overview of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and phantom stock plans for owners of closely held companies. ESOPs can be used as a tool of corporate financing, and can provide employees with ownership interests. Phantom stock plans can reward... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Motivation and Incentives; Management Teams; Corporate Governance; Ownership Stake; Taxation