Publications

Educators

Purchase

August 2018
Article

Growth Through Heterogeneous Innovations

By: Ufuk Akcigit and William R. Kerr

We build a tractable growth model where multi-product incumbents invest in internal innovations to improve their existing products, while new entrants and incumbents invest in external innovations to acquire new product lines. External and internal innovations generate... View Details

Keywords: Endogenous Growth; Innovation; Citations; Scientists; Entrepreneurs; External; Internal; Patents; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Research and Development; Science

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Gurus in the Garage

as a master craftsman, not as an apprentice. Guild members depend on one another to prequalify potential entrepreneurs. Every hour that a guild member spends reviewing an investment risk represents a deposit in the bank. "I could... View Details

Keywords: by Dorothy Leonard & Walter Swap

September 2019
Article

The Self-Presentational Consequences of Upholding One's Stance in Spite of the Evidence

By: Leslie John, Martha Jeong, Francesca Gino and Laura Huang

Five studies explore the self-presentational consequences of refusing to “back down” – that is, upholding a stance despite evidence of its inaccuracy. Using data from an entrepreneurial pitch competition, Study 1 shows that entrepreneurs tend not to back down even... View Details

Keywords: Self-presentation; Belief Perseverance; Judgment; Confidence; Persuasion; Personal Characteristics; Behavior; Perception; Decision Making; Outcome or Result

2011
Working Paper

Historical Trajectories and Corporate Competences in Wind Energy

By: Geoffrey Jones and Loubna Bouamane

This working paper surveys the business history of the global wind energy turbine industry between the late nineteenth century and the present day. It examines the long-term prominence of firms headquartered in Denmark, the more fluctuating role of U.S.-based firms,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Renewable Energy; Competitive Advantage; Technology Adoption; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; United States; Denmark

Article

Sizing Up Entrepreneurial Potential: Gender Differences in Communication and Investor Perceptions of Long-Term Growth and Scalability

By: Laura Huang, Priyanka D. Joshi, Cheryl J. Wakslak and Andy Wu

Female entrepreneurs have been found to face disadvantages as compared with male entrepreneurs, especially in acquiring the financial resources they need to sustain and grow their ventures. Across three studies, we examine how disparities in funding outcomes may be due... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Finance; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Communication; Perception

Purchase

February 2017
Case

Eve Hall: The African American Investment Fund in Milwaukee

By: Steven Rogers and Alterrell Mills

The case highlights the role of minority chambers of commerce and the background of Eve Hall, a well-regarded multi-sector leader asked to revive Wisconsin's African-American chamber. This case study examines the lending options that a minority chamber of commerce... View Details

Educators

Purchase

August 2013
Article

The Price of Diversifiable Risk in Venture Capital and Private Equity

By: Michael Ewens, Charles Jones and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

This paper explores the private equity and venture capital (VC) markets and extends the standard principal-agent problem between the investors and venture capitalist to show how it alters the interaction between the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur. Since the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Risk and Uncertainty; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Contracts; Investment; Competition; Agency Theory; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Theory; Diversification

25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

How did the United States become the world’s center of business growth following its founding in 1776? Surely a number of nations had powerful natural resources, stable financial and legal institutions, and dynamic entrepreneurs over that same span. Why was American... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

April 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Alexandre Naghirniac, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Daniella Suarez

In 2011, Gilberto Dimenstein, a well-known Brazilian journalist, created a new model that connected disparate resources to revitalize Sao Paulo. He wanted his model to expand across Brazil and the world. Dimenstein covered many of the social issues facing Brazil as a... View Details

Keywords: Social Change; Websites; Education; Awareness; Marketing Communication; City Innovation; Leadership; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Web Sites; Marketing; City; Brazil

Educators

November–December 2019
Article

Pivoting Isn't Enough? Managing Strategic Reorientation in New Ventures

By: Rory McDonald and Cheng Gao

New ventures often experience deviations from their plans that oblige them to reorient in pursuit of better fit between their evolving products and their target customers. Yet research is largely silent on how managers explain such changes and justify their ventures in... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Reorientation; Technology Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Product Development Processes; Organizational Adaptation; Qualitative Methods (General); Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Communication Strategy

01 Dec 2023
News

Research Brief: Staying in the Game

Illustration by Peter Hoey In Monopoly, declaring bankruptcy has a very permanent consequence. Game over; you lose. In the paper “Life After Death: A Field Experiment with Small Businesses on Information Frictions, Stigma, and Bankruptcy,” HBS professor Shai Bernstein... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

2012
Discussion Paper

Labor Productivity and Quality Change in Singapore: Achievements in 1974-2011 and Prospects for the Next Two Decades

By: Koji Nomura and Tomomichi Amano

Labor productivity growth in Singapore that has grown at a rate of over 3.0 percent per year since 1970s considerably slowed down to 0.5 percent on average per annum in the latter half of the 2000s. The purpose of this paper is to ask, first, to what extent Singapore’s... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Performance Productivity; Quality; Economic Growth; Singapore

Fall 2017
Article

The Alternative Business History: Business in Emerging Markets

By: Gareth Austin, Carlos Davila and Geoffrey Jones

This article suggests that the business history of emerging markets should be seen as an alternative business history rather than merely adding new settings to explore established core debates. The discipline of business history evolved around the corporate strategies... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; History; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Developing Countries and Economies; Business History; Asia; Latin America; Africa