Publications

June 2021
Article

Short-Termism, Shareholder Payouts, and Investment in the EU

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

Investor-driven "short-termism" is said to harm EU public firms' ability to invest for the long term, prompting calls for the EU to better insulate managers from shareholder pressure. But the evidence offered—rising levels of repurchases and dividends—is incomplete and... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; EU; Payout Policy; Innovation; Investment; Corporate Governance; Investment Return; Acquisition; European Union

SSRN

December 2023
Teaching Note

India: Will the Giant Emerge?

By: Christian Ketels

This teaching note outlines a plan for conducting a discussion of the case "India: Will the Giant Emrge?". The case provides information on the Indian economy, a key driver of future global growth,. It discusses how India's challenges in defining an effective... View Details

Keywords: Indian Economy; Development; Policy Making; Competitiveness; Policy; Growth and Development; Economic Growth; Government Administration; India

2019
Book

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream: How Technology Is Transforming Lending and Shaping a New Era of Small Business Opportunity

By: Karen G. Mills

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream describes the needs of small businesses for capital and demonstrates how technology—novel data sources, artificial intelligence, machine learning—will transform the small business lending market. This market has been... View Details

Editorial

The Power of Precise Predictions

By: Philip E. Tetlock and J. Peter Scoblic

Keywords: Politics; Foreign Policy; Forecasting and Prediction; Globalization; Policy; Government and Politics

2023
Article

Let's Coordinate! The Reinforcement of a ‘Liberal Bastion’ within European Industrial Federations, 1978-1987

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This article focuses on the establishment in the 1970s of a new international private governance forum, the so-called ‘Interlaken Conferences’, which gathered together the leading figures of the Industrial Federations of the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria,... View Details

Keywords: Business Interest Association; Lobbying; Neo-Liberalism; Neocorporatism; Coordination; Economic Policy; Business and Government Relations; Labor Unions; Economics; Policy; Europe

September–October 2018
Article

Online MAP Enforcement: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment

By: Ayelet Israeli

This paper investigates a manufacturer’s ability to influence compliance rates among its authorized online retailers by exploiting changes in the Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy and in dealer agreements. MAP is a pricing policy widely used by manufacturers to... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Policies; Pricing; Channel Management; Legal Aspects Of Business; Retail; Price; Policy; Governance Compliance; Distribution Channels; Management; Retail Industry

2015
Chapter

What Is Regional Strategy? Lessons from Business Strategy

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

Regional policy, especially in Europe, makes increasing reference to the notion of strategy, a conceptual tool developed in the area of business studies. This chapter reviews some key aspects of strategy as defined by the so-called "positioning school" and discusses... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Regional Policy; Strategic Planning; Globalized Economies and Regions; Competition; Policy

November 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Technical Note

Saudi Arabia: A Brief Background

By: Kristin Fabbe, Natalie Kindred and Safwan Al-Amin

This note provides a brief overview of the history of Saudi Arabia as well as the economic and political context in 2018. The note is an essential supplement to the case “Almarai Company: Milk and Modernization in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” HBS No. 719-020, but is... View Details

January 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

With nearly $700 billion in assets, Lehman was the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history. In 2007, Lehman achieved record earnings of over $4 billion on revenues of $60 billion. By September 2008 the fourth largest investment bank in the world was bankrupt. How had a... View Details

May 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Depreciation at Delta Air Lines: The "Fresh Start"

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In estimating depreciation for accounting purposes, Delta Air Lines has changed its assumptions about aircraft lifespan and residual values four times in the last thirty years or so. In the most recent changes, Delta adopted fair value accounting as part of its fresh... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Policies; Accounting Procedures; Depreciation; Bankruptcy; Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Policy; Air Transportation Industry

2025
Working Paper

Government-Brokerage Analysts and Market Stabilization: Evidence from China

By: Sheng Cao, Xianjie He, Charles C.Y. Wang and Huifang Yin

We show analysts at government-controlled brokerage firms serve as a market stabilization tool in China. Using earnings forecasts from 2005–2019, we find government-brokerage analysts issue relatively more optimistic—yet less accurate and timely—forecasts during... View Details

Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Forecast Optimism; Forecast Accuracy; Government Incentives; Market Stabilization; Government Ownership; Coordinated Economies; Stocks; Forecasting and Prediction; Business and Government Relations; Emerging Markets

SSRN

October 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Urbanizing China

By: Lakshmi Iyer and G.A. Donovan

In 2012, China attained a historic development milestone with more Chinese citizens living in cities than in the countryside. China's rapid urbanization, and the accompanying conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, raised a number of economic, social,... View Details

Keywords: China; Urbanization; Industrialization; Property Rights; Local Government Finance; Social Protest; Business Environment; Food Security; Safety; Change Management; Food; Urban Development; Social Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

August 1988
Article

Credibility, Real Interest Rates, and the Optimal Speed of Trade Liberalization

By: K. A. Froot

Keywords: International Trade; Trade Policy; Trade; Policy; Interest Rates

Article

Megastudies Improve the Impact of Applied Behavioural Science

By: Katherine L. Milkman, Dena Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Pepi Pandiloski, Yeji Park, Aneesh Rai, Max Bazerman, John Beshears, Lauri Bonacorsi, Colin Camerer, Edward Chang, Gretchen Chapman, Robert Cialdini, Hengchen Dai, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Ayelet Fishbach, James J. Gross, Samantha Horn, Alexa Hubbard, Steven J. Jones, Dean Karlan, Tim Kautz, Erika Kirgios, Joowon Klusowski, Ariella Kristal, Rahul Ladhania, Jens Ludwig, George Loewenstein, Barbara Mellers, Sendhil Mullainathan, Silvia Saccardo, Jann Spiess, Gaurav Suri, Joachim H. Talloen, Jamie Taxer, Yaacov Trope, Lyle Ungar, Kevin G. Volpp, Ashley V. Whillans, Jonathan Zinman and Angela L. Duckworth

Policy-makers are increasingly turning to behavioural science for insights about how to improve citizens’ decisions and outcomes. Typically, different scientists test different intervention ideas in different samples using different outcomes over different time... View Details

Keywords: Policy Making; Behavioral Science; Behavior; Change; Decision Making; Policy

September 19, 2019
Article

Walmart CEO’s Decision on Guns Is the Kind of Corporate Courage We Need

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Corporate courage is in short supply. CEOs generally avoid controversial public issues lest disgruntled groups strike back. That’s why Walmart’s actions to limit ammunition sales and advocate for new gun safety legislation mark a significant milestone. CEO Doug... View Details

Keywords: Gun Policy; Gun Violence; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leadership; Change; Policy

April 2013
Supplement

AIG and the American Taxpayers (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

Explores the decision faced by AIG's board on whether to join shareholder and ex-CEO Maurice Greenberg's lawsuit against the U.S. government. The suit, argued by super-lawyer David Boies (of Bush v. Gore and California Gay Marriage fame), claims that in September 2008... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Financial Policy; Property Rights; Financial Institutions; Financial Crisis; Financial Management; Insurance Industry; United States

January 2016
Case

Haiti Hope: Innovating the Mango Value Chain

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines a market-based approach to economic development through the eyes of NGO TechnoServe's project manager, implementing a US$9.5 million five-year public-private partnership between Coca-Cola, IDB, and USAID. The case ends at the beginning of the... View Details

August 2012
Supplement

William Jeffrey: Departing Bay Colony (C)

By: Lena G. Goldberg

The decision-making process, policies and procedures, and legal obligations of the Board, the company's inside counsel and the company's outside counsel are explored in connection with on-boarding, investigating alleged misconduct of, and terminating a company's CEO,... View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Managing People; Employment Law; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resignation and Termination; Governance Compliance; Leadership; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B9): Nashville Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; City; Innovation Strategy; Investment; United States; Tennessee