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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(854)
- News (77)
- Research (638)
- Events (12)
- Multimedia (4)
- Faculty Publications (635)
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- 2023
- Working Paper
How People Use Statistics
By: Pedro Bordalo, John J. Conlon, Nicola Gennaioli, Spencer Yongwook Kwon and Andrei Shleifer
We document two new facts about the distributions of answers in famous statistical problems: they are i) multi-modal and ii) unstable with respect to irrelevant changes in the problem. We offer a model in which, when solving a problem, people represent each hypothesis... View Details
Bordalo, Pedro, John J. Conlon, Nicola Gennaioli, Spencer Yongwook Kwon, and Andrei Shleifer. "How People Use Statistics." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 31631, August 2023.
- May 2020
- Article
Identifying Sources of Inefficiency in Health Care
By: Amitabh Chandra and Douglas O. Staiger
In medicine, the reasons for variation in treatment rates across hospitals serving similar patients are not well understood. Some interpret this variation as unwarranted and push standardization of care as a way of reducing allocative inefficiency. However, an... View Details
Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Mathematical Methods
Chandra, Amitabh, and Douglas O. Staiger. "Identifying Sources of Inefficiency in Health Care." Quarterly Journal of Economics 135, no. 2 (May 2020): 785–843.
- 2019
- Article
Ridesharing with Driver Location Preferences
By: Duncan Rheingans-Yoo, Scott Duke Kominers, Hongyao Ma and David C. Parkes
We study revenue-optimal pricing and driver compensation in ridesharing platforms when drivers have heterogeneous preferences over locations. If a platform ignores drivers' location preferences, it may make inefficient trip dispatches; moreover, drivers may strategize... View Details
Keywords: Ridesharing; Pricing; Compensation and Benefits; Geographic Location; Market Design; Mathematical Methods
Rheingans-Yoo, Duncan, Scott Duke Kominers, Hongyao Ma, and David C. Parkes. "Ridesharing with Driver Location Preferences." Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (2019): 557–564.
- 2024
- Working Paper
The New Digital Divide
By: Mayana Pereira, Shane Greenstein, Raffaella Sadun, Prasanna Tambe, Lucia Ronchi Darre, Tammy Glazer, Allen Kim, Rahul Dodhia and Juan Lavista Ferres
We build and analyze new metrics of digital usage that leverage telemetry data collected by Microsoft during operating system updates across forty million Windows devices in U.S. households. These measures of US household digital usage are much more comprehensive than... View Details
Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Measurement and Metrics; Geographic Location; Behavior; Technology Adoption; Demographics
Pereira, Mayana, Shane Greenstein, Raffaella Sadun, Prasanna Tambe, Lucia Ronchi Darre, Tammy Glazer, Allen Kim, Rahul Dodhia, and Juan Lavista Ferres. "The New Digital Divide." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 32932, September 2024.
- August 1993 (Revised April 1994)
- Case
Flanders of Springfield
Flanders is a catalog merchandiser. Various decisions on catalog distribution policy, ordering and inventory policy, and catalog format design are considered. This was a final examination, and serves as a review for a number of topics in the course. View Details
Keywords: Decisions; Policy; Distribution; Product Design; Supply Chain; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Products Industry
Schleifer, Arthur, Jr. "Flanders of Springfield." Harvard Business School Case 894-005, August 1993. (Revised April 1994.)
- October 1997 (Revised May 1998)
- Case
Decision Making at the Top: The All-Star Sports Catalog Division
By: David A. Garvin and Michael Roberto
Describes a senior management team's strategic decision-making process. The division president faces three options for redesigning the process to address several key concerns. The president has extensive quantitative and qualitative data about the process to guide him... View Details
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Teams; Performance Improvement; Planning; Mathematical Methods; Strategy
Garvin, David A., and Michael Roberto. "Decision Making at the Top: The All-Star Sports Catalog Division." Harvard Business School Case 398-061, October 1997. (Revised May 1998.)
- 2011
- Working Paper
Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals
By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra
We describe the evolution of selective aspects of punishment in the U.S. over the period 1980-2004. We note that imprisonment increased around 1980, a period that coincides with the "Reagan revolution" in economic matters. We build an economic model where beliefs about... View Details
Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economy; Moral Sensibility; Mathematical Methods; Opportunities; Behavior; United States
Di Tella, Rafael, and Juan Dubra. "Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 17309, August 2011.
- January 2008
- Background Note
Valuing Risky Debt
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
This lesson develops the classical structural approach to pricing and hedging credit risk: Merton's (1974) contingent claims model of debt and equity claims. This model is used to make investment and risk management decisions in an over-the-counter (OTC) market for... View Details
Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Investment; Price; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Valuation
Coval, Joshua, and Erik Stafford. "Valuing Risky Debt." Harvard Business School Background Note 208-111, January 2008.
- December 2001 (Revised May 2003)
- Background Note
Queueing Theory
By: V.G. Narayanan and George Batta
Explains the assumptions behind and the insights from a simple queueing model. View Details
Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Theory; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Motivation and Incentives; Service Delivery
Narayanan, V.G., and George Batta. "Queueing Theory." Harvard Business School Background Note 102-023, December 2001. (Revised May 2003.)
- March 2001 (Revised April 2002)
- Case
Rent-Way, Inc. (A)
By: David F. Hawkins
The company uses the units of activity method to account for its rental inventory. A prominent hedge fund advisor recommends the company's stock be sold short. View Details
Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Stock Shares; Fair Value Accounting; Quality; Investment Funds; Service Industry
Hawkins, David F. "Rent-Way, Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 101-089, March 2001. (Revised April 2002.)
- October 2007
- Article
The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures: An Empirical Investigation Using a Simulated Market
By: Anita Elberse and Bharat N. Anand
One of the most visible and publicized trends in the movie industry is the escalation in movie advertising expenditures over time. Yet, the returns to movie advertising are poorly understood. The main reason is that disentangling the causal effect of advertising on... View Details
Keywords: Advertising; Stocks; Investment Return; Price; Revenue; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Motion Pictures and Video Industry
Elberse, Anita, and Bharat N. Anand. "The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures: An Empirical Investigation Using a Simulated Market." Information Economics and Policy 19, nos. 3-4 (October 2007): 319–343. (Special Issue on Economics of the Media.)
- September 1974 (Revised April 1975)
- Case
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B)
A consumer attitude survey involving more than 1,000 cranberry users has been conducted. Multivariate statistical procedures including factor analysis, cluster analysis and multiple discriminant analysis have been employed to suggest four attitude segments in the... View Details
Keywords: Surveys; Product Positioning; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Behavior; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry
DeBruicker, F., and Jan-Erik Modig. "Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B)." Harvard Business School Case 575-040, September 1974. (Revised April 1975.)
- 2001
- Working Paper
When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity Dependent Firms
By: Malcolm Baker, Jeremy Stein and Jeffrey Wurgler
We use a simple model of corporate investment to determine when investment will be sensitive to non-fundamental movements in stock prices. The key cross-sectional prediction of the model is that stock prices will have a stronger impact on the investment of firms that... View Details
Baker, Malcolm, Jeremy Stein, and Jeffrey Wurgler. "When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity Dependent Firms." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 8750, December 2001. (First draft in 2001.)
- 2010
- Working Paper
Medium Term Business Cycles in Developing Countries
By: Diego A. Comin, Norman Loayza, Farooq Pasha and Luis Serven
We build a two-country asymmetric DSGE model with two features: (i) endogenous and slow diffusion of technologies from the developed to the developing country, and (ii) adjustment costs to investment flows. We calibrate the model to match the Mexico-U.S. trade and FDI... View Details
Keywords: Business Cycles; Developing Countries and Economies; Trade; International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Mathematical Methods; Mexico; United States
Comin, Diego A., Norman Loayza, Farooq Pasha, and Luis Serven. "Medium Term Business Cycles in Developing Countries." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-029, October 2009. (Revise and resubmit at the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics.)
- July 1987
- Case
Altoona Corp.: Computer Products Division
By: Roger E. Bohn and Robert H. Hayes
A relatively small manufacturer of computer memory disks has achieved a major market position through the use of its statistical quality control (SQC) program. It is now expanding the production of a new line of disks and is encountering problems getting the process... View Details
Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Volatility; Performance Consistency; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Hardware; Manufacturing Industry
Bohn, Roger E., and Robert H. Hayes. "Altoona Corp.: Computer Products Division." Harvard Business School Case 688-010, July 1987.
- May 1988
- Background Note
Roles and Relationships of Business and Government
By: George C. Lodge
Synthesizes a wide range of literature and experience concerning comparative government-business relations, focusing especially on Japan, Europe, and the United States with some references to Brazil and Mexico. Designed for discussion in two consecutive class sessions.... View Details
Keywords: Economic Systems; Framework; Government and Politics; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Business and Government Relations; Mathematical Methods; System; Japan; Europe; Mexico; United States; Brazil
Lodge, George C. "Roles and Relationships of Business and Government." Harvard Business School Background Note 388-159, May 1988.
- September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
- Case
Emergia: Driving Profitability on Help Desk Contracts
Emergia wants to keep its customer happy with its contact center service, but the margins on the help desk contract are dangerously low. Can Miguel Neira, the COO, increase margins while preserving the customer relationship? View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Profit; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Performance Evaluation; Mathematical Methods; Service Industry
Martinez Jerez, F. Asis, and Lisa Brem. "Emergia: Driving Profitability on Help Desk Contracts." Harvard Business School Case 111-048, September 2010. (Revised January 2012.)
- 05 Dec 2017
- Research & Ideas
What We've Learned from 101 Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets
not just relying on the printed word—why can we not do research by referring to video, sound, and the like? There is so much mathematics devoted today to extraction of quantitative data from all sorts of data sources that a move in this... View Details
Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne
- 18 Oct 2006
- Research & Ideas
New at the Helm: A Talk with HBS Dean Light
application aside and asked whether I'd like to get a doctorate instead," recalls Light. After discussions during a visit to the campus, Light agreed to enter a new doctoral program in decision and control theory, a joint program between HBS and Harvard's... View Details
- January 2012 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
Ctrip: Scientifically Managing Travel Services
By: David A. Garvin and Nancy Hua Dai
Ctrip is a $437 million Chinese on-line travel services company with a scientific, data driven approach to management. The case explores Ctrip's founding and early growth, its expansion into multiple market segments including hotel reservations, air ticketing, leisure... View Details
Keywords: Scientific Management; Data-driven Management; Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Mathematical Methods; Business Processes; Information Management; Travel Industry; China
Garvin, David A., and Nancy Hua Dai. "Ctrip: Scientifically Managing Travel Services." Harvard Business School Case 312-092, January 2012. (Revised March 2013.)