Publications

2013
Article

Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal

By: Lara B. Aknin, Christopher P. Barrington-Leigh, Elizabeth W. Dunn, John F. Helliwell, Justine Burns, Robert Biswas-Diener, Imelda Kemeza, Paul Nyende, Claire Ashton-James and Michael I. Norton

This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: Human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). In Study 1, survey data from 136 countries were examined... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Spending; Psychological Universal; Prosocial Behavior; Well-being; Happiness; Spending; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Canada; Uganda; South Africa; India

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

2010
Article

Budgeting, Psychological Contracts, and Budgetary Misreporting

By: Susanna Gallani, Ranjani Krishnan, Eric J. Marinich and Michael D. Shields

This study examines the effect of psychological contract breach on budgetary misreporting. Psychological contracts are mental models or schemas that govern how employees understand their exchange relationships with their employers. Psychological contract breach leads... View Details

Keywords: Budgeting; Psychological Contracts; Misreporting; Budgets and Budgeting; Employees; Trust

21 May 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research

Keywords: by George Serafeim

2019
Chapter

Local States of Play: Land and Urban Politics in Reform-Era China

By: Meg Rithmire

Book Abstract: Although comparative politics is conventionally seen as the study of politics across countries, the field has a longstanding and increasingly prominent tradition in national contexts; focusing on subnational units, institutions, actors and processes.... View Details

12 Apr 2022
Book

Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

Britain’s 20th century empire was the largest in human history, with a quarter of the world’s land and nearly 700 million people. Yet the empire drew its strength from violence. That’s the conclusion Harvard Business School Professor Caroline Elkins draws in her new... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

01 Jun 2009
News

Crisis and Creativity

during an economic downturn. My colleague, HBS associate professor Tom Nicholas, has found that while the pace of patent applications slowed during the Great Depression, some contrarians pressed ahead with innovation, including DuPont... View Details

Keywords: Bhaskar Chakravorti

Web

Biography - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

progress. First released in 2014 and now covering 133 countries, the Index rigorously measures each country’s social progress across multiple dimensions to complement traditional measurement focused solely... View Details

Article

Time, Money, and Happiness

By: Cassie Mogilner and Michael I. Norton

We highlight recent research examining how people should manage their most precious resources—time and money—to maximize their happiness. Contrary to people’s intuitions, happiness may be less contingent on the sheer amount of each resource available and more on how... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Behavior; Resource Allocation; Money

28 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

no question that people by and large move from rural to urban areas in search of better economic conditions. In India, most social and View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2000
Case

Japanese Financial Crisis and the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, The

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Andrew Eggers

Illustrates the failure of Japan's banking elite to adjust to new economic conditions. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Behavior; Japan

Summer 2011
Article

Context, Agency, and Identity: The Indian Fashion Industry and Traditional Indian Crafts

By: Mukti Khaire

Identity is an important resource for firms, since it is a critical precursor of an important strategic resource-legitimacy. However, identities of new firms in new industries are typically inchoate, since they cannot be classified within pre-existing cognitive... View Details

Keywords: History; Decision Making; Identity; Entrepreneurship; Outcome or Result; Fashion Industry; France; Italy; United Kingdom; India

August 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots (A)

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

What happens when an MBA buys a football team and hires a bunch of MBAs and a coach with an economics degree to run it? In this case, a historic three Super Bowls in five years. The end run Bob Kraft (HBS '65) used to acquire the New England Patriots. Why Kraft ignored... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Leadership Style; Sports; Management Teams; Sports Industry; United States

Educators

Purchase

March 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Kerry Herman

Deals with approaches to alleviating poverty and how firms, governments, and NGOs are able to work together to accomplish these goals. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Nutrition; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Welfare

Educators

Purchase

2023
Working Paper

The Party and Firm

By: Joris Mueller, Jaya Y. Wen and Cheryl Wu

This project documents the rise of the Chinese Communist Party’s influence on firms in China over the last decade. We propose novel quantitative measures of Party influence and present recent trends in those measures. We corroborate qualitative work and find a sharp... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Economic Systems; Power and Influence; Government Administration; Policy; China

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

that major participants in the global economy operate by. The three most powerful economic actors in the world—the United States, China, and Europe—are growing further apart in their View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

27 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 27, 2018

the socially constructed nature of helping behavior. That is, the parties must establish and maintain a helping frame for their interaction, especially when help-givers are high-status external leaders.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2016
Article

Whitened Résumés: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor Market

By: Sonia K. Kang, K. A. DeCelles, András Tilcsik and Sora Jun

Using interviews, a laboratory experiment, and a résumé audit study, we examine racial minorities’ attempts to avoid anticipated discrimination in labor markets by concealing or downplaying racial cues in job applications, a practice known as "résumé whitening."... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Selection and Staffing; Job Search; Race