Publications

30 Jan 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Understanding Different Approaches to Benefit-Based Taxation

Keywords: by Robert Scherf and Matthew C. Weinzierl

Article

Optimal Taxation When Children's Abilities Depend on Parents' Resources

By: Alexander Gelber and Matthew Weinzierl

Empirical research suggests that parents' economic resources affect their children's future earnings abilities. Optimal tax policy therefore treats future ability distributions as endogenous to current taxes. We model this endogeneity, calibrate the model to match... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Welfare

September 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Intel: Strategic Decisions in Locating a New Assembly and Test Plant (A)

By: Juan Alcacer and Kerry Herman

In mid-2005, Intel is examining its options for where to locate its next assembly and test plant. On its short list of potential sites include locations in China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam. Each country has its own unique benefits and risks related to... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Positioning; Location Choices; Location Strategies; Technology; Geographic Location; Global Strategy; Information Technology; Strategy; Technology Industry; United States; China; India; Thailand; Viet Nam

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September 2019
Article

Trading Networks with Frictions

By: Tamás Fleiner, Ravi Jagadeesan, Zsuzsanna Jankó and Alexander Teytelboym

We show how frictions and continuous transfers jointly affect equilibria in a model of matching in trading networks. Our model incorporates distortionary frictions such as transaction taxes and commissions. When contracts are fully substitutable for firms, competitive... View Details

Keywords: Trading Networks; Frictions; Competitive Equilibrium; Matching With Contracts; Stability; Trail Stability

December 1994 (Revised September 1996)
Case

Cementownia Odra (A)

The Polish government is privatizing Cementownia Odra, a cement firm. Tomasz Budziak, a team leader, is negotiating on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Privatization. Hans-Hugo Miebach, owner of a German cement company, has made an attractive offer; a deal hinges on... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Negotiation; Privatization; Construction Industry; Germany; Poland

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Research Summary

Paper - Stretching the Inelastic Rubber: Taxation, Welfare and Lobbies in Amazonia, 1870-1910 (Job Market Paper)

This paper examines the effect of government intervention via taxation on domestic welfare. A case-study of Brazilian market power on rubber markets during the boom years of 1870-1910 shows that the government generated 1.3% of GDP through an export tax on rubber... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Stretching the Inelastic Rubber: Taxation, Welfare and Lobbies in Amazonia, 1870-1910

By: Felipe Tamega Fernandes

This paper examines the effect of government intervention via taxation on domestic welfare. A case-study of Brazilian market power on rubber markets during the boom years of 1870-1910 shows that the government generated 1.3% of GDP through an export tax on rubber but... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Taxation; Business and Government Relations; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rubber Industry; Brazil

Research Summary

Revitalizing Businesses

By: William E. Fruhan

William E. Fruhan, Jr. is exploring how firms act to enhance shareholder value when competitive pressures or takeovers threaten their operations. The approach most frequently taken involves fixing businesses that can be fixed and advantageously divesting those that... View Details

24 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Equalizing Outcomes vs. Equalizing Opportunities: Optimal Taxation when Children’s Abilities Depend on Parents’ Resources

Keywords: by Alexander Gelber & Matthew Weinzierl

November 2020
Article

Taxation in Matching Markets

By: Arnaud Dupuy, Alfred Galichon, Sonia Jaffe and Scott Duke Kominers

We analyze the effects of taxation in two-sided matching markets, i.e., markets in which all agents have heterogeneous preferences over potential partners. In matching markets, taxes can generate inefficiency on the allocative margin by changing who is matched to whom,... View Details

Keywords: Matching Markets; Labor Markets; Taxation; Labor; Markets

Article

Informal Family Insurance and the Design of the Welfare State

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

We study unemployment benefit provision when the family also provides social insurance. In the benchmark case, more generous State transfers crowd out family risk-sharing one-for-one. An extension gives the State an advantage in enforcing transfers through taxes... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Design; Welfare

13 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

De Gustibus non est Taxandum: Theory and Evidence on Preference Heterogeneity and Redistribution

Keywords: by Benjamin Lockwood & Matthew Weinzierl

2013
Report

Competitiveness at a Crossroads: Finding of Harvard Business School's 2012 Survey on U.S. Competitiveness

By: Jan Rivkin, Michael E. Porter and Rosabeth M. Kanter

Harvard Business School gleaned responses from nearly 7,000 alumni and more than 1,000 members of the general public. The survey not only provides an updated view of the U.S. business environment, but also illuminates specific actions that business leaders and... View Details

Keywords: PK - 12 Education; U.S. Competitiveness; Competition; Education; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; United States

31 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

State and Local Governments Peer Into the Pandemic Abyss

Cities and states are feeling the financial pain of this recession more quickly than in past downturns after pandemic-induced lockdowns swiftly decimated sales tax revenue that helps fund their operations. In fact, new research finds that... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

2019
Working Paper

Do Banks Have an Edge?

By: Juliane Begenau and Erik Stafford

Overall, no! We show that the level and time series variation in cash flows for most bank activities are well matched by capital market portfolios with similar interest rate and credit risk to what banks report to hold. Ignoring operating expenses, bank loans earn high... View Details

Keywords: Banks; Market Efficiency; Bank Capital; Bank Debt; CAPM; Banking; Bank Deposits; Bank Funding Advantage; Leverage; Maturity Transformation; Replicating Portfolio; Efficiency; Banks and Banking; Capital Markets; Performance Evaluation; Performance Efficiency; Banking Industry; United States

SSRN

June 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

FIJI Water: Carbon Negative?

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Seeking to go beyond global best practices in reducing environmental impacts, FIJI Water, a premium artesian bottled water company in the United States, launched a Carbon Negative campaign that would offset more greenhouse gas emissions than were released by the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Negotiation Tactics; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Fiji