Publications

June 2012
Teaching Note

Harvest: Organic Waste Recycling with Energy Recovery (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Deishin Lee

This case describes the waste management industry and a clean technology solution for landfill diversion and renewable energy production. The (A) case focuses on the operational characteristics of organic waste recycling with energy recovery, and the characteristics of... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Waste Management; Sourcing; Operations Management; Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Renewable Energy; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Utilities Industry; Manufacturing Industry

October 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Harvest: Organic Waste Recycling with Energy Recovery (A)

By: Deishin Lee, Baris Ata and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

This case describes the waste management industry and a clean technology solution for landfill diversion and renewable energy production. The (A) case focuses on the operational characteristics of waste management and waste to energy, as well as the characteristics of... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Logistics; Wastes and Waste Processing; Corporate Finance; Green Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry

2022
Working Paper

A Conceptualization of Sub-Living Wages: Liabilities, Leverage, and Risk

By: Drew Keller, Katie Panella and George Serafeim

Currently the accounting system records employee wages as an expense in the income statement. However, paying below living wages can expose an organization to reputational and operational risks. In this paper, we offer an alternative conceptualization of the issue of... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Impact Accounting; Leverage; Wages; Compensation and Benefits; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Social Issues; Human Capital

SSRN

October 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Supplement

Harvest: Organic Waste Recycling with Energy Recovery (B)

By: Deishin Lee, Baris Ata and Mustafa H. Tongarlak

This case describes the waste management industry and a clean technology solution for landfill diversion and renewable energy production. The (A) case focuses on the operational characteristics of waste management and waste to energy, and the characteristics of the... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Wastes and Waste Processing; Management; Operations; Social Issues; Problems and Challenges; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Quality; Industry Structures; Energy Industry

27 Oct 2016
HBS Seminar

Andrea Pratt, Richard Paul Richman Professor of Business and Professor of Economics, Columbia University

08 Aug 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Governments: Unilever in India and Turkey, 1950–1980

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

2024
Working Paper

A Gender Backlash: Does Exposure to Female Labor Market Participation Fuel Gender Conservatism?

By: Paula Rettl, Diane Bolet, Catherine E. De Vries, Simone Cremaschi, Tarik Abou-Chadi and Sergi Pardos-Prado

The growing participation of women in the labor market has marked a significant societal transformation, coinciding with the rise of gender conservatism and far-right support. We study whether the economic consequences of labor market feminization and gender backlash... View Details

Keywords: Gender Bias; Gender Equality; Gender Inclusivity; Politics; Political Backlash; Political Culture; Conservatism; Gender; Government and Politics; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Labor

24 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Do We Tax?

Utilitarian taxes. Why? To a Utilitarian, people with greater innate ability find it easier to earn income, but all people equally enjoy having money to spend. To maximize overall well-being, we should require those with high ability to work harder than those with... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Legal Services

Research Summary

Economic Catastrophe Bonds

(with Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford)

The central insight of asset pricing is that a security's value depends on both its distribution of payoffs across economic states and state prices. In fixed income markets, many investors focus exclusively on estimates of... View Details

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Hot Wheels at Mattel: Reinventing the Wheel

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., were considering which innovation path to pursue in order to "future proof" the Hot Wheels franchise going forward. Hot Wheels was the... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Industry Evolution; Innovation Strategy; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decision Making; Digital Transformation

January 2013 (Revised April 2017)
Supplement

Maxum Petroleum, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

Maxum seeks an oil-price hedging strategy that yields substantial cash during oil price spikes, is affordable under ordinary circumstances, and is easily managed. It is striving to avoid a repeat of the challenging situation encountered in 2008 when spiking oil prices... View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Options; Commodities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Strategy; Volatility

28 Aug 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Private Equity Ownership on Portfolio Firms’ Corporate Tax Planning

Keywords: by Brad Badertscher, Sharon P. Katz & Sonja Olhoft Rego; Financial Services

November 2012
Case

Ahold versus Tesco—Analyzing Performance

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Penelope Rossano

The case relates to understanding and comparing the performance of two leading retail companies—Ahold and Tesco. The case introduces the tools of Dupont and Modified Dupont Decomposition. While performance as measured by return on equity has been similar for the two... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Retail Industry

17 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

New Treasury Rules Help Long-Retirement Planning

with medical emergencies or to make bequests at their death. The recent Treasury rules make it much easier for workers to use part of the assets within their 401k or IRA plans to purchase a deferred life annuity at a relatively low cost.... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Pozen; Financial Services

Summer 2008
Editorial

Will the Stork Return to Europe and Japan? Understanding Fertility within Developed Nations

By: James Feyrer, Bruce Sacerdote and Ariel Dora Stern

Only a few rich nations are currently at replacement levels of fertility and many are considerably below. We believe that changes in the status of women are driving fertility change. At low levels of female status, women specialize in household production and... View Details

Keywords: Income; Household; Gender; Japan; Italy; United States; Sweden; Spain

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2016
Working Paper

Meet the Oligarchs: Business Legitimacy, State Capacity and Taxation

By: Rafael Di Tella, Juan Dubra and Alejandro Lagomarsino

We analyze the role of people’s beliefs about the rich in the determination of public policy in the context of a randomized online survey experiment. A question we study is the desirability of government-private sector meetings, a variable we argue is connected to... View Details

Keywords: Business Legitimacy; State Capacity; Meetings; Taxes; Top 1%; Regulation; Prejudice and Bias; Values and Beliefs; Taxation; Business and Government Relations

SSRN

April 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Urbi and the City Licensee Managers

By: John D. Macomber and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

A leading low income housing builder in Mexico decides which prospective new local partner best extends its advantages in managing twin production lines of homes and clients. URBI has built substantial competitive advantage in the technology and culture that matches... View Details

Keywords: Mortgages; Government and Politics; Housing; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Supply Chain; Organizational Culture; Franchise Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Real Estate Industry; China; India; Mexico; United States

June 2011
Article

Segmenting the Base of the Pyramid

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Michael Chu and Djorjiji Petkoski

The bottom of the economic pyramid is a risky place for business, but decent profits can be made there if companies link their financial success with their constituencies' well-being. To do that effectively, you must understand the nuances of people's daily lives, say... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Value Creation; Human Needs; Income; Poverty; Profit; Relationships; Economics; Segmentation

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