Publications

20 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Solving the Riddle of How Companies Grow Over Time

persistence is among firms, with some believing that successful companies tend to grow consistently, while others speculate that companies undergo a “random walk” of periods of slow and fast growth over time. Pisano and his colleagues... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

13 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The Color of Private Equity: Quantifying the Bias Black Investors Face

Black venture capital and growth investors have a much harder time getting funding than white investors, because—despite efforts to bring more racial diversity to financial services—private equity’s gatekeepers remain mostly white, according to new research. Very few... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Financial Services

29 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

Will I Stay or Will I Go? How Gender and Race Affect Turnover at ‘Up-or-Out’ Organizations

Date of Event: May 10, 2010 Speakers: Kathleen McGinn Gender and racial inequalities continue to persist at "up-or- out" knowledge organizations such as law firms, making it difficult for women and minorities to advance to... View Details

Keywords: Re: Kathleen L. McGinn; Legal Services

04 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Don’t Lose Money With Customers

companies knowingly persist in money-losing customer relationships. Why such inconsistent behavior? HBS associate professor Narakesari ("Das") Narayandas has been investigating the various stances that companies, deliberately... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

February 1992 (Revised January 1999)
Background Note

Selected Profitability Data on U.S. Industries and Companies

Describes the importance of industry structure and competitive positioning to the profitability of U.S. corporations between 1981 and 1994. Cites recent research indicating that persistent industry differences and persistent competitor differences account for 19% and... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Industry Structures; Profit; United States

Educators

Purchase

2010
Working Paper

Law and Finance c. 1900

By: Aldo Musacchio

How persistent are the effects of legal institutions adopted or inherited in the distant past? A substantial literature argues that legal origins have persistent effects that explain clear differences in investor protections and financial development around the world... View Details

Keywords: Law; Finance; Corporate Governance; Practice; Growth and Development

13 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Diversity in Innovation

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang; Financial Services; Education

February 2010
Article

Conflict of Interest and the Intrusion of Bias

By: Don A. Moore, Lloyd Tanlu and Max Bazerman

This paper presents evidence of performance persistence in entrepreneurship. We show that entrepreneurs with a track record of success are much more likely to succeed than first-time entrepreneurs and those who have previously failed. In particular, they exhibit... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Prejudice and Bias; Performance; Entrepreneurship; Market Timing; Competency and Skills; Perception; Business Startups; Resource Allocation

Article

Real Estate Opportunity Funds

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz, Thea C. Hahn and David Geltner

Real estate opportunity funds are one of the fastest-growing segments of the real estate investment industry, similar in some basic respects to other private equity and alternative investment asset classes that seek high returns by taking on more risk in highly... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Opportunity Funds; Investment Management; Property; Investment Funds; Management; Performance Consistency

Purchase

11 Sep 2018
Working Paper Summaries

IQ from IP: Simplifying Search in Portfolio Choice

Keywords: by Huaizhi Chen, Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun, Dong Lou, and Christopher J. Malloy

March 23, 2017
Article

Incentives Don't Help People Change, but Peer Pressure Does

By: Susanna Gallani

This article summarizes the findings of a research study that examined the effectiveness of monetary and non-monetary incentives in establishing persistent organizational behavior modifications. The results of the study highlight the interplay between monetary and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Change Management

Register to Read

Article

Seeking the Roots of Entrepreneurship: Insights from Behavioral Economics

By: Thomas Astebro, Holger Herz, Ramana Nanda and Roberto A. Weber

There is a growing body of evidence that many entrepreneurs seem to enter and persist in entrepreneurship despite earning low risk-adjusted returns. This has lead to attempts to provide explanations—using both standard economic theory and behavioral economics—for why... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Attitudes; Behavior

2021
Working Paper

Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William Kahn and Robin Ely

This paper uses systems psychodynamic concepts to develop a theory about the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. companies, treating White men as the dominant group and Black people as an illustrative subordinate group. We theorize that this persistence is rooted... View Details

Keywords: Systems Psychodynamics; Organizational Inequality; Masculinity; Equality and Inequality; Race; Gender; Identity; Power and Influence

May 2019
Background Note

Geographic Inequality Primer

By: William Kerr, Joseph Fuller, Manjari Raman and Donald Maruyama

There are large and persistent divides between urban centers and rural areas in America due in part to structural causes. This primer focuses on the demographic differences between urban and rural areas within the United States and the unique challenges facing rural... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Rural; Development; Equality and Inequality; Demographics; Rural Scope; Urban Scope; Development Economics; Problems and Challenges; Globalization; United States

Educators

February 1992 (Revised September 2003)
Supplement

Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation (A-2)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Bronwyn Halliday and Michael Santoro

Beech-Nut's CEO must decide what to do. Asks students to consider how much evidence of impurity should be enough to trigger management's acknowledgment of a problem. What are the cognitive and attitudinal factors and pressures that lead people to persist in beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Risk Management; Attitudes; Nutrition; Cognition and Thinking; Food and Beverage Industry

Purchase

Article

Pseudo-Set Framing

By: Kate Barasz, Leslie John, Elizabeth A. Keenan and Michael I. Norton

Pseudo-set framing—arbitrarily grouping items or tasks together as part of an apparent “set”—motivates people to reach perceived completion points. Pseudo-set framing changes gambling choices (Study 1), effort (Studies 2 and 3), giving behavior (Field Data and Study... View Details

Keywords: Framing Effects; Gestalt Psychology; Judgment; Judgments; Decision Making; Perception; Behavior

December 2003 (Revised July 2005)
Module Note

Making Sense of Media Conglomerates

By: Bharat N. Anand

The media and entertainment sector has been characterized by the persistence of conglomeration over long periods of time, on the one hand, and several recent visible failures, on the other. Examines these phenomena in an attempt to make sense of each. View Details

Keywords: Media; Business Conglomerates; Media and Broadcasting Industry

20 Nov 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Was the Wealth of Nations Determined in 1000 B.C.?

Keywords: by Diego A. Comin, William Easterly & Erick Gong; Technology

Article

Medium-term Business Cycles

By: Diego Comin and Mark Gertler

Over the postwar period, many industrialized countries have experienced significant medium-frequency oscillations between periods of robust growth versus relative stagnation. Conventional business cycle filters, however, tend to sweep these oscillations into the trend.... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Fluctuation; Information Technology; Research and Development; Resource Allocation; Framework; Trends; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity