Publications

May 2008
Article

Coerced Confessions: Self-Policing in the Shadow of the Regulator

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

As part of a recent trend toward more cooperative relations between regulators and industry, novel government programs are encouraging firms to monitor their own regulatory compliance and voluntarily report their own violations. In this study, we examine how regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Power and Influence; Organizations; Decisions; Business and Government Relations; United States

December 2007
Article

The Malleability of Environmentalism

By: Kimberly A. Wade-Benzoni, Min Li, Leigh L. Thompson and Max Bazerman

In this paper, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental... View Details

Keywords: Research; Environmental Sustainability; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Perception; Personal Characteristics

2006
Working Paper

The Value of a 'Free' Customer

By: Sunil Gupta, Carl F. Mela and Jose M. Vidal-Sanz

Central to a firm's growth and marketing policy is the revenus and profit potential of its customer assets. As a result, there has been a recent proliferation of work regarding customer lifetime value. However, extant research in this area is silent regarding how to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Auctions; Network Effects; Business Strategy

July 2005
Article

The Consequences of Labor Market Flexibility: Panel Evidence Based on Survey Data

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

We introduce a new data set on hiring and firing restrictions for 21 OECD countries for the period 1984 –1990. The data are based on surveys of business people in the countries covered, so the indices we use are subjective in nature. Controlling for country and time... View Details

Keywords: Job Security Provisions; Subjective Data; Unemployment; Employment; Labor; Markets; Data and Data Sets

April 2005
Article

Partisan Social Happiness

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

We use a new approach to study questions in political economy that relies on data on the subjective well-being of a large sample of people living in the OECD over the period 1975-1992. Controlling for the personal characteristics of the respondents, year and country... View Details

Keywords: Political Partisanship; Political Economy; Society; Happiness

2001
Working Paper

The Malleability of Environmentalism

By: Kimberly A. Wade-Benzoni, Min Li, Leigh L. Thompson and M. Bazerman

In this paper, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental... View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Behavior; Identity; Environmental Sustainability

April 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Bausch & Lomb, Inc.: Pressure to Perform

By: Robert L. Simons, Alex C. Sapir '97 and Indra Reinbergs

Bausch & Lomb is the subject of press attacks and experiences a sharp fall in stock price when management practices are exposed. Aggressive goal setting, supported by financial market expectations, is discussed as a precursor to a series of events that results in... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Financial Markets; Financial Statements; Business and Shareholder Relations

Educators

Purchase

1998
Working Paper

Some Evidence on the Optimal Welfare State Based on Subjective Data

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

It is often difficult to evaluate all the costs and benefits of the welfare state. This paper suggests an alternative approach based on surveys of citizen satisfaction with welfare programs. In the first part of the paper we estimate the level of unemployment benefits... View Details

Keywords: Personal Characteristics; Employment; Surveys; Programs; Government and Politics; Age; Income; Residency; Welfare; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Cost vs Benefits; Satisfaction; United Kingdom

Research Summary

Growth and the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment: Is All FDI Equal? (joint with Andrew Charlton)

By: Laura Alfaro

In this paper we distinguish different qualities of FDI to re-examine the relationship between FDI and growth. Establishing the quality of FDI, however, is a difficult concept. Quality, that is the effect of a unit of FDI on economic growth, is a combination and... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

On the Economic Origins of Concerns Over Women’s Chastity

By: Anke Becker

This paper studies the origins and function of customs and norms that intend to keep women from being promiscuous. Using large-scale survey data from more than 100 countries, I test the anthropological theory that a particular form of preindustrial... View Details

Keywords: Infibulation; Female Sexuality; Paternity Uncertainty; Concern About Women's Chastity; Pastoralism; Economic Anthropology; History; Gender; Social Issues; Culture