Publications

January–February 2017
Article

The Truth about Blockchain

By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Contracts, transactions, and records of them provide critical structure in our economic system, but they haven’t kept up with the world’s digital transformation. They’re like rush-hour gridlock trapping a Formula 1 race car. Blockchain promises to solve this problem.... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Technology Adoption; Information Management; Information Technology Industry

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13 Oct 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Pricing Liquidity: The Quantity Structure of Immediacy Prices

Keywords: by George C. Chacko, Jakub W. Jurek & Erik Stafford

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Building a Better Buyer-Seller Relationship

Buyers and sellers in mature industrial markets can turn single transactions into long-term beneficial relationships by a deeper understanding of the complex connection between the two, says Harvard Business School professor Narakesari... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 1995
Case

AT&T's Acquisition of NCR

Dennis R. Beresford, Chairman of the FASB, reflects on the AT&T and NCR merger and AT&T's desire to qualify the transaction for pooling of interest treatment, an accounting method allowing companies to record assets acquired in business combinations at historical cost... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Accounting; Telecommunications Industry

22 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Competing Ad Auctions

Keywords: by Itai Ashlagi, Benjamin G. Edelman & Hoan Soo Lee; Advertising

Article

Are Self-service Customers Satisfied or Stuck?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of self-service technology (SST) usage on customer satisfaction and retention. Specifically, we disentangle the distinct effects of satisfaction and switching costs as drivers of retention among self-service customers. Our empirical... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Competition; Cost; Banks and Banking; Behavior; Market Transactions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

March 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

International Securities Exchange, The: New Ground in Options Markets

This case examines the equity options market and studies the major parties involved and the options trading process. It takes an in-depth look at the path taken by the International Securities Exchange as it entered a mature exchange industry and transformed itself... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Investment

2022
Working Paper

Banking on Transparency for the Poor: Experimental Evidence from India

By: Erica M. Field, Natalia Rigol, Charity M. Troyer Moore, Rohini Pande and Simone G. Schaner

Do information frictions limit the benefits of financial inclusion drives for the rural poor? We evaluate an experimental intervention among recently banked poor Indian women receiving government cash transfers via direct deposit. Treated women were provided automated... View Details

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March 2007 (Revised May 2012)
Case

PRG-Schultz International

By: Paul W. Marshall and James Weber

PRG-Schultz will run out of cash within a couple of months unless the new CEO can reduce costs and restructure the company's debt. PRG was the dominant market leader in the audit recovery industry. The industry consisted of firms which employed accounting professionals... View Details

Keywords: History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Restructuring; Cost Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Borrowing and Debt; Accounting Audits; Accounting Industry

Research Summary

Asset Specificity and Vertical Integration: Williamson's Hypothesis Reconsidered

A point repeatedly stressed by transaction cost economics is that the more specific the asset, the more likely is vertical integration to be optimal. In spite of the profusion of empirical papers supporting this prediction, recent surveys and casual observation... View Details

February 2006
Case

Fraikin SA

By: W. Carl Kester, Vincent Marie Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Provides an example of a so-called "whole business" securitization. In early 2004, Fraikin, France's leading industrial vehicle rental company, compares several alternatives for refinancing a large bridge loan within a year. Presents three primary options: a classic... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Transportation; Renting or Rental; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; France

04 Oct 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Imperfect Information, Patent Publication, and the Market for Ideas

Keywords: by Deepak Hegde & Hong Luo; Legal Services

Article

Discouraging Opportunistic Behavior in Collaborative R&D: A New Role for Government

The traditional role attributed to government in collaborative R&D has been one of funding. This paper explores a new role for government in facilitating collaborative R&D, one of discouraging opportunistic behavior. Given the nature of R&D, concerns about... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Government and Politics; Managerial Roles; Research and Development; Framework; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Italy

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Teaching Interest

Finance II (MBA Required Curriculum)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

This course builds on the foundation developed in Finance I, focusing on three sets of managerial decisions:

How to evaluate complex investments.
How to set and execute financial policies within a firm.
How to integrate... View Details

Keywords: Finance

2007
Working Paper

Multi-Sided Platforms: From Microfoundations to Design and Expansion Strategies

By: Andrei Hagiu

Multi-sided platforms (MSPs), which bring together two or more interdependent groups of customers, have recently risen to economic and business prominence in many industries. This paper first lays out a simple micro-founded framework which aims to organize academic and... View Details

Keywords: Multi-Sided Platforms

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April 2002
Background Note

Local Institutions and Global Strategy

By: Tarun Khanna

Explores how location affects a firm's strategy and identifies the different ways location affects industry structure, choice of a firm's position, and the sustainability of that position. The intellectual foundations lie in an appreciation of institutional economics.... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Global Strategy; Product Positioning; Market Transactions; Industry Structures; Negotiation Deal; Organizational Design; Outcome or Result; Strategic Planning

June 2017
Article

The Political Economy of Financial Innovation: Evidence from Local Governments

By: Christophe Pérignon and Boris Vallée

We examine the toxic loans sold by investment banks to local governments. Using proprietary data, we show that politicians strategically use these products to increase chances of being re-elected. Consistent with greater incentives to hide the cost of debt, toxic loans... View Details

Keywords: Financial Innovation; Political Elections; Financing and Loans; Innovation and Invention

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

2009
Working Paper

Asset Specificity and Vertical Integration: Williamson's Hypothesis Reconsidered

By: Christian Alejandro Ruzzier

A point repeatedly stressed by transaction cost economics is that the more specific the asset, the more likely is vertical integration to be optimal. In spite of the profusion of empirical papers supporting this prediction, recent surveys and casual observation suggest... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Vertical Integration