Publications

August 1997 (Revised March 2008)
Background Note

Trends in the United States Steel Market,1980-1996

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Bret J. Baird

Provides a brief background on the history and structure of the steel industry in the United States. Focuses in some depth on the technological changes that have been difficult for the leading steel companies to implement. Shows that they stumbled when confronted with... View Details

Keywords: History; Technology; Trends; Steel Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

February 2019
Background Note

Mexican Farmworkers in the United States

By: Forest Reinhardt and Jonathan Schlefer

This note discusses the centuries-long history and current situation of Mexican farmworkers north of the border—documented or undocumented, resident or temporary, and increasingly indigenous. The story provides the background for discussion of dilemmas facing... View Details

Keywords: Migrant Farmworkers; Mexican Farmworkers; Agribusiness; Labor; History; Policy; Problems and Challenges; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

February 1993 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

United States from 1897 to 1969

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: United States

Find at Harvard

September 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Background Note

African American Inequality in the United States

By: Janice H. Hammond, A. Kamau Massey and Mayra G. Garza

This note describes how historical and on-going policies and practices that discriminate against African Americans led to present-day inequality. Topics include slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws, “black codes,” and policies and practices relating to criminal justice,... View Details

Keywords: African Americans; Justice; Slavery; Discrimination; Race; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Policy; History; United States

January 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Background Note

Rail Transportation in the United States

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Guilford

In the 20th century, automobiles and airlines pushed rail into the background as an often-troubled and neglected mode. After a review of the long history of rail in the U.S., this paper examines the situation in the 21st century, including the rail market structure,... View Details

Keywords: Railroad History; History; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

immigrant from Finland who came to the United States as an exchange visitor, worked under the H1-B visa program, and ultimately became a US citizen, did the heavy lifting to wrestle the database into a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

14 Apr 2008
News

The Gap in the U.S. Treasury Recommendations

January 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Technical Note

Legal Analysis: Labor Unions in the United States

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Trevor Fetter and Grace Liu

This note provides an overview of the regulation, mechanics, and history of labor unions in the United States, along with an overview of their place in the early 21st century. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor Unions; History; United States

16 Dec 2016
News

Harvard's Porter on a 'Truly' Divided United States

31 Aug 2016
News

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

11 Jan 2015
Talk

Processed Foods in the Early-Twentieth-Century United States

By: Ai Hisano

October 2015
Teaching Note

1996 Welfare Reform in the United States

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

Keywords: Median Voter Theorem; Moral Hazard; Voting; Ethics

The late 20th century saw a dramatic shift in the criminal justice system of the United States. While incarceration rates had remained stable through the 1960s, they quintupled by the 2000s to 707 per 100,000, far... View Details

19 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Affordable Housing: Israel and the United States

include housing. Returning veterans could not find affordable homes. A condominium costs 12 times annual income; and the country has a dearth of rental units. In Israel, demand for housing outstrips supply—a conundrum familiar to United... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas, John H. Vogel & Charles S. Laven; Construction; Real Estate

December 1983 (Revised March 1999)
Case

The United States Financial Crisis of 1931

The behavior of the Federal Reserve System during the early years of the Great Depression has been a topic of considerable controversy. The Fed, it has been argued, pursued a contracting policy, thereby helping to turn what might have been only a brief recession into... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Financial Crisis; United States

January 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Chinese Restriction, Violence, and Exclusion in the United States

By: Tom Nicholas, Boyang Han and Tomas Rosales

Many early Chinese immigrants to the United States during the 1850s worked as traditional gold miners, but as gold mining declined in significance, an increasing number were employed as laborers for large scale construction projects such as railroads, roadways, and in... View Details

Keywords: Immigration Acts; Immigration; Labor; Jobs and Positions; Race; Social Issues; Laws and Statutes