Publications

Educators

January 1994 (Revised March 2000)
Background Note

Notes on Reliability and Attitude Measurement

By: Alvin J. Silk

Keywords: Attitudes; Performance Consistency

2013
Article

How Concentrated Is the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry? Myth vs. Reality

By: Alvin J. Silk and Charles King III

We analyze changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services industry using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's quinquennial Economic Census and the Service Annual Survey. These data, heretofore largely ignored, allow us to redress some of... View Details

Keywords: Concentration Levels; Data; U.S. Census Bureau’s Quinquennial Economic Census And The Service Annual Survey; Measurement Problems; Herfindahl-Hirschman Index; Concentration Ratios; Advertising; Advertising Industry; North and Central America

04 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 4

and Why? Authors:Stephen Leider and Alvin E. Roth Publication:Journal of Transplantation 10 (May 2010): 1221-1227 Abstract The shortage of transplant kidneys has spurred debate about legalizing monetary payments to donors to increase the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 19, 2006

Working PapersAnomalies in Estimates of Cross-Price Elasticities for Marketing Mix Models: Theory and Empirical Test Authors:Andre Bonfrer, Ernest R. Berndt, and Alvin Silk Abstract We investigate the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 1996 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Vistakon: 1 Day Acuvue Disposable Contact Lenses

By: Alvin J. Silk, Bruce Issacson and Marie Bell

Vistakon, an independent and entrepreneurial subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, pioneered the production and marketing of disposable contact lenses with the 1987 launch of Acuvue, the first disposable extended-wear lens--a soft contact lens that patients wear for a... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Business Subsidiaries; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Price; Risk Management; Marketing; Product Positioning; Production; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Educators

2008
Working Paper

The Internalization of Advertising Services: An Inter-Industry Analysis

By: Sharon Horsky, Steven C. Michael and Alvin J. Silk

The common perception appears to be that vertical integration of advertising services is more the exception than the rule in the U.S. advertising industry. This study investigates the extent of such outsourcing and examines inter-industry variation in the use of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Creativity; Perception; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; United States

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

Stockholder Consumption Risk and Asset Returns Authors:Christopher J. Malloy, Tobias J. Moskowitz, and Annette Vissing-Jørgensen Publication:Journal of Finance (forthcoming) Abstract We provide new evidence... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2010
Working Paper

The Job Market for New Economists: A Market Design Perspective

By: Peter A. Coles, John Cawley, Phillip B. Levine, Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth and John J. Siegfried

This paper provides an overview of the market for new Ph.D. economists. It describes the role of the American Economic Association (AEA) in the market and focuses in particular on two mechanisms adopted in recent years at the suggestion of our committee. First, job... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Information; Surveys; Jobs and Positions; Job Interviews; Job Search; Emerging Markets; Digital Platforms; Service Operations; Internet and the Web

September 1995 (Revised May 1996)
Supplement

Philip Morris: Marlboro Friday (B)

By: Alvin J. Silk and Bruce Isaacson

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

2020
Working Paper

Aggregate Advertising Expenditure in the U.S. Economy: What's Up? Is It Real?

By: Alvin J. Silk and Ernst R. Berndt

The two components of the advertising industry—the creative sector that develops and produces messages, and the communications sector that transmits messages via various media—have each been greatly affected by advances in creative design and communications... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Advertising; Spending; Media

Article

Build It, Buy It, or Both? Rethinking the Sourcing of Advertising Services

By: Alvin J. Silk and Marta M. Stiglin

This paper provides an update on the current state of in-house agencies. Whereas traditional consideration of internalizing advertising services was framed as a binary choice of build or buy, today's advertisers frequently pursue hybrid policies of build and buy to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Advertising; Advertising Industry

April 1994
Background Note

Notes on Scalogram Analysis

By: Alvin J. Silk

July 1993 (Revised May 1994)
Supplement

American Airlines' Value Pricing (B)

By: Alvin J. Silk

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation Industry

15 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 15, 2008

Working PapersEconomic Factors Underlying the Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services Authors:Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis, and Alvin J. Silk Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2019
Teaching Note

American Airlines' Value Pricing (A), (B), and (C)

By: Alvin J. Silk

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 594-001, 594-019, and 595-037. View Details

22 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 22

banking system. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-101.pdf Conflict Policy and Advertising Agency-Client Relations: The Problem of Competing Clients Sharing a Common Agency Authors:Alvin J. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1994 (Revised October 1995)
Background Note

Notes on Stratified Sampling Design

By: Alvin J. Silk

April 1994
Background Note

Notes on Factor Analysis

By: Alvin J. Silk