Publications

2014
Working Paper

Finance and Social Responsibility in the Informal Economy: Institutional Voids, Globalization and Microfinance Institutions

By: Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis and Sunny Li Sun

We examine the heterogeneous effects of globalization on the interest rate setting by microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. We consider MFIs as a mechanism to overcome the institutional void of credit for small entrepreneurs in developing and emerging... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Microfinance Institutions; Economic Globalization; Social Globalization; Microfinance; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies

SSRN

March 2022
Article

Contractual Restrictions and Debt Traps

By: Ernest Liu and Benjamin N. Roth

Microcredit and other forms of small-scale ﬁnance have failed to catalyze entrepreneurship in developing countries. In these credit markets, borrowers and lenders often bargain over not only the interest rate but also implicit restrictions on types of investment. We... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Entrepreneurship; Developing Countries and Economies; Financing and Loans

Find at Harvard

2009
Chapter

Plant-Size Distribution and Cross-Country Income Differences

By: Laura Alfaro, Andrew Charlton and Fabio Kanczuk

We investigate, using plant-level data for 79 developed and developing countries, whether differences in the allocation of resources across heterogeneous plants are a significant determinant of cross-country differences in income per worker. For this purpose, we use a... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Developing Countries and Economies; Wages; Resource Allocation; Mathematical Methods

2008
Working Paper

Firm-Size Distribution and Cross-Country Income Differences

By: Laura Alfaro, Andrew Charlton and Fabio Kanczuk

We investigate, using plant-level data for 79 developed and developing countries, whether differences in the allocation of resources across heterogeneous plants are a significant determinant of cross-country differences in income per worker. For this purpose, we use a... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Developing Countries and Economies; Wages; Resource Allocation; Mathematical Methods

March 2023
Case

Innovation at Google Ads: The Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL) (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Design; Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

Educators

October 2018
Case

Phuc Huynh and Teach for Vietnam (A)

By: Leslie Perlow and Eunice Eun

This Harvard Business School case is about Harvard Kennedy School graduate, Phuc Huynh, who wants to establish Teach for Vietnam (TFV) in his home country and become an official Teach for All partner. It considers the concepts of giving back in one’s career and the... View Details

Keywords: Vietnam; Giving Back; Career Decisions; Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Mission and Purpose; Leadership Development; Education Industry; Viet Nam; Asia

Educators

Program

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Details Take advantage of the right opportunities at the right time Evaluate the impact of market cycles so you can move on opportunities with the most potential Apply best practices for making investments, both within your borders and in... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

16 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 16, 2018

January–February 2018 Harvard Business Review More Than a Paycheck: How to Create Good Blue-Collar Jobs in the Knowledge Economy By: Campbell, Dennis, John Case, and Bill Fotsch Abstract—Fifty years ago a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2010
Casebook

Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture

By: Laura Alfaro

All managers face a business environment in which international and macroeconomic phenomena matter. International capital flows can significantly affect countries' development efforts and provide clear investment opportunities for businesses. During the 1990s and early... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Capital; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations

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August 2012 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Australia: Commodities and Competitiveness

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Laura Alfaro

For the past few decades, Australia has dealt with the benefits and costs of repeated mining booms—inflation, a housing bubble, a current account deficit and growing dependence on China. Between 1996 and 2007, however, Australia had most of these issues under control... View Details

Keywords: Commodities; Competitiveness; Carbon Tax; Environment; Capital Flows; Current Account; Mining; Economy; Problems and Challenges; Australia

Educators

Research Summary

Information, Coordination and the Industrialisation of Countries (with Markus Reisinger)

The industrialization process of a country is often plagued by a failure to coordinate firms' investment decisions. Using the Global Games approach we can solve this coordination problem and eliminate the problem of multiple equilibria. We show how appropriate... View Details

Research Summary

Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt (with Fabio Kanczuk)

By: Laura Alfaro

Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve holdings take the level of international debt as given. Some of the implications of this analysis, however, may not be generalized once one considers the joint decision to hold debt and reserves by a... View Details

Research Summary

Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows and Global Imbalances

By: Laura Alfaro

We construct measures of net private and public capital flows for a large cross-section of developing countries considering both creditor and debtor side of the international debt transactions. Using these measures, we demonstrate that sovereign-to-sovereign... View Details

Research Summary

The Origins, Current State, and Future of Capitalism

By: Sophus A. Reinert

Starting with the dawn of market capitalism in Renaissance Italy, Professor Reinert works at the intersection of economic ideas, policies, and practices in history, particularly as seen through the lens of national strategies in international competition. He seeks to... View Details

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Torsten Thiele and the Global Ocean Trust

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Brian Hoffstein

Following a successful career in finance, Torsten Thiele devoted himself full-time to the challenging cause of ocean conservation and stewardship. In August 2015, Thiele had already come a long way in spearheading initiatives towards the protection of the ocean: from... View Details

Keywords: Environment; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Science-Based Business; Climate Change; Social Enterprise; Leadership