Observational Studies - Publications - Faculty & Research

29 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles and Research Papers of 2014

It's better to look good than to feel good. That was the observation of Billy Crystal's SNL character Fernando, and it seems to be born out in two articles from this year's most popular list. In The Manager in the Red Shoes, we learn that... View Details

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

to conflict, and the issues related to making causal inferences from observed correlations. We illustrate how some of these issues can be overcome in a study of mental health in post-conflict Bosnia and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

It’s All in a Name: Reputable Investors Help Startups Shine

a new study coauthored by Harvard Business School Professor Shai Bernstein. “Attracting high-quality talent is an important challenge for any young firm, and it’s critical to establishing reputation and growth.” “One of the key challenges... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

19 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Rupert Murdoch and the Seeds of Moral Hazard

The News Corporation/News of the World scandal has been described as a case study in bad management. What was there about the company's organizational culture that led to "Murdoch's Mess"? Professor Michel Anteby, who View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Journalism & News; Publishing

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

other outputs by autonomous machines. I argue that organizational researchers of creativity and innovation should invest significant energy in studying artificial intelligence and computer-assisted human intelligence, the ways in which... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

10 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID's Surprising Toll on Careers of Women Scientists

COVID-19 is claiming an unexpected career toll among scientific researchers, and particularly on women, new research shows. If you are female, have young children, or work in a lab, you are more likely to feel the career-crunching effects dealt by the pandemic,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Pharmaceutical; Biotechnology; Health

28 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: The Good Struggle: Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World

prepare a force for the first engagement with the enemy and little more. It is no coincidence that some entrepreneurs today echo Clausewitz's observation and say the purpose of a business plan is to prepare a new organization for its... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Badaracco

05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond

20 percent of the American population," observes Tufano. "What we're talking about is a little replumbing of the IRS code and the Bureau of Public Debt to help the remaining 80 percent of American families to save. That strikes... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

21 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 21, 2008

Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain? Authors:Edward L. Glaeser and William R. Kerr Abstract Why are some places more entrepreneurial than others? We use Census Bureau data to study local determinants of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

The Power of the Noncompete Clause

about the world of noncompetes before you embarked on this study. How did you get interested in studying them vis-à-vis inventor mobility? What gap in the research did you want to investigate? Matt Marx: You're right; this topic drew... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Global Poverty Needs a Global Answer

from the UN and the World Bank. Trying a few projects and seeing how they worked would risk little. Q: You have had a long-time interest in studying developing countries and the international economy. What has helped maintain your... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

Publications August 2013 Social Psychological & Personality Science Matchmaking Promotes Happiness By: Anik, Lalin, and Michael I. Norton Abstract—Four studies document and explore the psychology underlying people's proclivity to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Is the Digital Age Making Us Petty?

in nature,” observe the authors of Pettiness in Social Exchange, a paper published last year in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. “That kind of precision can be very off-putting, and we wanted to find out why.” The coauthors, Tami... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

03 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance

In the process, he shows how organizations can best equip themselves to take advantage of potential sources of competitive advantage that arise in the global setting. In International Finance: A Casebook, Desai provides case studies on... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

30 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 30

longitudinal data from 68 multi-method case studies of organizational change initiatives conducted at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom support these predictions and advance a relational view of organizational change in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Banning Big-box Stores Can Hurt Local Retailers

protect local businesses from the crushing competition of "big-box" stores. But it turns out such rules often backfire, according to research by Raffaella Sadun, an assistant professor in the Strategy unit at Harvard Business School. “Suddenly these... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

18 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Greed Ruining Private Equity Firms?

and continuity of the firm” This pattern of unequal pay was much more extensive than anticipated among the 717 private equity partnerships studied by HBS finance professor Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Banking; Financial Services

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/ffoley/BFSWIPO.pdf Luck or Cheating? A Field Experiment on Honesty with Children Authors:Alessandro Bucciol and Marco Piovesan Publication:Journal of Economic Psychology (forthcoming) Abstract We run an experiment to View Details

21 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Sink a Startup

When Noam Wasserman (HBS MBA 1999) spent his MBA summer internship working for a VC firm, he observed important universalities in the decisions that founders faced. He also saw that the "fundamental implications of those decisions were... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Around the World of Entrepreneurial Ventures

finance, and entrepreneurship. An increasing number of entrepreneurial firms go abroad much earlier in their lives than ever before in recent business history.— Walter Kuemmerle The twenty-nine sites he has studied range from start-ups to... View Details