Publications

2020
Working Paper

Tariff Passthrough at the Border and at the Store: Evidence from U.S. Trade Policy

By: Alberto Cavallo, Gita Gopinath, Brent Neiman and Jenny Tang

We use micro data collected at the border and the store to characterize the price impact of recent US trade policy on importers, exporters, and consumers. At the border, import tariff passthrough is much higher than exchange rate passthrough. Chinese exporters did not... View Details

Keywords: Trade Policy; Tariffs; Exchange Rate Passthrough; Economics; Trade; Policy; Inflation and Deflation; United States; China

August 2014
Article

The New Empirical Economics of Management

By: Nicholas Bloom, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, Daniela Scur and John Van Reenen

Over the last decade the World Management Survey (WMS) has collected firm-level management practices data across multiple sectors and countries. We developed the survey to try to explain the large and persistent TFP differences across firms and countries. This review... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Microeconomics

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June 2008 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Bernd Beetz: Creating the New Coty

By: Geoffrey Jones and David Kiron

Considers the creation of the world's largest fragrance company by Bernd Beetz, appointed chief executive of Coty Inc. in 2001. In 1990 the German consumer goods company Benkiser began acquiring fragrance and cosmetics brands with the intent of developing a beauty... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Germany; United States

Program

Creating Brand Value

cultural and relationship prowess today's business-to-consumer (B2C) brand managers need. You will explore branding as a collective and collaborative meaning-making process among firms, consumers, and other cultural producers, acquiring... View Details

02 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Shareholders Need a Say on Pay

situation often reverts to "business as usual," with some cynics asserting that is already the case today. Whatever one's view on executive pay, it seems increasingly clear that the collective involvement of multiple... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

Research Summary

The Role of Institutions in Overcoming Imperfect Monitoring in Relational Contracting (with Carmit Segal)

In a world in which firms can be hit by transitory adverse shocks it may be too costly for any single worker to verify the true state of the world. In this case, it may not be possible for firms to lower wages in response to adverse shocks and still have the workers... View Details

2016
Chapter

Luxury Branding Research: New Perspectives and Future Priorities

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener and Silvia Bellezza

Several major trends have changed the landscape for luxury brands. These shifts include the increasing role of technology (digital and mobile) as well as the use by consumers of alternative signals of status, such as wearing less prominently branded apparel, being less... View Details

Keywords: Luxury; Brands and Branding

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Article

Statistical Physics of Human Cooperation

By: Matjaž Perc, Jillian J. Jordan, David G. Rand, Zhen Wang, Stefano Boccaletti and Attila Szolnoki

Extensive cooperation among unrelated individuals is unique to humans, who often sacrifice personal benefits for the common good and work together to achieve what they are unable to execute alone. The evolutionary success of our species is indeed due, to a large... View Details

Keywords: Human Cooperation; Evolutionary Game Theory; Public Goods; Reward; Punishment; Tolerance; Self-organization; Pattern Formation; Cooperation; Behavior; Game Theory

February 2021
Background Note

Jobs to Be Done: A Toolbox

By: Derek C. M. van Bever, Bob Moesta, Iuliana Mogosanu, Shaye Roseman and Katie Zandbergen

The Jobs to Be Done methodology is both a theory and a practical approach for understanding customer behavior and why people make the choices they make. Many practitioners, whether they work for startups or incumbent businesses, find Jobs to Be Done useful because it... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Knowledge Acquisition; Attitudes; Perception; Theory; Behavior; Customer Relationship Management

October 2016
Case

Addicaid: Scaling a Digital Platform for Addiction Wellness and Recovery

By: Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

In 2013, Sam Frons founded Addicaid—a mobile application (app) that allowed people in addiction recovery to track their progress, check in with counselors, and connect with others in recovery programs. The app was grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy and used the... View Details

Keywords: Digital Health Interventions; Substance Use Disorder; Addiction Treatment; Addiction Recovery; Scale; Innovation; Health; Health Disorders; Health Industry; New York (city, NY)

February 2022
Case

Agora (A)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

Agora was a civic technology (civic tech) startup founded by Elsa Sze, who wanted to enhance the connection between political officials and their constituents by facilitating virtual “town halls,” making underrepresented voices heard and benefiting elected and... View Details

Keywords: Civic Technology; Government Administration; Conferences; Business Startups; Business Strategy

Article

Corporate Culture and Analyst Catering

By: Joseph Pacelli

This study examines the relation between financial institutions’ corporate culture and the quality of analysts’ research services. Using data collected from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, I measure the weakness of financial institutions’ corporate culture... View Details

Keywords: Analysts; Corporate Culture; Global Settlement; Financial Institutions; Organizational Culture; Conflict of Interests; Performance; Quality

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Article

Media versus Special Interests

By: Alexander Dyck, David Moss and Luigi Zingales

We argue that profit-maximizing media help to overcome the rational ignorance problem highlighted by Anthony Downs. By collecting news and combining it with entertainment, media are able to inform passive voters about regulation and other public policy issues, acting... View Details

Keywords: Media; Profit; Government and Politics

27 Sep 2011
News

Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble Entertain and Inform at Harvard Business School

21 Nov 2019
News

HBS Announces New Exhibit on U.S. Steel Corporation’s Use of Photography as a Public Relations Tool

Research Summary

Evolution of the Global Beauty Industry

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

This research examines the global beauty industry, which includes cosmetics, deodorants, fragrances, hair care, oral hygiene and skin care. Today global sales of cosmetics and toiletries are in excess of U.S. $380 billion. This research examines the growth of this... View Details

2022
Working Paper

Optimal Illiquidity

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Clayton, Christopher Harris, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We calculate the socially optimal level of illiquidity in an economy populated by households with taste shocks and naive present bias. The government chooses mandatory contributions to accounts, each witha different pre-retirement withdrawal penalty. Collected... View Details

Keywords: Illiquidity; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Social Security; Retirement; Government Legislation; Taxation; Saving