Publications

SSRN

September 2018
Article

When and Why Randomized Response Techniques (Fail to) Elicit the Truth

By: Leslie K. John, George Loewenstein, Alessandro Acquisti and Joachim Vosgerau

By adding random noise to individual responses, randomized response techniques (RRTs) are intended to enhance privacy protection and encourage honest disclosure of sensitive information. Empirical findings on their success in doing so are, however, mixed. In nine... View Details

Keywords: Truth-telling; Lying; Privacy; Information Disclosure; Survey Research; Surveys; Attitudes; Behavior

Web

Invention of the Polarizer - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

Goldfaden Land, who studied physics, and Harry Land, who ran a scrap metal and real estate business in Connecticut. In high school at the Norwich Free Academy, Land excelled in physics and became enthralled with the classic Physical Optics View Details

10 Aug 2015
News

Introducing: Discover Your True North

June 2022
Case

Business Implications from Regulating Carbon Emissions in the EU

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

In the beginning of the 21st century, the European Union (the EU) had led the global fight against climate change with a wide array of policy measures. The EU’s primary approach to climate policy had been taxation via the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Carbon Emissions; Trade; Sustainability; Decarbonization; Performance; Climate Change; Analysis; Strategy; Taxation; Policy; Environmental Regulation; Industry Structures; European Union

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Article

Your Visual System Provides All the Information You Need to Make Moral Judgments about Generic Visual Events

By: Julian De Freitas and George A. Alvarez

To what extent are people's moral judgments susceptible to subtle factors of which they are unaware? Here we show that we can change people’s moral judgments outside of their awareness by subtly biasing perceived causality. Specifically, we used subtle visual... View Details

Keywords: Moral Judgment; Perceived Causality; Visual Illusions; Moral Sensibility; Judgments

Summer 2021
Article

Predictable Country-level Bias in the Reporting of COVID-19 Deaths

By: Botir Kobilov, Ethan Rouen and George Serafeim

We examine whether a country’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic relate to the downward biasing of the number of reported deaths from COVID-19. Using deviations from historical averages of the total number of monthly deaths within a country, we find that the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Deaths; Reporting; Incentives; Government Policy; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Country; Crisis Management; Outcome or Result; Reports; Policy

January 1997
Case

World Bank (A1): Rural Development (Revisited)

By: George C. Lodge

Begins with a brief description of the World Bank and its commitment to rural development. Discusses the bank's Northeast rural development program in Brazil, outlining its failure, success, and structural design. The questions raised by the project are left for the... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Development Economics; Rural Scope; Policy; Problems and Challenges; Government Legislation

Web

Outdoor Spaces | About

people and creating a sense of community. Many of these spaces play host to memorable gatherings and dedications, such as commencement, when students gather on the Baker Library lawn for an unforgettable ceremony that marks their graduation. View Details

12 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 12

the need for change puts itself at a distinct disadvantage to one that tracks the Four Rs along with indicators of learning and innovation. The Rise and Consequences of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Authors:Ioannis Ioannou and George... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK

By: Joanne Horton and George Serafeim

We investigate the market reaction to, and the value-relevance of, information contained in the mandatory transitional documents required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 1 (2005). We find significant negative abnormal returns for firms reporting... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Markets; Information; International Finance; Earnings Management; Stock Shares; Taxation; Goodwill Accounting; Price; Financial Reporting; Standards; Corporate Disclosure; United Kingdom

May 2011
Article

Consequences and Institutional Determinants of Unregulated Corporate Financial Statements: Evidence from Embedded Value Reporting

By: George Serafeim

I analyze Embedded Value (EV) reporting by firms with life insurance operations to assess the impact of unregulated financial reporting on transparency and to examine the institutional characteristics that promote unregulated reporting. Under EV accounting the present... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Reporting; Cash Flow; Contracts; Equity; Profit; Value; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Earnings

Article

Investors as Stewards of the Commons?

By: George Serafeim

Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of initiatives seeking to mobilize investor voice towards positive social impact. In this paper, I provide a framework outlining the role of investors as stewards of the commons. While... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Industry Self-regulation; Sustainability; ESG; Capital Markets; Investor Behavior; Investment Activism; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperation

SSRN

Web

The Challenge of Color - The High Art of Photographic Advertising - Baker Library | Bloomberg Center

artists in the 1920s and ’30s the ability to achieve extraordinary nuances in gradations of tone, texture, and saturation. Related industries responded, and by the end of the 1920s photographers could choose from a broad range of paper... View Details

01 Mar 2024
News

Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

Edited by Margie Kelley Alumni Books You Got This! A Straightforward, No-Nonsense Playbook for Crushing 130+ Workplace Challenges By Heidi Abelli (MBA 1993) Palmetto Publishing Stepping into the corporate world can feel like navigating a labyrinth, especially when... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

Web

Design Thinking Course | HBS Online

thinking theory as a process with helpful tools and outstanding examples from practitioners and companies.” Sandra Pérez Botero Design Thinking and Innovation Participant Create products and services that resonate with your audience by... View Details

23 Jun 2023
News

Highlights from the Spring 2023 Alumni Board Meeting

Centering the education: Keeping the expectations we have of students and faculty high. Making sure we attract the very best: Increasing access by making affordability a priority, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and making... View Details

Web

Cotting House | About

Cotting House Cotting Cornerstone Ceremony 1967 Cotting House was made possible by, and is named in honor of, Charles E. Cotting (Harvard 1911). Constructed in 1967 during the tenure of Dean George P. Baker and designed View Details

Article

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

Using a large sample of publicly traded U.S. firms over 16 years, we investigate the impact of corporate socially responsible (CSR) strategies on security analysts' recommendations. Socially responsible firms received more favorable recommendations in recent years... View Details

Keywords: Public Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Value Creation; Public Equity; Markets; Investment; Perception; United States