Publications

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

healthcare legislation in the US ensured that it would be complex and tough to sell to the public, Quelch says. But that was just the problem: Congress and the Obama Administration didn't sell it. "Fundamentally, it's a marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

October 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Appalachian Mountain Club: Transforming Governance

By: Walter J. Salmon and Jaan Elias

Starting in 1988, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) began a controversial transformation in management and governance. For its first 112 years, the AMC's structure had resembled that of a country club--volunteer leaders directed the club's operations and its small,... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Transformation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Labor and Management Relations; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

2020
Working Paper

Capital Regulation and Product Market Outcomes

By: Ishita Sen and David Humphry

We present evidence of product market adjustments and asset reorganizations from the largest ever shift in risk regulation in a developed insurance market. Using proprietary data on insurance risk exposures from the Bank of England, we develop a measure of regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Non-traditional-non-insurance; Risk Regulation; Product Market Concentration; Small Vs. Large Insurers; Insurance Risk Exposure; Insurance; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

SSRN

01 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Company Town: Fixing Corrupt Governments

and graft means that citizens are cheated out of a fair government that operates efficiently and in the public interest. It's time to consider a radical idea: Corporations and nonprofit groups, in addition to individuals, should be... View Details

Keywords: by Eric Werker

June 2019
Article

Social Risk, Fiscal Risk, and the Portfolio of Government Programs

By: Samuel G. Hanson, David S. Scharfstein and Adi Sunderam

We develop a model of government portfolio choice in which a benevolent government chooses the scale of risky projects in the presence of market failures and tax distortions. These two frictions generate motives to manage social risk and fiscal risk. Social risk... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Government and Politics; Programs

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August 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Background Note

Why Study Emerging Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Kjell Ke-Li Carlsson

Emerging markets have attracted considerable attention and are likely to become an increasingly important political and economic force. They represent an enormous opportunity for entrepreneurs, multinationals, and investors but also pose a threat for products, jobs,... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities

November 2006 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Strategies Beyond the Market

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Dennis Yao

Strategists are not alone in finding failing markets irresistible. Governments and social groups ranging from unions to the World Wildlife Fund also respond to market failures. Governments typically seek to fix failing markets, often with prescriptions of what... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Failure; Strategy; Situation or Environment; Social Issues; Government and Politics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Research Summary

Governance and Accountability in Social Sector Organizations

This research examines governance in two types of organizations: international NGOs and socioeconomic hybrids.

First, over the past decade, many of the world's most prominent international nongovernmental organizations and networks (INGOs) ... View Details

February 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shaping the Governance Debate at ISS

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jonah S. Goldberg and Calvin O. Liou

ISS is the world’s largest provider of corporate governance research, data, analytics, and voting services. The case uses the effort of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to impose an array of new regulations that would severely restrict the functioning of... View Details

Keywords: Proxy Advisory Services; Corporate Governance; Research; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; Institutional Investing

September 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its... View Details

Keywords: Keroche; Alcohol; Wine; Manufacturing; Informal Market; Regulation; Illicit; Illegal; Shutdown; Factory; Low-income Consumers; Multinational; Local; Government; Allegations; Accusations; Negative Press; EABL; Tusker; Beer; SAB; Chang'aa; Naivasha; Rift Valley; East Africa; Lawsuit; Legal Battle; Business Ventures; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Production; Safety; Quality; Distribution; Small Business; Family Business; Crime and Corruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Income; Demographics; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location; Goods and Commodities; Government Legislation; Growth and Development; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Lawfulness; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa

2024
Working Paper

Deregulation, Market Power, and Prices: Evidence from the Electricity Sector

By: Alexander MacKay and Ignacia Mercadal

We construct a novel dataset on electricity generation, wholesale transactions, and retail sales to assess the shift from cost-of-service regulation to deregulated, market-based prices in the context of the U.S. electricity sector. Consistent with earlier studies, we... View Details

Keywords: Deregulation; Market Power; Markups; Prices; Electricity; Energy; Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Price; Utilities Industry

SSRN

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June 2008 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Vignettes on Governance of Private Equity Firms

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon and Eugenia Adofo

In a series of vignettes, Nigella Hardy-Smyth of an international development agency that invests in emerging markets private equity firms must decide how to handle various situations that arise. As a member of the Limited Partner Advisory Board of each of the five... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships

13 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

How Government Can Restore the Faith of Citizens

be because we mostly notice the things that government gets wrong. "You drive for miles on perfectly paved roads but are outraged when you run into one pothole," says Michael I. Norton, an associate professor in the View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Governance in India and Around the Globe

not actual practices. This introduction and conclusion from a recent working paper, "Product and Labor Markets Globalization and Convergence of Corporate Governance: Evidence from Infosys and the Indian Software Industry," looks... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna & Krishna Palepu; Technology

Article

Regulatory, Legal, and Market Aspects of Smart Wearables for Cardiac Monitoring

By: Jan Benedikt Brönneke, Jennifer Müller, Konstantinos Mouratis, Julia Hagen and Ariel Dora Stern

In the area of cardiac monitoring, the use of digitally driven technologies is on the rise. While the development of medical products is advancing rapidly, allowing for new use-cases in cardiac monitoring and other areas, regulatory and legal requirements that govern... View Details

Keywords: Wearables; Regulatory Changes; Medical Technology; Medical Devices; Market Access; Market Entry and Exit; Information Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States; Germany; Belgium

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Article

Network Effects in the Governance of Strategic Alliances

We argue that the stock of prior alliances between participants in the biotechnology sector forms a network that serves as a governance mechanism in interfirm transactions. To test how this network substitutes for other governance mechanisms, we examine how equity... View Details

Keywords: Network Effects; Governance; Strategy; Alliances; Stocks; Market Transactions; Equity; Mortgages; Biotechnology Industry

29 Nov 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Surfacing the Submerged State with Operational Transparency in Government Services

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell, Ethan Porter, and Michael I. Norton

28 Aug 2014
Op-Ed

Government Can Do More to Unfreeze Small Business Credit

businesses. But small business credit was hit hard during the recent recession and has been slow to recover. Beginning in early 2009, the federal government acted quickly to unfreeze credit markets with... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking

July 2019
Article

Market Reaction to Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure

By: Jody Grewal, Edward J. Riedl and George Serafeim

We examine the equity market reaction to events associated with the passage of a directive in the European Union (EU) mandating increased nonfinancial disclosure. These disclosures relate to firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and would be... View Details

Keywords: Nonfinancial Information; Nonfinancial Performance; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investor Behavior; Disclosure; Disclosure Regulation; Regulation; Sustainability; Corporate Performance; Information; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance; Outcome or Result

SSRN