Publications

June 1983
Article

A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts

By: Jerry R. Green and Nancy Stokey

Tournaments, reward structures based on rank order, are compared with individual contracts in a model with one risk-neutral principal and many risk-averse agents. Each agent's output is a stochastic function of his effort level plus an additive shock term that is... View Details

Keywords: Tournaments; Contracts

Research Summary

Individual Effectiveness

By: Frances X. Frei

This research investigates how to create the conditions for individuals to thrive. The work is guided by the observation that individuals and organizations have the opportunity to vastly enhance individual effectiveness. View Details

Keywords: Individual; Effective Leadership In Turbulent Times

January 2011
Article

Building a Better America—One Wealth Quintile at a Time

By: Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely

Disagreements about the optimal level of wealth inequality underlie policy debates ranging from taxation to welfare. We attempt to insert the desires of "regular" Americans into these debates, by asking a nationally representative online panel to estimate the current... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Policy; Perspective; Wealth; Equality and Inequality; Income; Demography; Debates; Welfare; Diversity; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

July 2019
Article

The Gravitational Pull of Expressing Passion: When and How Expressing Passion Elicits Status Conferral and Support from Others

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Christopher To, Shira Agasi, Stéphane Côté and Adam D. Galinsky

Prior research attributes the positive effects of passion on professional success to intrapersonal characteristics. We propose that interpersonal processes are also critical because observers confer status on and support those who express passion. These interpersonal... View Details

Keywords: Passion; Admiration; Support; Emotions; Communication; Perception; Status and Position; Success; Situation or Environment; Competition

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2017
Article

Computer Vision Uncovers Predictors of Physical Urban Change

By: Nikhil Naik, Scott Duke Kominers, Ramesh Raskar, Edward L. Glaeser and César A. Hidalgo

Which neighborhoods experience physical improvements? In this paper, we introduce a computer vision method to measure changes in the physical appearances of neighborhoods from time-series street-level imagery. We connect changes in the physical appearance of five U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Urban Economics; Gentrification; Urban Studies; Computer Vision; Nieghborhood Effects; Urban Development; Situation or Environment; Demographics; Economics; Change

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Whole Foods Under Amazon

By: Dennis Campbell, Tatiana Sandino, James Barnett and Christine Snively

In August 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. Whole Foods was struggling with high costs and faced growing competition from traditional supermarkets offering more organic products. Prior to the acquisition, Whole Foods began rolling out a new... View Details

Keywords: Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Employee Relationship Management; Acquisition; Change Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

May 2023
Article

Self-Preferencing at Amazon: Evidence from Search Rankings

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin and Alexander MacKay

We study whether Amazon engages in self-preferencing on its marketplace by favoring its own brands (e.g., Amazon Basics) in search. To address this question, we collect new micro-level consumer search data using a custom browser extension installed by a panel of study... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding

2020
Working Paper

Engineering Serendipity: When Does Knowledge Sharing Lead to Knowledge Production?

By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Ina Ganguli, Patrick Gaule, Eva C. Guinan and Karim R. Lakhani

We investigate how knowledge similarity between two individuals is systematically related to the likelihood that a serendipitous encounter results in knowledge production. We conduct a natural field experiment at a medical research symposium, where we exogenously... View Details

Keywords: Cognitive Similarity; Knowledge Creation; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Dissemination; Relationships

SSRN

February 2010
Case

Saginaw Parts Co. and the General Motors Corp. Credit Default Swap

By: William E. Fruhan

This two-page case demonstrates how to unbundle the cost of credit extensions from product prices by observing the price of a credit default swap. It also explores how credit default swaps work, and how trade creditors are treated under U.S. bankruptcy law. Finally it... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Credit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Laws and Statutes; Risk Management; Auto Industry; United States

02 Oct 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Gradualism in Monetary-Policy: A Time Consistency Problem?

Keywords: by Jeremy C. Stein & Adi Sunderam; Banking

May 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2018

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

Many observers worried about what would happen to Apple when Steve Jobs died in 2011. But Apple had performed above everyone's expectations in Cook's six years as CEO. Apple's core business—the iPhone—continued to deliver spectacular results. In addition, Cook was... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Computer Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

2014
Article

Prosocial Spending and Happiness: Using Money to Benefit Others Pays Off

By: Elizabeth W. Dunn, Lara B. Aknin and Michael I. Norton

While a great deal of research has shown that people with more money are somewhat happier than people with less money, our research demonstrates that how people spend their money also matters for their happiness. In particular, both correlational and... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Spending; Well-being; Happiness; Money; Spending; Welfare; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax-related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy... View Details

Keywords: Junk Bonds; High-yield Bonds; Financial Innovation; Shareholder Value; Bonds; Capital; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Finance; Investment Banking; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Restructuring; United States

June 2005 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

The Law of One Price

By: Joshua D. Coval, Erik Stafford, Rodrigo Osmo, John Jernigan, Zack Page and Paulo Passoni

Demonstrates the Law of One Price in practice. Using synthetic securities, students should observe opportunities to earn profits when spreads emerge between portfolios that offer identical payoffs. Uses separate uptick financial simulation software. View Details

Keywords: Price

December 2019
Article

When Do We Punish People Who Don't?

By: Justin W. Martin, Jillian J. Jordan, David G. Rand and Fiery Cushman

People often punish norm violations. In what cases is such punishment viewed as normative—a behavior that we “should”or even“must”engage in? We approach this question by asking when people who fail to punish a norm violator are, themselves, punished. (For instance, a... View Details

Keywords: Punishment; Norms; Cooperation; Societal Protocols; Adaptation

October 2015
Article

The Relational Nature of Leadership Identity Construction: How and When It Influences Perceived Leadership and Decision-Making

By: Lisa Marchiondo, Christopher G. Myers and Shirli Kopelman

This paper empirically tests leadership identity construction theory (DeRue & Ashford, 2010), conceptually framing claiming and granting leadership as a negotiated process that influences leadership perceptions and decision-making in interdependent contexts. In Study... View Details

Keywords: Identity Construction; Leadership Development; Identity

April 2011
Article

What Can We Learn from 'Great Negotiations'?

By: James K. Sebenius

What can one legitimately learn-analytically and/or prescriptively-from detailed historical case studies of "great negotiations," chosen more for their salience than their analytic characteristics or comparability? Taking a number of such cases compiled by Stanton... View Details

Keywords: Learning; International Relations; History; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Process; Conflict and Resolution

October 2013
Article

Ferguson's Formula

By: Anita Elberse and Sir Alex Ferguson

When Alex Ferguson took over as manager of the English football team Manchester United, the club was in dire straits: It hadn't won a league title in nearly 20 years and faced a very real threat of being relegated to a lower division. In 26 seasons under Ferguson,... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business or Company Management; Management Style; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; England

December 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Broken Trust: Role of Professionals in the Enron Debacle

By: Ashish Nanda

Discusses the role of professionals in the Enron debacle. Argues that professionals failed to prevent or predict Enron's collapse because of the conflicts of interest they faced. Concludes with observations on management and regulation of conflicts of interest facing... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Trust; Management Teams; Energy Industry