Publications

November 2023
Case

Apple Inc. in 2023

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple became the first trillion dollar market cap company, the first two trillion dollar company, and the first three trillion dollar company. Since the COVID pandemic, Apple gained over 20% of the world smartphone market and 50% of the U.S. market,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Technology Industry

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

dishonesty as morally acceptable and thus feel less guilty about benefiting from cheating. We discuss the implications of these results for collaborations in the social realm. License to Cheat: Voluntary Regulation and Ethical Behavior... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

who need them most, but unrestricted transfers might threaten the Internet's routing system. I suggest policies to create an IP address "market" while avoiding major negative externalities—mitigating the worst effects of v4 scarcity, while obtaining View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Bargain Hunters Beware: A Store's 'Original Price' Might Not Be After All

by fake original prices, and regulators should consider cracking down on the practice more aggressively. “There is an attitude among a few policymakers that consumers are savvy enough anyway, and that, relative to other forms of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising; Retail

Article

Economic Principles for Medicare Reform

By: Amitabh Chandra and Craig Garthwaite

In this article, we develop an economic framework for Medicare reform that highlights trade-offs that reform proposals should grapple with but often ignore. Central to our argument is a tension in administratively set prices, which may improve short-term efficiency but... View Details

Keywords: Medicare; Value-based Care; Health Care Reform; Markets In Health Care; Health Care and Treatment; Value; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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September 1991 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (A)

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Burroughs Wellcome Co., developer of AZT, the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), finds itself under siege in September 1989 by AIDS activists and various segments of the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Ethics; Business and Government Relations; Communication Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Monopoly; Intellectual Property; Research and Development; Price; Pharmaceutical Industry; London

09 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 9

emissions cap-and-trade regulation on a firm's technology choice and capacity decisions. We show that emissions price uncertainty under cap-and-trade results in greater expected profit than a constant... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Apr 2014
HBS Case

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?

tobacco competitors, will probably start climbing in price and eventually become equal to tobacco brands. That could create an even bigger windfall for tobacco producers. Even if electronic cigs are View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Advertising

July 2021
Article

Redistribution through Markets

By: Piotr Dworczak, Scott Duke Kominers and Mohammad Akbarpour

Policymakers frequently use price regulations as a response to inequality in the markets they control. In this paper, we examine the optimal structure of such policies from the perspective of mechanism design. We study a buyer-seller market in which agents have private... View Details

Keywords: Optimal Mechanism Design; Redistribution; Inequality; Welfare Theorems; Market Design; Equality and Inequality

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2019
Chapter

Behavioral Economics and Health-Care Markets

By: Amitabh Chandra, Benjamin Handel and Joshua Schwartzstein

This chapter summarizes research in behavioral health economics, focusing on insurance markets and product markets in health care. We argue that the prevalence of choice difficulties and biases leading to mistakes in these markets establish a special place for them in... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Consumer Behavior; Economics; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Markets

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August 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Accounting for Political Risk at AES

By: Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Suraj Srinivasan

As a global energy generating company, AES frequently faces challenges from political changes and instability. This is exacerbated by the fact that in many instances AES' primary customer is the government, which is also in charge of law-making. For example, AES'... View Details

Keywords: Political Risk; Asset Impairment; Risk Factors; Fair Value; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Energy Industry; Bulgaria; Dominican Republic; United States; Venezuela

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Should You Sell Your Digital Privacy?

It's a startling idea: Instead of relying on regulators to protect our privacy against telemarketers, data miners, and consumer companies, we should capitalize on the value of our personal information and get something of value in return.... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls & Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

June 2009 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Colbún—Powering Chile

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Gustavo A. Herrero and Sanjay Patnaik

This case is about Colbún, Chile's second largest electricity generator, which is facing significant uncertainty regarding the cost and availability of alternative energy sources. Problems with the contracted supply of natural gas and the volatility of oil prices,... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Climate Change; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Chile

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

transfer them to new owners. "It's unlikely that other networks would return their space for free—why would they?" says Edelman. "But if the price is right, they may be willing to transfer the space to someone who needs it... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

Research Summary

Dissertation: "Essays in International Non-market Strategy and the Political Economy of Environmental Regulation"

My dissertation is part of a research agenda intended to advance our understanding of the interaction between companies and non-market actors (e.g. regulators) in an international context. The empirical setting of my analysis is the European Union Emissions Trading... View Details

25 Nov 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Standard-Essential Patents

Keywords: by Josh Lerner & Jean Tirole; Legal Services

September 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Apple Pay and Mobile Payments in Australia (A)

By: Feng Zhu, Susan Athey and David Lane

In summer 2016, four of Australia’s top five banks petitioned regulators for permission to bargain collectively with Apple over the terms under which they would support its digital wallet, Apple Pay. They argued that doing so would force concessions from Apple that... View Details

Keywords: Payment Methods; Mobile Payment; Apple; Banks and Banking; Cooperation; Problems and Challenges; Policy; Digital Platforms; Banking Industry; Australia

March 1986 (Revised December 1986)
Case

British Telecommunications, PLC

Presents a description of international equity markets, including comparisons of the U.S., Japanese, and British markets and recent trends toward deregulation of these markets. The decision focus of the case is on the initial public offerings of British... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Canada; London; Tokyo