Publications

18 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 18

PublicationsSidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed and How We Can Stick to the Plan Authors:Francesca Gino Publication:Harvard Business Review Press, forthcoming Abstract You may not realize it but simple, irrelevant factors can have profound consequences on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

China Gambles on Modernizing Through Urbanization

By: Kristen Looney and Meg Rithmire

Contemporary discussions of urbanization and urban construction in China tend to focus on “ghost towns” on the one hand or urbanization as China’s silver bullet to growth and reform on the other. In this paper, we detail what China calls its “New Urbanization Policy.”... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Development Economics; Problems and Challenges; China

June 2014
Teaching Note

Via Verde

By: Arthur I Segel

Developers Jonathan Rose and Adam Weinstein were trying to determine which of three proposals to submit to the city of New York in response to a RFP to create an affordable housing project in the South Bronx. The site, referred to as Via Verde, was a 1.5-acre... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Housing; Property; Real Estate Industry; United States

19 Mar 2020
News

Two out of three people are not prepared for the next economic recession, according to a study. Here's how you can get financially ready while quarantined.

01 Nov 2019
HBS Seminar

Meijun Liu, Shuo Li Liu, The University of Hong Kong, Division of information and technology & Stanford University School of Engineering

27 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 27, 2007

Working PapersPublic Action for Public Goods Authors:Abhijit Banerjee, Lakshmi Iyer, and Rohini Somanathan Abstract This paper focuses on the relationship between public action and access to public goods. It begins by developing a simple model of collective action... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2022
Article

Entry Points: Gaining Momentum in Early-Stage Cross-Boundary Collaborations

By: Eva Flavia Martínez Orbegozo, Jorrit de Jong, Hannah Riley Bowles, Amy Edmondson, Anahide Nahhal and Lisa Cox

To address complex social challenges, it is widely recognized that leaders from public, for-profit, and civic organizations should join forces. Yet, well-intended collaborators often struggle to achieve alignment and fail to gain traction in their joint efforts. This... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks; Goals and Objectives

February 2023
Teaching Note

Bangladesh: Into the Maelstrom

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Sophus A. Reinert and Jaya Y. Wen

In the fall of 2018, Rohima Begum considered her options as the small island, or “char,” on which her family’s house rested slowly but inescapably eroded into the mighty Brahmaputra River in northern Bangladesh. Should she move to another island or into the city on the... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Geographic Location; Bangladesh

11 Jun 2024
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2024

As the vacation season looms, Harvard Business School faculty members share recommendations for a little light reading. Spoiler alert: Lessons in Chemistry tops two of their beach-read lists. For those whose brains can’t—or won’t—turn off, HBS faculty also suggest some... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

2016
Working Paper

Infrastructure, Incentives and Institutions

By: Nava Ashraf, Edward L. Glaeser and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Cities generate negative, as well as positive, externalities; addressing those externalities requires both infrastructure and institutions. Providing clean water and removing refuse requires water and sewer pipes, but the urban poor are often unwilling to pay for the... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Urban Development; Organizations; City; Infrastructure; Zambia

July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Propel

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

In 2014, Jimmy Chen, a former product manager at Facebook, founded the start-up Propel to build software for low-income Americans. After conducting in-depth behavioral research, Chen and his small team in New York City began to develop technology to address the... View Details

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

January 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Timberland and Community Involvement (Abridged Version)

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he made community involvement an integral part of the company's strategy. Under Swartz's leadership, Timberland formed a close partnership with City Year, the national corps of... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

February 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Re-THINK-ing THINK: The Electric Car Company

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

On January 5, 2010, 48-year-old Richard Canny was on his way to meet the governor of Indiana. He was reading his newly issued press release announcing that THINK planned to start automobile production in Elkhart County, Indiana to launch its THINK City battery-operated... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product Development; Production; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Norway; Indiana

October 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Masdar City: Aiming for Sustainable and Profitable Real Estate

By: Boris Vallee and Fares Khrais

Masdar City broke ground in 2008 and was conceived by the Abu Dhabi government to be an international beacon of innovation in sustainable energy and real estate. It was also to be a profitable investment for the government. At first glance, the two goals pulled in... View Details

April 2019
Case

American Ballet Theatre

By: Anita Elberse, Tsubasa Nakajima and Melissa Rodman

Kara Medoff Barnett, executive director of American Ballet Theatre (ABT), widely regarded as one of the world’s premier ballet companies, faces several challenges. It is June 2018. Despite its prestige, the company’s $45 million annual budget and $22 million endowment... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts; Superstars; Talent; Talent Development; Non-profit; Contracts; Labor Economics; General Management; Arts; Entertainment; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Marketing; Strategy

January 2020
Article

Gifts of the Immigrants, Woes of the Natives: Lessons from the Age of Mass Migration

By: Marco Tabellini

In this paper, I jointly investigate the political and the economic effects of immigration and study the causes of anti-immigrant sentiments. I exploit exogenous variation in European immigration to U.S. cities between 1910 and 1930 induced by World War I and the... View Details

Keywords: Political Backlash; Age Of Mass Migration; Cultural Diversity; Immigration; History; Economy; Attitudes; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Diversity