Publications

May 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

State of Charge: The Massachusetts Energy Storage Initiative

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2017, Judith Judson (Harvard Business School MBA, 2000), Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), was reflecting on the results of the initiative she had led to identify the contribution advanced electricity storage could make... View Details

Keywords: Energy Storage; Energy Generation; Programs; Policy; Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Massachusetts

16 Jul 2008
Op-Ed

What Should Employers Do about Health Care?

and value. But health care has been treated as a commodity and cost reduction has been the dominant approach. Employers have gone to their vendors, health plans, or third-party administrators in the case of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Elizabeth O. Teisberg & Scott Wallace; Health

2022
Working Paper

Banking on Transparency for the Poor: Experimental Evidence from India

By: Erica M. Field, Natalia Rigol, Charity M. Troyer Moore, Rohini Pande and Simone G. Schaner

Do information frictions limit the benefits of financial inclusion drives for the rural poor? We evaluate an experimental intervention among recently banked poor Indian women receiving government cash transfers via direct deposit. Treated women were provided automated... View Details

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2011
Other Unpublished Work

The Performance Effects of Regulatory Oversight

This paper explores the heterogeneity in firm performance that can arise from exogenously varying levels of oversight in regulated industries. We use data on the performance of U.S. commercial banks to show that banks located physically closer to their supervisors'... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Corporate Governance

09 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

A Playbook for Small-Business Job Creation

As Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Karen Mills spent four years as part of President Barack Obama's senior economic team and a member of his Cabinet, specifically focused on the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Banking; Financial Services

November 2006 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Note on U.S. Public Education Finance (B): Expenditures

Describes the cost structure and spending policies of U.S. public school districts. View Details

Keywords: Spending; Education; Public Administration Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

2021
Working Paper

Closing Costs, Refinancing, and Inefficiencies in the Mortgage Market

By: David Hao Zhang

In the US, borrowers often finance the price of mortgage origination by agreeing to higher mortgage rates for a given principal amount. I show that for standard fixed-rate, prepayable mortgages this contractual feature has two consequences. First, it leads to increased... View Details

Keywords: Mortgage Market; Refinancing; Mortgages; Consumer Behavior

03 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator

to discover these constraints—and to help other parties overcome them—rather than dismissing others as irrational. Mistake 3: They Are Not Irrational; They Have Hidden Interests Some years ago, a group of managers decided to promote Leslie, one of the firm's View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra & Max H. Bazerman

2023
Working Paper

Spatial Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and Crime

By: Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Daniel Ramos-Menchelli, Jorge Tamayo and Audrey Tiew

Neighborhoods are strong determinants of both economic opportunity and criminal activity. Does improving connectedness between segregated and unequal parts of a city predominantly import opportunity or export crime? We use a spatial general equilibrium framework to... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Transportation Networks; Crime and Corruption; Transportation Industry; Medellín; Colombia; South America

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16 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Can Decades of Military Overspending be Fixed?

Fox, the Tiampo Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, analyzes efforts since the Kennedy administration to reform defense spending on aircraft, ships, submarines, tanks, missiles, satellites and other major weapons systems. The... View Details

Keywords: by J. Ronald Fox; Service

February 1997
Case

Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) (Abridged)

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

A new administration takes power in a state in India and cancels a power project agreed upon by the previous state government and a U.S.-based energy company. The project cancellation is based on allegations of irregularities, exorbitant costs, and political pressures. View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Fairness; Cost; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Policy; Government and Politics; Contracts; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation Process; Conflict Management; Energy Industry

Article

Avoiding Overhead Aversion in Charity

By: Uri Gneezy, Elizabeth A. Keenan and Ayelet Gneezy

Donors tend to avoid charities that dedicate a high percentage of expenses to administrative and fundraising costs, limiting the ability of nonprofits to be effective. We propose a solution to this problem: Use donations from major philanthropists to cover overhead... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

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February 2023
Article

A Different Framework to Achieve Universal Coverage in the U.S.

By: Katherine Baicker, Amitabh Chandra and Mark Shepard

This JAMA Forum discusses alternative ways to achieve universal coverage in the US such as administrative simplification in the Affordable Care Act plans to increase enrollment, having a basic policy that would be available to everyone, and options for supplemental... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Government Legislation; Insurance; Cost; United States

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March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Micro Insurance Agency: Helping the Poor Manage Risk

By: Michael Chu and Jean Hazell

The notable success of insurance products for low-income clients of its microfinance network leads Opportunity International to launch the first global specialized microinsurance company, the Micro Insurance Agency (MIA). Building on the experience in 10 countries... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Cost Management; Microfinance; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America

06 Oct 2016
HBS Seminar

John Van Reenen, MIT Sloan School of Management

June 2010 (Revised September 2010)
Case

athenahealth: Innovating in Response to a Crisis in Healthcare

When Jonathan Bush and his partner, Todd Park, realized that their revolutionary approach to delivering clinical care was being stymied by the inefficiencies in the healthcare system and insurance red tape, they turned their proprietary technology, athenaNet, to a new... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Health Industry; United States