Publications

December 1995
Case

Assessing Foreign Business Practices

By: Debora L. Spar

As businesses expand worldwide, corporations are increasingly being forced to grapple with definitions of "acceptable" foreign conduct. What differentiates a "bribe" from a "commission"? Should managers abroad refer to local custom or their own national laws in... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

individuals. In response to the recent scandals, politicians and government officials have stepped in to pass new laws and create new regulations, while prominent persons on Wall Street and elsewhere in the View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

Video

2012 Business Plan Contest Business Venture Track Winner: Vaxess Technologies

17 Apr 2020
News

Small Business Support in a Time of Covid-19

Keywords: Small business; government policy; management; innovation

10 Jan 2018
News

Time to end the debate and face facts: Minimum wage laws hurt the poor

April 2017
Teaching Note

Golden Rule

By: Andrew Wasynczuk

Jim Golden wants to radically change how catastrophic trucking accident lawsuit claims are handled by his trucking company. He wants to “do the right thing” for both the claimant and his company. Golden is a former litigator with 16 years of experience defending... View Details

Keywords: Business Ethics; Business Law; Law; Executives; Management Education; Management; Negotiator's Dilemma; Negotiations; Value; Moral Compass; Moral Leadership; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Corporate Accountability; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Value Creation

2018
Chapter

Between Economic Planning and Market Competition: International Law and Economics in the U.S.

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

The impact of institutional economics in shaping the American regulatory tradition has largely been dismissed as an incoherent attack on the neoclassical economic paradigm. This essay briefly reconstructs the interwar institutionalist movement, exploring the... View Details

Keywords: Economics; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; United States

February 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Bangkok, Thailand

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Billy Chan

Known as the “land of smiles” and the “Detroit of the East,” Thailand, with its geographical location at the heart of Asia, has attracted visitors and businesses from all over the world. This case serves as a guide that provides an overview of the history, political... View Details

Keywords: History; Government and Politics; Geographic Location; Economy; Thailand

fall 1996
Article

A Comparison of Four Countries' Estate Laws and Their Influence on Family Companies

By: J. A. Davis, J. Swartz, E. B. Blakely and C. Chang

Keywords: Law; Family Business

September 2001
Background Note

Note on Application of the Antitrust Laws to the New Economy: An Analysis of United States v. Microsoft Corporation

Analyzes the 1991 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the seminal New Economy antitrust case United States vs. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3rd 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), which arose out of Microsoft's efforts to promote Internet Explorer... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Software; Intellectual Property; Monopoly; Laws and Statutes; Information Technology Industry; District of Columbia

2017
Working Paper

Patent Trolls and Small Business Employment

By: Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa and Elena Simintzi

We analyze how frivolous patent-infringement claims made by “patent trolls” affect small firms’ ability to create jobs, raise capital, and survive. Our identification strategy exploits the staggered passage of anti-patent-troll laws at the state level. We find that the... View Details

Keywords: Patent Trolls; Patents; Small Business; Employment; Venture Capital

SSRN

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Article

Laws versus Contracts: Legal Origins, Shareholder Protections, and Ownership Concentration in Brazil, 1890–1950

By: Aldo Musacchio

This article examines some of the institutional conditions that facilitated the development of equity markets in Brazil. A critical factor was the addition of protections for investors to corporate bylaws, which enabled relatively large corporations in Brazil to... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Equity; Financial Markets; Investment; Governance Controls; Business History; Ownership Stake; Brazil

Read Now

March 2003
Article

When the Law Does Not Matter: The Rise and Decline of the Mexican Oil Industry

By: Stephen Haber, Noel Maurer and Armando Razo

Keywords: Law; Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Energy Industry

11 Oct 2013
HBS Seminar

Sen Chai, Post-Doc Labor & Worklife Program at the Harvard Law School, and NBER

January 1988 (Revised January 1989)
Background Note

The Tax Aspects of Acquiring a Business

Describes the various tax laws that impact the purchase and sale of a business. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Taxation; Laws and Statutes; Accounting Industry

08 Oct 2024
Video

Can businesses make money by being good citizens?

24 Mar 2023
HBS Seminar

Geoffrey Jones, Harvard Business School

Web

Business Economics - Doctoral

School, Business Economics and Public Policy Department, Assistant Professor (2024) Advisors: Ariel Pakes (Chair) , Emily Breza , Edward Glaeser , Myrto Kalouptsidi , and Gautam Rao Talia B. Gillis, 2022 Columbia View Details

August 2017
Supplement

Golden Rule Video Supplement

By: Andrew Wasynczuk

Keywords: Ethics; Business Ethics; Business Law; Corporate Accountability; Law; Executives; Management Education; Management; Negotiation; Negotiator's Dilemma; Negotiations; Value Creation; Value; Moral Compass; Moral Leadership