Publications

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Article

Beyond the Reach of the Invisible Hand: Impediments to Economic Activity, Market Failures, and Profitability

By: Dennis Yao

In this paper it is argued that failures of the competitive market are necessary conditions for supranormal profitability. Three fundamental causes of these market failures-production economies and sunk costs, transactions costs, and imperfect information-are developed... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Markets; Failure; Profit; Cost; Information; Market Transactions; Competition; Strategy; Production

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2023
Working Paper

Causal Interpretation of Structural IV Estimands

By: Isaiah Andrews, Nano Barahona, Matthew Gentzkow, Ashesh Rambachan and Jesse M. Shapiro

We study the causal interpretation of instrumental variables (IV) estimands of nonlinear, multivariate structural models with respect to rich forms of model misspecification. We focus on guaranteeing that the researcher's estimator is sharp zero consistent, meaning... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods

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January 2020
Article

How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions?

By: Paul A. Gompers, William Gornall, Steven N. Kaplan and Ilya A. Strebulaev

We survey 885 institutional venture capitalists (VCs) at 681 firms to learn how they make decisions across eight areas: deal sourcing, investment selection, valuation, deal structure, post-investment value-added, exits, internal firm organization, and relationships... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Value Creation; Capital Structure; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making

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Article

Learning Through Noticing: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Rema Hanna, Sendhil Mullainathan and Joshua Schwartzstein

We consider a model of technological learning under which people "learn through noticing": they choose which input dimensions to attend to and subsequently learn about from available data. Using this model, we show how people with a great deal of experience may... View Details

Keywords: Perception; Behavior; Learning

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!

By: Willy Shih

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Standards; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Information Technology

29 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 29

Allocation Theory By: Bower, Joseph L. Abstract—This article considers the process of resource allocation, whereby an organization determines how best to apportion its factors of production between the various View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 May 2021
Blog Post

Taking Measure on Memorial Day

you could do more.” With Jamie in mind, I’ve learned that successes and failures are not measures of a life well-lived. Instead, I’ve learned that a legacy is defined by the ways in which we share our gifts with the world. Graduation Day... View Details

December 2018
Supplement

The Global-Local Tension: Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao Leading with 'International Values and Local Roots' (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Vittorio Colao, CEO of telecommunication giant Vodafone, must respond to reports of disturbing accounting practices at two of Vodafone’s operating companies. In one case, €60 million have been misreported due to a series of failures to check manual accounting... View Details

Keywords: GLOBAL-LOCAL; Global Identity; Local Identity; Accounting Discrepency; Globalization; Leadership; Trust; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizations; Identity; Local Range; Global Range; Values and Beliefs; Accounting Audits

2016
Chapter

Ignore, Avoid, Abandon, and Embrace: What Drives Firm Responses to Environmental Regulation?

By: David F. Drake and Robin L. Just

A regulator's ability to incentivize environmental improvement among firms is vital in achieving long-term sustainability. However, firms can and do respond to environmental regulation in a variety of ways: complying with its intent; avoiding the regulation by... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Environmental Operations; Regulation; Cost vs Benefits; For-Profit Firms; Operations; Environmental Sustainability

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We consider a model of technological learning under which people "learn through noticing": they choose which input dimensions to attend to and subsequently learn about from available data. Using this model, we show how people with a great deal of experience may... View Details

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

By 1910, however, with the new name Madam C.J. Walker, Breedlove had accrued a sizable fortune and considerable influence. This daughter of adversity was now well known and respected among the nation's African Americans as a savvy entrepreneur with a thriving business... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

December 2018
Case

The Global-Local Tension: Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao Leading with 'International Values and Local Roots' (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Vittorio Colao, CEO of telecommunication giant Vodafone, must respond to reports of disturbing accounting practices at two of Vodafone’s operating companies. In one case, €60 million have been misreported due to a series of failures to check manual accounting... View Details

Keywords: GLOBAL-LOCAL; Organization Culture; Global Identity; Local Identity; Accounting Discrepency; Globalization; Leadership; Trust; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizations; Identity; Local Range; Global Range; Values and Beliefs; Accounting Audits

August 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals: Decision Making in Clinical Trial Design and Operations

By: Satish Tadikonda and Amanda McEwen

The success or failure of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Dicerna) as an emerging pharmaceutical company would likely hinge on its lead drug candidate Nedosiran and the company’s ability to see it successfully through clinical development. Ralf Rosskamp, Chief Medical... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Health Testing and Trials; Product Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry

14 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

From Russia with Love: The Impact of Relocated Firms on Incumbent Survival

Keywords: by Oliver Falck, Christina Guenther, Stephan Heblich & William R. Kerr; Manufacturing

11 Oct 2013
HBS Seminar

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

March 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Shanghai: GDP Apostasy

By: George Serafeim

Balancing economic growth alongside environmental sustainability and social inclusion was becoming increasingly important in China. The case describes Shanghai's decision to abandon growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as its primary metric of measuring success.... View Details

Keywords: China; Gdp; Measurement; Measurement Problems; Accountability; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Strategy Execution; Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Strategy Map; Macroeconomics; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Accountability; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Corporate Governance; Shanghai

Research Summary

Dissertation - Social Structure and Mechanisms of Collective Production:Evidence from Wikipedia

Andreea's dissertation research examines social networks in the setting of collective production, defined as collective action oriented towards production of collective goods - goods available for consumption by all members of a group whenever they... View Details

July 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Birla Carbon Egypt: Building Soft Power in a Foreign Country

By: Jeremy Friedman and Malini Sen

Birla Carbon, a flagship business of the nearly $60-billion global conglomerate and India-headquartered Aditya Birla Group (ABG), is one of the world's top manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon black. The largest among its 16 manufacturing plants is Birla... View Details