Publications

13 Jan 2011
News

Early ecocities

November 2022
Article

Impacts of Micromobility on Car Displacement with Evidence from a Natural Experiment and Geofencing Policy

By: Omar Isaac Asensio, Camila Apablaza, M. Cade Lawson, Edward W Chen and Savannah J Horner

Micromobility, such as electric scooters and electric bikes—an estimated US$300 billion global market by 2030—will accelerate electrification efforts and fundamentally change urban mobility patterns. However, the impacts of micromobility adoption on traffic congestion... View Details

Keywords: City; Policy; Transportation; Sustainable Cities

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23 Apr 2024
In Practice

Getting to Net Zero: The Climate Standards and Ecosystem the World Needs Now

With each month clocking record-breaking temperatures across the planet, this Earth Day reflected the renewed urgency of regulators and businesses to find climate-change solutions. The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently adopted new rules that will mandate... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

20 Apr 2011
News

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

2015
Chapter

Agglomeration and Innovation

By: Gerald Carlino and William R. Kerr

This chapter reviews academic research on the connections between agglomeration and innovation. We first describe the conceptual distinctions between invention and innovation. We then describe how these factors are frequently measured in the data and some resulting... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; City; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

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March 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics

By: Anita Elberse, Catherine Anthony and Joshua Callahan

It is February 2007, exactly three years before Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. Judy Rogers, City Manager for the City of Vancouver and a member of the Board of Directors for Vancouver's Organizing Committee (VANOC), is keen to ensure the Games will have a... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Social Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Sports; Public Administration Industry; Sports Industry; Vancouver

22 Feb 2022
Cold Call Podcast

How to Scale a Startup Marketplace for Used Furniture

Keywords: Re: Ayelet Israeli; Consumer Products

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2011
Case

Masdar and Tianjin: Eco-Cities

By: John D. Macomber

Compares Masdar City and Tianjin Eco-City, two high profile "sustainable cities." Each showcases technological and financial innovation. Is it real? Is it replicable and defensible? The case is intended to introduce main concepts and tradeoffs with respect to rapid... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Model; Development Economics; Urban Development; Cash Flow; Project Finance; Competitive Advantage; Environmental Sustainability; City; Infrastructure

March 2022
Supplement

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (B)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in January 2022 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are looking over the performance of the newly launched “buy now, play later” feature. The traction looks... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

November 2023
Case

Nourishing Communities: Brighter Bites Approach to Childhood Nutrition

By: David E. Bell, Forest Reinhardt and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In September 2023, Brighter Bites, a Houston-based non-profit that distributed fresh produce and nutrition education in underserved communities across 11 cities and 5 states, grappled with identifying the best path forward for continued growth. Brighter Bites proved... View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Poverty; Houston

October 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Urbanizing China

By: Lakshmi Iyer and G.A. Donovan

In 2012, China attained a historic development milestone with more Chinese citizens living in cities than in the countryside. China's rapid urbanization, and the accompanying conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, raised a number of economic, social,... View Details

Keywords: China; Urbanization; Industrialization; Property Rights; Local Government Finance; Social Protest; Business Environment; Food Security; Safety; Change Management; Food; Urban Development; Social Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Public Administration Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

21 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China

Keywords: by Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, and Chaopeng Wu

November 2018
Case

Goldman Sachs: The 10,000 Small Businesses Program

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Aldo Sesia

In 2008, Goldman Sachs started the 10,000 Small Businesses program to help small businesses in the United States by providing education and a network of support—at no cost —and access to capital. It required the firm to create a new business ecosystem with a wide... View Details

Keywords: Ecosystem; Public/private Partnership; Small Business; Programs; Education; Partners and Partnerships; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

September 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Dream: Impact Through Real Estate

By: Michael Chu and John Masko

The Canadian city of Toronto had one of the largest housing affordability problems of any city in the developed world. One company trying to address this problem was Dream, one of the largest real estate groups in Canada. In 2021, Dream had just launched a new system... View Details

2023
Working Paper

Networking Frictions: Evidence from Entrepreneurial Networking Events in Lomé

By: Stefan Dimitiadis and Rembrand Koning

Spatial proximity between firms plays a crucial role in entrepreneurship by creating knowledge spillovers, enabling resource sharing, and sparking productivity gains. Building on these insights, research has explored whether institutions and organizations can engineer... View Details

Keywords: Local Range; Knowledge Sharing; Performance Productivity; Togo

SSRN

May 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Water Shortage and Property Investing in Mexico City

By: John D. Macomber, Regina Garcia-Cuellar and Griffin James

A commercial property company evaluates water risks including the government's ability to remedy, the company's operating exposure and mitigation, and whether to relocate because of water risk. A real estate fund manager assesses investment prospects in Mexico City in... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Privatization; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Utilities Industry; Mexico City