Publications

Web

Online Business in Society Courses | HBS Online

Rebecca Henderson Become a purpose-driven leader by learning how to influence key stakeholders and integrate values into your work to catalyze system-level change. 3 weeks, 7-9 hrs/week Pay by August 7... View Details

Web

Sustainable Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

decisions affect markets and business on a global scale and prepare for the political, social, and economic factors driving change. 4 weeks, 6-8 hrs/week Pay by July 24 $1,850 Certificate Sustainable Investing Professors View Details

November 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Balancing Impact: Modeling the Future at British International Investment

By: Shawn Cole and Jonah Zahnd

In 2022, British International Investment (BII), the £8.1 billion development finance arm of the British government, implemented a new impact measurement system called the Impact Score to align its financial and impact objectives systematically. The tool was designed... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Alignment; United Kingdom

December 2007
Case

Envisioning "Free Banking" in Antebellum New York (A)

By: David A. Moss and Cole Bolton

Banks throughout New York State suspended specie payments (i.e., payments in gold and silver) in May 1837 following the collapse of several state banks and the onset of a nationwide financial panic. Amid the chaos, the upstart Whigs were able to depose the longstanding... View Details

Keywords: History; Government Legislation; Capital; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; New York (state, US)

December 2007 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Wall Street's First Panic (A)

By: David A. Moss and Cole Bolton

In the early 1790s, a flood of newly issued public and private securities sparked an investment boom in the nascent United States. In New York, the bustling commercial district along Wall Street emerged as the center of the city's securities trade. One of the many... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Instruments; Auctions; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry

Web

General Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1998. Regina E. Herzlinger : Winner of the 1998 James A. Hamilton Book of the Year Award presented by American College of Healthcare Executives for... View Details

Article

Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India

By: Sarthak Gaurav, Shawn A. Cole and Jeremy Tobacman

Recent financial liberalization in emerging economies has led to the rapid introduction of new financial products. Lack of experience with financial products, low levels of education, and low financial literacy may slow adoption of these products. This article reports... View Details

Keywords: Literacy; Insurance; Marketing; Decisions; Demand and Consumers; Financial Instruments; Emerging Markets; Education; Personal Finance; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Innovation and Invention; Gujarat

Article

Understanding the Advice of Commissions-Motivated Agents: Evidence from the Indian Life Insurance Market

By: Santosh Anagol, Shawn Cole and Shayak Sarkar

We conduct a series of field experiments to evaluate the quality of advice provided by life insurance agents in India. Agents overwhelmingly recommend unsuitable, strictly dominated products, which provide high commissions to the agent. Agents cater to the beliefs of... View Details

Keywords: Advice; Customers; Insurance; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Ethics; India

Web

Sustainable Investing Course | HBS Online

through video interviews from prominent business leaders About the Professors Shawn Cole Sustainable Investing John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration "Sustainable Investing is an online course... View Details

23 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 23

Course MaterialsBANEX and the ,,No Pago" Movement (A) Shawn Cole and Baily Blair KempnerHarvard Business School Case 211-092 This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: Dec. 11

Back, Moving Forward: A Review of Group and Team-Based Research, edited by Margaret A. Neale and Elizabeth A. Mannix, 359-381. Emerald Group Publishing, 2012 Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2019
News

What’s Behind the Explosive Growth of Sustainable Investing?

mainstream. In spite of a host of complicating factors, from a basic lack of defined terms to the difficulty of measuring returns, demand is only going up. In response, HBS finance professor Shawn Cole and... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

May 2022
Article

Can Gambling Increase Savings? Empirical Evidence on Prize-Linked Savings Accounts

By: Shawn A. Cole, Benjamin Iverson and Peter Tufano

This paper studies the adoption and impact of prize-linked savings (PLS) accounts, which offer lottery-like payouts to individual account holders in lieu of interest. Using microlevel data from a bank in South Africa, we show that PLS is attractive to a broad group of... View Details

Keywords: Household Finance; Banking; Savings; Prize-linked Savings; Lottery; Household; Personal Finance; Saving; Banks and Banking

30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

2017 Annual Review of Economics Agricultural Insurance and Economic Development By: Cole, Shawn A., and Wentao Xiong Abstract—This article provides a review of recent research on agricultural insurance (AI) in developing countries.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

Birchbox Defends Against Copycat Competitors Peter A. Coles and Benjamin EdelmanHarvard Business School Case 912-010 Birchbox offers trial-sized beauty products delivered monthly View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 13

PublicationsHigher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create Economic and Social Value Authors:Michael Beer, Russel A. Eisenstat, Nathaniel Foote, Tobias Fredberg, and Flemming Norrgren Publication:Harvard Business Press, 2011 Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Article

Changing Gambling Behavior through Experiential Learning

By: Shawn A. Cole, Martin Abel and Bilal Zia

This paper tests experiential learning as a debiasing tool to reduce gambling in South Africa, through a randomized field experiment. The study implements a simple, interactive game that simulates the odds of winning the national lottery through dice rolling.... View Details

Keywords: Debiasing; Experiential Learning; Behavioral Economics; Financial Education; Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Behavior; Decision Making