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September 2018
Article

Aggregation of Consumer Ratings: An Application to Yelp.com

By: Weijia Dai, Ginger Jin, Jungmin Lee and Michael Luca

Because consumer reviews leverage the wisdom of the crowd, the way in which they are aggregated is a central decision faced by platforms. We explore this "rating aggregation problem" and offer a structural approach to solving it, allowing for (1) reviewers to vary in... View Details

Keywords: User Generated Content; Crowdsourcing; Yelp; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information; Internet and the Web; Learning; Mathematical Methods; E-commerce

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Article

Survive Another Day: Using Changes in the Composition of Investments to Measure the Cost of Credit Constraints

By: Luis Garicano and Claudia Steinwender

We introduce a novel empirical strategy to measure the size of credit shocks. Theoretically, we show that credit shocks reduce the value of long-term relative to short-term investments. Empirically, we can therefore compare the reduction of long-term relative to... View Details

Keywords: Credit Constraints; Credit Crunch; Spain; Investment Behavior; Credit Squeeze; Financial Crisis; Economic Growth; Investment; Credit; Manufacturing Industry; Spain; European Union

2020
Working Paper

Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship

By: William R. Kerr and Martin Mandorff

We study the relationship between ethnicity, occupational choice, and entrepreneurship. Immigrant groups in the United States cluster in specific business sectors. For example, Koreans are 34 times more concentrated in self-employment for dry cleaning than other... View Details

Keywords: Self-employed; Occupation; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Industry Clusters; Ethnicity; Immigration; Networks; United States

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March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Botswana: A Diamond in the Rough

By: Laura Alfaro, Debora L. Spar, Faheen Allibhoy and Vinati Dev

In the years since independence, tiny, landlocked Botswana has gone from being one of the world's poorest nations to becoming a stable, prosperous state, blessed with the highest sustained growth rate in the world. This case highlights the role that foreign direct... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Economic Growth; Natural Environment; Developing Countries and Economies; Botswana

May 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Dell--New Horizons

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Founded in 1984, Dell Corp. has achieved phenomenal growth, and by 2000 had topped $25 billion in sales and over $2 billion in net income. In the 4th quarter of 2000, however, the PC industry's average 30-year growth rate crashed to a negative 10%. Dell must make... View Details

Keywords: History; Decisions; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Framework; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; United States

February 2000 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Ericsson in China: Mobile Leadership

Focuses on Ericsson in the Chinese mobile phone market--the company's largest single market, and one that is still growing at rates in excess of 50%. Permits comparison of two distinct ways of entering the Chinese market: by forming joint ventures with local... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Advantage; Mobile Technology; Telecommunications Industry; China

Article

Clogs to Clogs in Three Generations? Explaining Entrepreneurial Performance in Britain Since 1850

By: Tom Nicholas

Research into culture and entrepreneurship in Britain has been dominated by casual empiricism. This article shows the benefits of using a new method. Lifetime wealth accumulation is specified as a measure of entrepreneurial performance, and applied to data collected... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Performance Evaluation; Biography; Culture; Education; Wealth; Research; Great Britain

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December 1993 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Montana Land Reliance

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Thomas Patterson

The Montana Land Reliance is a small not-for-profit organization in the business of creating conservation easements on private lands in Montana. The easements preserve the scenic character and recreational value of the lands by precluding subdivision and other forms of... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Motivation and Incentives; Business or Company Management; Natural Environment; Nonprofit Organizations; Property; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Montana

August 1985 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Paul Volcker and the Federal Reserve: 1979-1982

Describes three years of the Volcker monetary policy experiment. The Federal Reserve changed the focus by its operating procedure from an interest rate instrument to a reserve instrument and it reaffirmed its commitment to hitting its preannounced monetary growth... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Financial Institutions; United States

18 Mar 2014
News

Success Outside the Dress Code

21 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

If Technology Has Arrived Everywhere, Why Has Income Diverged?

Keywords: by Diego A. Comin & Martí Mestieri Ferrer

Digital Dark Matter and the Economics of Apache

Researchers have long hypothesized that research outputs from government, university, and private company R&D contribute to economic growth, but these contributions may be difficult to measure when they take a non-pecuniary form. The growth of networking... View Details

December 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Reverend Jeffrey Brown: Cops, Kids and Ministers

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Alexis Lefort

Introduces Reverend Jeffrey Brown, one of the cofounders of the Ten Point Coalition in Boston, Mass. The Ten Point Coalition, a group of ministers that worked to change the dynamics between the Boston Police Department and the kids on the street, was instrumental in... View Details

Keywords: Change; Civil Society or Community; Alliances; Interpersonal Communication; Power and Influence; Law Enforcement; City; Boston

27 Apr 2015
News

Science Shows Humblebragging Doesn’t Even Work

26 Oct 2018
News

Research Shows Immigrants Help Businesses Grow. Here’s Why.

07 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

When Glasses Land the Gig: Employers Still Choose Workers Who 'Look the Part'

stage of the decision-making process to pick between freelancers with comparable ratings, the study notes. Some lessons for platforms and job seekers For online platforms, refining their ratings to provide a clearer picture of the merits... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

29 Apr 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Great Leap Forward: The Political Economy of Education in Brazil, 1889-1930

Keywords: by André Martínez-Fritscher, Aldo Musacchio & Martina Viarengo; Education

08 Jun 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Physician Beliefs and Patient Preferences: A New Look at Regional Variation in Health Care Spending

Keywords: by David Cutler, Jonathan Skinner, Ariel Dora Stern & David Wennberg; Health

June 2024
Case

Building Innovation at VINCI

By: Dennis Campbell, Aluna Wang and Carlota Moniz

This case study explores how the VINCI Group, a French multinational operating in concessions, energy, and construction, bolstered awareness and adoption rates of new technologies within the organization. Through its separate innovation hub, Leonard, VINCI aimed to... View Details