Publications

2011
Working Paper

The Cost of Capital for Alternative Investments

By: Jakub W. Jurek and Erik Stafford

This paper studies the cost of capital for alternative investments. We document that the risk profile of the aggregate hedge fund universe can be accurately matched by a simple index put option writing strategy that offers monthly liquidity and complete transparency... View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Investment Return; Mathematical Methods; Risk and Uncertainty

March 2010
Article

The Role of Independent Invention in U.S. Technological Development, 1880-1930

By: Tom Nicholas

Why did independent inventors account for over half of US patents by 1930 and more than three times the number granted to R&D firms? Using new data on patents and historical patent citations, I show that independents supplied high quality innovations to a... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Urban Scope; Independent Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; United States

February 2010
Article

Input Constraints and the Efficiency of Entry: Lessons from Cardiac Surgery

By: David M. Cutler, Robert S. Huckman and Jonathan T. Kolstad

Prior studies suggest that, with elastically supplied inputs, free entry may lead to an inefficiently high number of firms in equilibrium. Under input scarcity, however, the welfare loss from free entry is reduced. Further, free entry may increase use of high-quality... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Market Entry and Exit; Welfare; Health Industry; Pennsylvania

02 Mar 2011
News

HBS Faculty on Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa

10 Jul 2019
News

What America’s history of mass migration can teach us about attitudes to immigrants

How Many Direct Reports?

If senior executives are feeling ever-increasing pressure on their time—and few would suggest that’s not the case—why would they add more to their plates? It seems counterintuitive, but according to our research into C-level roles over the... View Details

Web

Great American Business Leaders of the 20th Century - Leadership

9 million (largest number since first decade) Baby boomers age Hispanics become fastest-growing minority Population grows from 250 million to 281 million Influence: Medium-High 1900 19 Model T Plastic Safety razor Widespread use of steam... View Details

25 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

Lightcast. The numbers indicate that these athletes’ careers take off five to 10 years after graduation, with the achievement gap widening even more 20–25 years out. While the study didn’t control for socioeconomic status or race, which... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

January 2020
Case

Ureed.com: The Marketplace for Language

By: Ashley V. Whillans, Esel Çekin and Alpana Thapar

Jordanian entrepreneur, Nour Al Hassan, founded Tarjama in 2008, tapping into an underserved and high demand need: Arabic translation service. Its lean model comprised of hiring full-time employees, mainly women, who worked from home. It steadily grew over the... View Details

Keywords: Language Translation; Freelancers; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Management; Expansion; Quality; Growth and Development Strategy

Educators

Purchase

April 2014
Article

Who Donates Their Bodies to Science? The Combined Role of Gender and Migration Status Among California Whole-body Donors

By: Asad L. Asad, Michel Anteby and Filiz Garip

The number of human cadavers available for medical research and training, as well as organ transplantation, is limited. Researchers disagree about how to increase the number of whole-body bequeathals, citing a shortage of donations from the one group perceived as most... View Details

Keywords: Altruism; Donations; Body; Whole-body; Clinical Anatomy; Medical Specialties; California

27 Mar 2025
HBS Seminar

John Horton, MIT Sloan

29 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

The Next Marketing Challenge: Selling to ’Simplifiers’

road half the time, grew in number as the size of the average American household declined. The new economy has made it even easier for consumers to get rid of their stuff. These huge houses had to be filled with more stuff, good news for... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Retail; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation

2007
Working Paper

Team Familiarity, Role Experience, and Performance: Evidence from Indian Software Services

By: Robert S. Huckman, Bradley R. Staats and David M. Upton

Much of the literature on team learning views experience as a unidimensional concept captured by the cumulative production volume of, or the number of projects completed by, a team. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that teams are stable in their membership... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Learning; Performance Improvement; Projects; Groups and Teams; Familiarity; Information Technology Industry; India

Research Summary

Talent and Ownership on Corporate Boards

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

This research, with co-author Emilie Feldman, examines the performance of firms whose boards include directors with sizeable ownership stakes and relatively low levels of business experience. In contrast to theories that predict a strong... View Details

July 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Background Note

The Structure and Functioning of the Fashion Industry

By: Mukti Khaire and Hannah Catzen

Fashion is the quintessential social-consumption good; all consumers comply with or react to fashion. Although very few consumers actually control trends, virtually every consumer is affected by fashion and contributes to it by adopting or rejecting popular styles. A... View Details

Keywords: Fashion And Creative Industries; Fashion; Retail; Creativity; Supply and Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry

Educators

2010
Report

Nordic Globalization Barometer 2010

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

The 2010 Nordic Globalization Barometer, the third in this series, is again designed to serve as input to the discussions of the five Nordic Prime Ministers (representing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) at the Nordic Globalization Forum. In its first... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Competition; Research and Development; Policy; Financial Crisis; Denmark; Finland; Iceland; Norway; China

2009
Working Paper

Input Constraints and the Efficiency of Entry: Lessons from Cardiac Surgery

By: David M. Cutler, Robert S. Huckman and Jonathan T. Kolstad

Prior studies suggest that, with elastically supplied inputs, free entry may lead to an inefficiently high number of firms in equilibrium. Under input scarcity, however, the welfare loss from free entry is reduced. Further, free entry may increase use of high-quality... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Market Entry and Exit; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Government Legislation; Mathematical Methods; Health Industry; Pennsylvania

2009
Working Paper

Patent Policy, Patent Pools, and the Accumulation of Claims in Sequential Innovation

By: Gaston Llanes and Stefano Trento

We present a dynamic model where the accumulation of patents generates an increasing number of claims on sequential innovation. We study the equilibrium innovation activity under three regimes: patents, no-patents and patent pools. Patent pools increase the probability... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Patents; Rights; Mathematical Methods

March 2006 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Tecsis: A Global Cleantech Venture Based in Brazil

Bento Koike, founder and CEO of Tecsis Ltda., is facing a number of important decisions. With ups and downs typical of self-funded start-ups, Tecsis has grown to about 1,500 people and over $50 million in revenues with one major customer. Tecsis, located in Brazil, is... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Cost vs Benefits; Diversification; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Volatility; Green Technology Industry; Brazil; United States