Publications

October 2014 (Revised December 2015)
Background Note

China's Environmental Challenge

By: William C. Kirby, Nora Bynum, Erica M. Zendell and Brittany Crow

China faces enormous environmental challenges. This background note looks at the historical, economic and political origins of the environmental crisis that faces the world's fastest-growing economy. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Globalized Economies and Regions; History; Crisis Management; Environmental Sustainability; China

24 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 24

Publications March 2015 Partners or Creditors? Attracting Foreign Investment and Productive Development to Central America and Dominican Republic Foreign Direct Investment: Effects, Complementarities, and Promotion By: Alfaro, Laura... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

a product of the international Communist movement’s model of revolution in the developing world that envisioned new states following a “non-capitalist path of development.” In Iran, this was compounded by the use of Allende-era Chile as a... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

18 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

When Words Get in the Way: The Failure of Fiscal Language

arbitrary terms with no intrinsic meaning, a lesson that even economists have not learned. "On the General Relativity of Fiscal Language," a working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, provides a mathematical... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

Nancy F. Koehn

Nancy F. Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Koehn's research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations. Her... View Details

Keywords: beauty products; clothing; consumer products; entertainment; fashion; marketing industry; retailing; health care; advertising; media

Profile

Kayode Ogunro

a difference that has an enduring impact on the development fortunes of underserved emerging markets. What did you learn during the job search process? My job search process was atypical, as I had a very specific idea of what I wanted and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management / Hedge Fund; Venture Capital / Private Equity; Financial Services; Energy / Extractive Minerals; Manufacturing

November 2019 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Russia: A Drama In Three Acts

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella, Galit Goldstein, Sogomon Tarontsi and Lavinia Teodorescu

The collapse of central authority in the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a period of revolutionary transformations for the states that emerged in its wake. The leaders of Russia, the USSR's successor, struggled to reestablish central authority while also seeking to... View Details

06 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?

it), the development cycle is significantly shorter. Proponents of OSS claim that if this demand-side learning (as we call it) is sufficiently strong, OSS will oust traditional software. In addition, software engineers claim that the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

2007
Working Paper

The Seer of Wellesley Hills: Roger Babson and the Babson Statistical Organization

By: Walter A. Friedman

Roger Babson was a pioneer of the business-forecasting industry in the United States in the early twentieth century. He built the largest private economic forecasting agency in the period and published a great range of economic statistics in his weekly newsletters. As... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Economics; Business History; Newsletters; Personal Development and Career; United States

June 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Goodbye IMF Conditions, Hello Chinese Capital: Zambia's Copper Industry and Africa's Break with Its Colonial Past

By: Rafael Di Tella, Vincent Pons, Sarah Mehta and David Lane

Over the past several decades, rapid growth in Chinese investment and trade has created for Africa a new development partner. China represents an alternative to U.S. and European nations whose past imperialism, resource avarice, and economic dictates—through the... View Details

Keywords: Copper; Imperialism; IMF; World Bank; ODA; Debt Relief; Growth and Development; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; History; Development Economics; China; Zambia; Africa

February 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Doing Business in Santiago, Chile

By: Willis Emmons, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Ruth Costas

The case uses the example of the opening of the first IKEA furniture store in Chile – which is operated by Chilean group Falabella – to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. It gives readers an overview of Chile’s economic... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economy; Macroeconomics; Business History; Chile; Latin America

24 Apr 2012
News

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus Inspires Students at Harvard Business School

04 Jun 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Accountability and Inequality in Single-Party Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Vietnam and China

Keywords: by Regina Abrami, Edmund Malesky & Yu Zheng

22 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Recessions Push Some Entrepreneurs to Launch Too Soon

professors (the most likely group to have strong job stability), PhDs/postdoctoral students (the least stable), and founders who had previously been employed at larger firms, small firms, and startups. In an email exchange, we asked Roche about how View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Charlotte L. Robertson

Professor Robertson conducts research on the history of financial markets. Her book manuscript and working papers shed light on the evolution of securities markets and the relationship between finance, governance, and society. Some of the topics she pursues include:... View Details

Research Summary

Risk Management as a Function of Government

By: David A. Moss

Professor Moss's academic work in this area explores how and why governments manage private-sector risks. Based on historical and institutional research, he argues that risk management constitutes a critical function of government with far-reaching implications. ... View Details

March 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Capitalism and the Party-State: The People's Republic of China at 70

By: Meg Rithmire and Courtney Han

In 2019, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) turned seventy-years-old and became the longest active authoritarian regime in recent history. By then, China was the world’s second largest economy by GDP (after the United States), and a high-technology industrial... View Details

Keywords: Party-state; Economic Systems; Business and Government Relations; Economy; Society; International Relations; China