Publications

02 Nov 2005
Conference Presentation

Wage Policies and Incentives to Invest in Firm-Specific Human Capital

By: George P. Baker, Nancy D. Beaulieu and Cristian Voicu

Keywords: Wages; Policy; Motivation and Incentives; Human Capital

15 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 15

alternative forms of political representation: large-scale membership of women in local councils affects crime against them more than their presence in higher-level leadership positions. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-092.pdf The 'IKEA Effect':... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Aug 2005
What Do You Think?

Is There an “Efficient Market” in CEO Compensation?

Summing Up Paul Jackson sums up the thinking of most respondents to this month's column with the comment, " . . . nothing about CEO compensation seems to be 'efficient.'" Brad Millet adds, "The CEO market for mega-organizations operates in a synthetic... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 2020
Article

Machine Learning and Human Capital Complementarities: Experimental Evidence on Bias Mitigation

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Evan Starr and Rajshree Agarwal

The use of machine learning (ML) for productivity in the knowledge economy requires considerations of important biases that may arise from ML predictions. We define a new source of bias related to incompleteness in real time inputs, which may result from strategic... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; Bias; Human Capital; Management; Strategy

September 2016
Article

When 3+1>4: Gift Structure and Reciprocity in the Field

By: Duncan S. Gilchrist, Michael Luca and Deepak Malhotra

Do higher wages elicit reciprocity and lead to increased productivity? In a field experiment with 266 employees, we find that paying higher wages, per se, does not have a discernible effect on productivity (in a context with no future employment opportunities).... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Performance Productivity

08 Jan 2014
What Do You Think?

Do Productivity Increases Contribute to Social Inequality?

while creating new jobs more or less commensurate with the skills of the displaced workers. But things have changed since the technology is now able to think as well as perform tasks It is not easy to convert today's manual laborers to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2019
Teaching Note

Universal Basic Income, Job Guarantees, or None of the Above?

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Teaching Note for HBS No. 819-035. View Details

Keywords: UBI; Job Guarantee; Public Policy; EITC; Employment; Labor; Social Issues; Income; Governance; Policy; Welfare

May 19, 2021
Article

Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Rachel Lipson

As the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, America faces a critical opportunity to close gaps that leave many workers behind, say Joseph Fuller and Rachel Lipson. What will it take? View Details

Keywords: Workforce; Talent Management; Education; Employment; Labor; Training; Talent and Talent Management

February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Supplement

AFSCME vs. Mozilo...and "Say on Pay" for All! (B)

By: Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

Union seeks to protect its pension funds through shareholder activism focused on corporate governance and executive compensation. The (B) case updates the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Corporate Governance

April 2011 (Revised May 2013)
Case

South Africa (A): Stuck in the Middle?

By: Richard H. K. Vietor and Diego Comin

Fifteen years after ending apartheid, formal unemployment in South Africa was still at 24%. While the country had grown at 4 to 5% annually during the 2000s, the financial crisis set it back by 1 million more unemployed. Moreover, it seemed as if the nation were stuck... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Inflation and Deflation; Policy; Employment; Wages; Competition; South Africa

Educators

2008
Working Paper

Minimally Altruistic Wages and Unemployment in a Matching Model

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This paper presents a model in which firms recruit both unemployed and employed workers by posting vacancies. Firms act monopsonistically and set wages to retain their existing workers as well as to attract new ones. The model differs from Burdett and Mortensen (1998)... View Details

Keywords: Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employment; Wages; Mathematical Methods

29 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

What Jobs Are Being Done at Home During the COVID-19 Crisis? Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys

Keywords: by Alexander Bartik, Zoë Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Christopher Stanton

30 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

Readers Ask: I Need Tips for Working at Home

Shifting to remote work raises many questions for managers and employees, especially when it happens quickly as a result of a crisis. Prithwiraj “Raj” Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

July 2000
Article

Competition and Human Capital Accumulation: A Theory of Interregional Specialization and Trade

By: Julio J. Rotemberg and G. Saloner

Keywords: Competition; Human Capital; Theory; Geography; Trade

2023
Working Paper

The Real Effects of Fair Workweek Laws on Work Schedules: Evidence from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia

By: Caleb Kwon and Ananth Raman

Effective in eight jurisdictions and banned in four, Fair Workweek Laws (FWL) aim to increase the predictability and stability of work schedules. Among other requirements, these laws penalize employers for unilaterally adjusting work schedules without providing some... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Employees; Outcome or Result; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia

SSRN

07 Oct 2015
What Do You Think?

What is the Best Immigration Model for the US?

to return to their countries of origin....” Ben commented that “We have a need for skilled and unskilled labor here (in the U.S.) and we value inclusion and integration... (But) I think our government shouldn’t copy any other country’s... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

26 Aug 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Built for Global Competition from the Start

Association board in two months. Trouble was, Grinna lacked a technical background. In class discussion, students consider whether Grinna should hire local programmers or a CTO to do the work; outsource the work using a global labor... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Education

November 2011 (Revised May 2013)
Case

The Freelancers Union (A)

By: Michel Anteby and Erin McFee

Sara Horowitz faces a major strategic decision. Founder and CEO of the Freelancers Union, Horowitz has worked tirelessly to operationalize her new mutualist ideals, which comprise collective strength, independence, and shared protections. In 2008, she plans to move the... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions

Educators