Publications

Samuel G. Hanson is the William L. White Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Economics department. He teaches Finance 1... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; brokerage; federal government; financial services; investment banking industry

Article

Thinking About Technology: Applying a Cognitive Lens to Technical Change

We apply a cognitive lens to understanding technology trajectories across the life cycle by developing a co-evolutionary model of technological frames and technology. Applying that model to each stage of the technology life cycle, we identify conditions under which a... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Transformation; Outcome or Result; Economics; Cognition and Thinking; Business Model; Forecasting and Prediction

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Helene Hall is a doctoral student in the Business Economics program at Harvard University. Prior to coming to Harvard, she worked as a research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and studied economics and mathematics at Williams College. Her main research... View Details

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry

13 Feb 2014
HBS Seminar

David Moss, Harvard Business School

October 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

PrimedicProviding Primary Care in Mexico

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Regina Garcia-Cuellar and Lauren Sarah Margulies

Primedic is a Mexican start-up that aims to deliver affordable primary and preventative healthcare to those at the base of the economic pyramid. The company is about to exhaust its first round of venture capital funding and the business model has yet to gain traction.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Developing Countries and Economies; Social Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Health Care and Treatment; Social Enterprise; Health Industry; Mexico

Daniel Green is an assistant professor of business administration in the Finance Unit. He teaches the Finance II course to MBA students.

Professor Green’s research focuses on corporate finance, capital markets, and financial intermediation. His current... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; private equity (LBO funds); investment banking industry

January 2001
Background Note

Application Service Providers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Sanjay Pothen

Examines the Application Service Provider (ASP) business model. First, defines the ASP model and describes different ways to categorize ASPs. Next, summarizes the various ways that ASPs create value for their clients. Then, analyzes the economic model for ASPs,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Web Services Industry

June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin

The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Investment; Profit; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2019 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Philips Lighting: Light-as-a-Service

By: Mark R. Kramer, Thijs Geradts and Bhanuteja Nadella

As LEDs with a 25-year lifespan replace incandescent lightbulbs, Philips Lighting faced major disruption and began to explore a new shared value business model of selling light as a service. Although it offers better profit margins and a reduced environmental... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy

Article

Optimal Taxation When Children's Abilities Depend on Parents' Resources

By: Alexander Gelber and Matthew Weinzierl

Empirical research suggests that parents' economic resources affect their children's future earnings abilities. Optimal tax policy therefore treats future ability distributions as endogenous to current taxes. We model this endogeneity, calibrate the model to match... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Welfare

Josh Krieger is an Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. Josh’s research focuses on R&D strategy and the economics of innovation. His work examines project selection, R&D competition, and... View Details

July 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Background Note

Innovating in Health Care—Framework

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Contains the framework for the second-year Innovating in Health Care course. Delineates the role of six exogenous forces on new ventures: structure, financing, regulations, consumers, accountability, technology, and public policy and presents the essential elements of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management; Health Industry

Alberto Cavallo is the Thomas S. Murphy Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) unit, a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a... View Details

2011
Working Paper

Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

We describe the evolution of selective aspects of punishment in the U.S. over the period 1980-2004. We note that imprisonment increased around 1980, a period that coincides with the "Reagan revolution" in economic matters. We build an economic model where beliefs about... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economy; Moral Sensibility; Mathematical Methods; Opportunities; Behavior; United States

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November 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Amazon.com-2002

By: Stig Leschly, Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Todd H Thedinga

Describes the evolution of Amazon.com and its business model since its founding. Specifically, discusses Amazon's transformation from an e-Tailer to a commerce platform and its marketplace initiative, which has driven this. Also describes the economics of various... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Retail Industry