Publications

April 2015
Teaching Note

International Macroeconomics — An Online Tutorial

By: Laura Alfaro and Elizabeth A. Meyer

This is the Teaching Note to accompany "International Macroeconomics", HBS Tutorial 715-702. View Details

Keywords: International Macroeconomics; International Economy; Current Account; Unemployment; Inflation; Monetary Policy; Fiscal Policy; Gdp; Macroeconomics; Money; Business Cycles; Inflation and Deflation; Trade

2015
Other Unpublished Work

The End of a Cycle in Latin America and Its Associated Risks

By: Laura Alfaro, Guillermo Calvo, Pedro Carvalho de Mello, Pablo Guidotti, Guillermo Perry, Carmen Reinhart, Liliana Rojas-Suarez and Ernesto Talvi

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Entrepreneurship Reading: Partnering with Venture Capitalists

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Michael J. Roberts

This reading takes a deep look at the venture capital (VC) industry in the United States. VCs have a unique perspective on opportunity evaluation, deal structure, new venture support, and exit strategy. Their work at all stages of the entrepreneurial life cycle offers... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship

February 2015
Article

The Great Recession, Insurance Mandates, and the Use of In Vitro Fertilization Services in the United States

By: Sorapop Kiatpongsan, Robert S. Huckman and Mark D. Hornstein

Objective: To investigate the relationship between economic activities, insurance mandates, and the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States.

Design: We examined the correlation between the coincident index (a proxy for overall economic... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Recessions; Medical Care; In Vitro Fertilization; Health Industry; United States

Article

Waves in Ship Prices and Investment

By: Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson

We study the link between investment boom and bust cycles and returns on capital in the dry bulk shipping industry. We show that high current ship earnings are associated with high used ship prices and heightened industry investment in new ships, but forecast low... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Price; Investment; Shipping Industry

January 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Curriculum Associates: Turning the Page from Tradition to Innovation

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in Fall 2014, the traditional textbook publishing industry is being transformed by technological innovations and new student achievement standards. This case chronicles how Rob Waldron, CEO, and his team bring Curriculum Associates (CA), a traditional supplemental... View Details

Keywords: Education Technology; SaaS; Turnaround; Textbook Publishing; Innovation; Sales Cycle; HR Strategy; Privately-funded Businesses; Sustainable Growth; Product Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Publishing Industry

January 2015 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Climate Change: An Unfolding Story

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Sid Misra and Stephanie Puzio

In some parts of the world, the impacts of climate change will prove to be relatively manageable, particularly for the rich. In some parts of the world, these will not, particularly for the poor. The only certainty is that humanity's collective actions will force every... View Details

Keywords: Global Warming; Carbon; Carbon Cycle; CO2; GHG; Greenhouse Gas; IPCC; International Panel On Climate Change; Climate Change

2014
Working Paper

Making the Numbers? 'Short Termism' & the Puzzle of Only Occasional Disaster

By: Hazhir Rahmandad, Nelson P. Repenning and Rebecca Henderson

Much recent work in strategy and popular discussion suggests that an excessive focus on "managing the numbers"―delivering quarterly earnings at the expense of longer term investments―makes it difficult for firms to make the investments necessary to build competitive... View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Competitive Advantage

September 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

The United Kingdom and the Means to Prosperity

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Hilary White

After struggling through the country's longest recession since 2008, the U.K. was expected to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2014. Analysts wondered whether the return to growth was because, or in spite of, Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial £113... View Details

September 2014
Article

Income Inequality and Social Preferences for Redistribution and Compensation Differentials

By: William R. Kerr

In cross-sectional studies, countries with greater income inequality typically exhibit less support for government-led redistribution and greater acceptance of wage inequality (e.g., United States versus Western Europe). If individual nations evolve along this pattern,... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Income; Government and Politics

Article

Better Accounting Transforms Health Care Delivery

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Mary L. Witkowski

The paper describes the theory and preliminary results for an action research program that explores the implications from better measurements of health care outcomes and costs. After summarizing Porter's outcome taxonomy (Porter 2010), we illustrate how to use process... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Research; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

2014
Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Sales Force Design and Management

By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas

This Core Curriculum Reading introduces students to (1) the importance of sales force design in implementing organizational strategy, and (2) the role of sales force management in linking structures and processes to behaviors. The material combines theoretical... View Details

Keywords: Sales Budget; Sales Compensation; Sales Cycle; Sales Force Management; Sales Forces; Sales Management; Sales Operations; Sales Organization; Sales Planning; Sales Strategy

May 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Supplement

Cycle for Survival (B)

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Noah Fisher

Update on Cycle for Survival's 2012, 2013, and 2014 events. Kotkins and Cycle for Survival continued the event's strong growth, and underwent the first phase of a two-year rebranding effort. View Details

Keywords: Not For Profit; Cancer; Partnerships; United States; Fundraising; Nonprofit Organizations; United States

May 2014
Case

Cycle for Survival (A)

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Noah Fisher

Katie Kotkins, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's (MSKCC) Cycle for Survival fundraising event, had to determine the best avenue for continuing the event's success and momentum after its founder, Jennifer (Jen) Goodman Linn (HBS '99) passed away... View Details

Keywords: Not For Profit; Cancer; Partnerships; United States; Fundraising; Nonprofit Organizations; United States

2014
Working Paper

Financial Repression in the European Sovereign Debt Crisis

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

By the end of 2013, the share of government debt held by the domestic banking sectors of Eurozone countries was more than twice its 2007 level. We show that this type of increasing reliance on the domestic banking sector for absorbing government bonds generates a... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cycles; Sovereign Debt; Financial Repression; Sovereign Finance; Greece

SSRN

March 2014
Article

Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm Level Evidence

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of the business cycle. Yet fluctuations in bank-loan supply have been hard to quantify in the time series. While loan issuance falls in recessions, it is not clear if this is due to... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Banks and Banking; Bonds; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

SSRN

February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Strava

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details

November 2013
Article

Investment Cycles and Startup Innovation

By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

We find that VC-backed firms receiving their initial investment in hot markets are more likely to go bankrupt, but conditional on going public are valued higher on the day of their IPO, have more patents, and have more citations to their patents. Our results suggest... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Market Cycles; Financing Risk; Risk and Uncertainty; Venture Capital; Investment; Innovation and Invention

September 2013
Article

Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers

By: Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely and Deborah Kolb

Even when CEOs make gender diversity a priority—by setting aspirational goals for the proportion of women in leadership roles, insisting on diverse slates of candidates for senior positions, and developing mentoring and training programs—they are often frustrated by a... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Leadership Development; Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Gender; Diversity