Publications

04 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 4

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-086.pdf Expectations, Network Effects and Platform Pricing Authors:Andrei Hagiu and Hanna Hałaburda Abstract In markets with network effects, users must form expectations about the total number of users... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

July 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Policy Management Systems Corp.: The Financial Reporting Crisis

Tim Williams, the new CFO of a publicly-traded enterprise software company, attempts to rebuild his company's reputation for reliable financial reporting following a highly visible financial reporting crisis. The crisis begins with an earnings shortfall warning, which... View Details

Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Capital Markets; Policy; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits; Technology Industry

25 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Has Occupational Licensing Outlived Its Usefulness?

service provider has a license, their hiring decision is still more driven by price and online reviews than the quality assurance that comes with licensing. New research shows that tougher licensing requirements reduce the pool of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Service

Research Summary

Current research

Professor Pomeranz's research is situated at the intersection of development economics and public finance. Her current work focuses in particular on corporate taxation and public procurement, the two key ways in which government finance affects firms and entrepreneurs.... View Details

April 2008
Case

Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and Dr. Bradford J. Shingleton (2004)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marcelo Pancotto

Dr. Bradford Shingleton has developed some of the highest quality eye surgery techniques in the industry. He involves his nurses and technicians in creating a surgical service that is constantly improving. The case has many details about how Dr. Shingleton works with... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Independent Innovation and Invention; Service Operations; Performance Productivity; Practice; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry; Boston

January 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Case

CME Group

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and James Weber

The case describes CME Group, the world's largest commodities exchange, futures and options on futures contracts, history, regulation, and the strategic choices the company faced. CME Group was formed from the oldest and most well-known exchanges in the world. Traders... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Stocks; Goods and Commodities; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk Management; Market Participation; Market Transactions; Financial Services Industry; United States

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

The State of the Markets

the Internet," he concluded. "This will favor the cheapest suppliers and keenest buyers and thus hold down prices and inflation while raising productivity." Ever-changing Demands In his remarks, the NYSE's Cochrane... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner

30 May 2018
What Do You Think?

Should Intellectual Property be Protected in International Trade?

inevitably leads to the transfer of intellectual property as the price of entry. The matter has come up for discussion between trade representatives of the US and China, but little has been done about it. This raises the question of the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

August 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

PayPal: The Next Chapter

By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb

Can a social purpose and stakeholder capitalism confer a powerful competitive advantage in the age of COVID-19? For PayPal, the answer is yes. After spinning off from eBay in a 2015 IPO, the company declared its purpose as "democratizing financial services" by ensuring... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Finance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Social Entrepreneurship; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

Keywords: Steel

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

“Too Big To Fail”: Reining In Large Financial Firms

Investment Management in Boston, told a Senate committee on March 4 that regulators need look no further than five factors historically associated with financial crises: inflated prices of real estate,... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Financial Services

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

Costing to Identify Value-Improvement Opportunities in Healthcare By: Kaplan, Robert S., Mary L. Witkowski, Megan Abbott, Alexis Guzman, Laurence Higgins, John Meara, Erin Padden Abstract—As healthcare providers cope with pricing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2020
Case

Rotoplas: Bringing More and Better Water

By: John D. Macomber and Carla Larangeira

Private companies were being turned to for potable water in the world’s megacities due to impacts of climate change including droughts and flooding. Mexico City had endured several water-related crises, with its population suffering from floods, droughts, water... View Details

Keywords: Water Supply; Water Management; Finance; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Business and Government Relations; Latin America; Mexico

23 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers

in response. Is there anything that a seller can do? Is there anything that a group of consumers could do? And how should regulators respond? Our paper, Price Restrictions in Multi-sided Platforms: Practices... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Air Transportation; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation

26 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

"The benefits to travelers and the reduction in pricing power of hotels is really concentrated in particular cities during certain times," says Chiara Farronato, a co-author of the study. "When hotels are fully booked,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Travel

13 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

An Investigation of Earnings Management through Marketing Actions

Keywords: by Craig J. Chapman & Thomas J. Steenburgh

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

versus Posted Prices in Online Markets By: Einav, Liran, Chiara Farronato, Jonathan Levin, and Neel Sundaresan Abstract—Auctions were very popular in the early days of internet commerce, but today online sellers mostly use posted prices.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Arla Foods: Data-Driven Decarbonization (A)

By: Michael Parzen, Michael W. Toffel, Amram Migdal and Susan Pinckney

Arla implemented a data-based price incentive system to measure, track, and influence climate friendly changes to reduce CO2 emissions across the world’s fourth largest dairy cooperative. View Details

Keywords: Dairy Industry; Business Earnings; Earnings Management; Environmental Accounting; Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Making; Decisions; Voting; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Pollution; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Financial Strategy; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Geopolitical Units; Global Strategy; Ownership Type; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Performance Evaluation; Problems and Challenges; Natural Environment; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; United Kingdom; European Union; Germany; Denmark; Sweden; Luxembourg; Belgium