Publications

Forthcoming
Article

Calling All Issuers: The Market for Debt Monitoring

By: Huaizhi Chen, Lauren Cohen and Weiling Liu

95% of long-term municipal bonds have callable features, and yet we find new evidence of a substantial fraction of local governments exercising these valuable options sub-optimally, with significant delays – resulting in sizable losses. Using data from 2001 to 2019, we... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Financial Institutions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Administration; Financing and Loans

2022
Article

Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, and Regulatory Response

By: Alexander MacKay and Samuel N. Weinstein

Pricing algorithms are rapidly transforming markets, from ride-sharing apps, to air travel, to online retail. Regulators and scholars have watched this development with a wary eye. Their focus so far has been on the potential for pricing algorithms to facilitate... View Details

Keywords: Competition Policy; Regulation; Algorithmic Pricing; Dynamic Pricing; Economics; Law And Economics; Law And Regulation; Consumer Protection; Antitrust Law; Industrial Organization; Antitrust Issues And Policies; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Competition; Policy; Price; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Microeconomics; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Law

SSRN

2010
Working Paper

A Behavioral Model of Demandable Deposits and Its Implications for Financial Regulation

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

A model is developed that rationalizes contracts that give depositors the right to obtain funds on demand even when depositors intend to use these funds for consumption in the future. This is explained by depositor overoptimism regarding their own ability to collect... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Consumer Behavior; Financial Services Industry

July 2010 (Revised June 2012)
Background Note

Note: Regulation of Hedge Fund Managers in the U.K. Before and After the Global Financial Crisis

By: Robert C. Pozen and Melissa Anne Hammerle

This note will examine the regulatory framework for hedge funds in the United Kingdom (UK) before and after the financial crisis of 2008. First, it will discuss European Union (EU)-level regulation that applies to the UK as an EU member state. Second, it will discuss... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; European Union; United Kingdom

June 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Background Note

The Precautionary Principle

By: Michael W. Toffel and Nazli Z. Uludere Aragon

This note describes the precautionary principle and its key tenets, highlights challenges associated with its use, and includes many examples of its application, primarily within the realm of regulating activities based on the risk of harm to human health and the... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Health Disorders; Business and Government Relations; Safety; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 1997
Case

California: The American Future?

By: Bruce R. Scott and Kevin Price

California has long been a lead state in terms of population growth, income, and societal norms. In the 1990s, California voters approved referenda to restrict benefits to immigrants and to prohibit affirmative action. Is this likely to be another leading indicator for... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Laws and Statutes; Civil Society or Community; Public Opinion; California

2003
Article

Closing the Loop: Product Take-back Requirements and their Strategic Implications

By: Michael W. Toffel

In Asia, Europe, and North America, regulators are seeking to reduce waste disposal and develop recycling markets by requiring manufacturers to manage the end-of-life disposition of products they produce. Such policies attempt to "close the loop" for products ranging... View Details

Keywords: Wastes and Waste Processing; Energy Conservation; Product Development; Strategy; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Europe; North and Central America

01 Mar 2010
News

Islam’s Great Culture Is Dying

In the early 1970s, as Ali Allawi (MBA ’71) graduated from HBS, Islam was flexing both religious and political muscles that had long been dormant. It came to a head with Iran’s 1979 revolution, an uprising against the ruling political elite and Western-inspired... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

1979
Chapter

Capital Requirements in the Regulation of Financial Intermediaries: A Discussion

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Capital; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry

2017
Working Paper

Business and Green Knowledge Production in Sweden 1960s–1980s

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Kristina Söderholm

This working paper contributes to the burgeoning historical literature that has transformed our understanding about the relationship between big business and the environmental regulation. Previously, it was believed that corporate managers resisted the extra costs... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; History; Sweden

SSRN

December 2003
Case

Antitrust Regulations in a Global Setting: The EU Investigation of the GE/Honeywell Merger

By: Mihir A. Desai, Belen Villalonga and Mark Veblen

Helps students understand the principles underlying competition and antitrust policy in the context of the proposed GE-Honeywell merger. The U.S. Department of Justice has already approved the transaction and it is being considered by the European Commission. The... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Economy; Fairness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Aerospace Industry

2022
Book

Les multinationales suisses dans l'arène politique (1942–1993) [Swiss Multinationals in the Political Arena (1942–1993)]

By: Sabine Pitteloud

En décembre 2020, les Suisses votaient sur l’initiative populaire « pour des multinationales responsables ». Cet épisode récent a rappelé que la régulation de l’activité des sociétés multinationales fait l’objet de luttes politiques, auxquelles participent les... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Enterprise; Multinational Companies; Multinational Corporations; Lobbying; Business ＆ Government Relations; Labor Relations; Relocation; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Corporate Regulation; Transnational Regulation; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; International Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Switzerland

Find at Harvard

November 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Supplement

Energy Security in Europe (B): The Southern Corridor

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Sogomon Tarontsi

Nabucco natural gas pipeline, initiated by a group of European energy companies, was intended to connect the broad gas-rich region of the Middle East and Central Asia to Europe for the first time, which would diversify supply sources. At the same time, an... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Distribution; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Industry; Russia; European Union

January 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Democracy

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

Surveys scholarship on democracy and democratization. Describes the relationship between democracy and the environment of business, including capitalist economic institutions, economic growth, economic reform, and international relations. View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Situation or Environment; Business and Government Relations; Economic Growth; International Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms