Publications

September 2022
Article

Regulatory Spillover and Workplace Racial Inequality

By: Letian Zhang

This paper suggests that affirmative action bans in the U.S. public sector may influence racial inequality in the private sector. Since the 1990s, nine states have banned affirmative action practice in public universities and state governments. Though these bans have... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Regulation; Law; Organizational Norm; CEO; Affirmative Action; Organizations; Private Sector; Equality and Inequality; Diversity; Race; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

21 Jul 2011
News

Groupon growth lures rivals, regulators

Government and Markets: Toward a New Theory of Regulation

As the financial crisis has shown, neither traditional market failure models nor public choice theory, by themselves, sufficiently inform or explain our current regulatory challenges, nor point us toward the best solutions. Regulatory studies, long neglected in an... View Details

Research Summary

The Institutional Foundations of Lending: Indirect Regulation and State-Building

The Institutional Foundations of Lending: Indirect Regulation and State-Building makes two main theoretical contributions to the scholarship on credit markets and institutional development. First, the book demonstrates that opportunistic lenders can take... View Details

October 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Creating the First Public Law Firm: The IPO of Slater & Gordon Limited

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Slater & Gordon (S&G), a midsized Australian law firm with a high-growth consolidation strategy, had an initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for May 2007. Due to a series of regulatory changes in Australia in recent years, the IPO provided an opportunity for S&G to... View Details

Keywords: IPO; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Law Firm; Value Drivers; Growth Strategy; Revenue Recognition; Roll-up; Consolidator; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Consolidation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Strategy; Growth Management; Corporate Governance; Business Strategy; Legal Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Australia

Educators

13 Nov 2020
HBS Seminar

Ashley Nunes, Harvard Law School

October 18, 2021
Article

To Regulate Network-Based Platforms, Look at Their Data

By: Chiara Farronato and Daniel Björkegren

Historically, antitrust authorities have taken a laissez-faire approach under the assumption that it is better to err on the side of not intervening when there is uncertainty. This has allowed companies like Google and Facebook to go on a shopping spree to acquire... View Details

Keywords: Antitrust Issues And Policies; Risk and Uncertainty; Digital Platforms; Competitive Advantage; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry

Web

Understanding Health Systems, Payors, and Regulation - Health Care

Impact Understanding Health Systems, Payors, and Regulation Health Minute: The Real Impact of Coupons on Drug Pricing Nabihah Sachedina Joint Degree 2013 More “Health Systems” stories Faculty Focus... View Details

31 Oct 2014
HBS Seminar

Sifan Zhou (SUNY Albany, and LWP at The Harvard Law School), Harvard Law School

October 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

Note on Cable Television Regulation

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Examines the evolution of the U.S. cable television industry since its inception in the early 1950s. Particular emphasis is given to the roles played by technology, consumer demand, and regulation at both the local and federal level. Designed to facilitate a conceptual... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Demand and Consumers; Government Legislation; Business Growth and Maturation; Monopoly; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

2012
White Paper

Robust Enforcement Should Complement Voluntary Regulation

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

Spurred by the anti-regulation movement that started in the 1970s, voluntary self-regulation programs have emerged in many regulatory agencies, seeking to increase cooperation between government and industry to achieve greater and more cost-effective compliance.... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Business and Government Relations

spring 1990
Article

Contrived Competition: Airline Regulation and Deregulation, 1925-88

By: R. H.K. Vietor

Keywords: Competition; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business History; Air Transportation Industry

May 1995
Background Note

Note on Industry Self-Regulation and U.S. Antitrust Laws

By: Lynn S. Paine and Michael Santoro

Describes the purpose and nature of industry self-regulation and outlines the factors self-regulatory groups must consider to avoid infringing U.S. antitrust laws. Several examples of industry self-regulation are discussed. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Knowledge; Law

Educators

May 2008
Article

Coerced Confessions: Self-Policing in the Shadow of the Regulator

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

As part of a recent trend toward more cooperative relations between regulators and industry, novel government programs are encouraging firms to monitor their own regulatory compliance and voluntarily report their own violations. In this study, we examine how regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Power and Influence; Organizations; Decisions; Business and Government Relations; United States

09 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

How Should US Bank Regulators Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis?

Keywords: by Michael Blank, Samuel G. Hanson, Jeremy C. Stein, and Adi Sunderam

December 2014 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Governing the 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality and the Rule of Law

By: Rafael Di Tella, Meg Rithmire and Kait Szydlowski

Xi Jinping assumed his position as head of China's fifth generation of leaders in 2012. Xi was head of both the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, which had ruled China since 1949. Xi inherited a country far more unequal than the one that Mao... View Details

Keywords: China; Growth; Inequality; Wealth And Poverty; Social Stability; Perceptions Of Inequality; Chinese Dream; Chinese Political Thought; Corruption; Equality and Inequality; China

Educators

2022
Working Paper

The Regulation of Medical AI: Policy Approaches, Data, and Innovation Incentives

By: Ariel Dora Stern

For those who follow health and technology news, it is difficult to go more than a few days without reading about a compelling new application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to health care. AI has myriad applications in medicine and its adjacent industries, with... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry