Publications

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2024
Working Paper

What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios? Estimating the Roles of Beliefs and Risk Preferences

By: Mark Egan, Alexander MacKay and Hanbin Yang

We present an empirical model of portfolio choice that allows for the nonparametric estimation of investors' (subjective) expectations and risk preferences. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 401(k) plans from 2009 through 2019, we explore heterogeneity in asset... View Details

Keywords: Stock Market Expectations; Demand Estimation; Retirement Planning; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); Finance; Investment Portfolio; Investment; Retirement; Behavioral Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

SSRN

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2018
Chapter

Work and Workplace

By: Kai Ruggeri, Jana Berkessel, Jascha Achterberg, Gerhard M. Prinz, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz and A. V. Whillans

Work is a major part of many lives. While individual experiences with work will differ—from how long we work to what jobs we have and to what extent we enjoy them—almost everyone is affected by employment, whether they have a job or not. Decades of research in the... View Details

Keywords: Workplace; Behavioral Insights; Retirement Savings; Working Conditions; Employees; Performance; Happiness; Health; Job Search; Change

10 Mar 2021
News

Turning Point: Coming to Cambodia

Illustration by Gisela Goppel Illustration by Gisela Goppel By Connie Baher (MBA 1980) I was standing in New York’s Asia Society Museum when I saw it. A high school kid from Connecticut, I’d taken the train to the big city and was nosing around an exhibition of... View Details

Keywords: mentorship; nonprofit management; retirement; leadership

06 Oct 2014
News

Why Monopolistic Pension Funds Undermine Capitalism

Keywords: pension funds; capitalism; retirement; monopolies

22 Nov 2024
News

Harvard Prof Who Spent 10 Years Studying Retirees: To Ease Into ‘A Satisfying Retirement Life,’ Ask Yourself 1 Question

August 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Technical Note

Overview of Senior Housing in the United States

By: Charles F. Wu and Joseph Beyer

This technical note provides an overview of the senior housing industry in the United States. There were 40 million seniors in America in 2010, and that number was expected to double by 2050. Seniors would make up 1 in every five Americans. This note explores the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Senior Living; Retirement Homes; Development; Property; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts; United States

Educators

01 Jun 2024
News

Renaissance Man

Turning the page: A collection decades in the making tells the story of a lifelong passion. Image Copyright Sotheby’s (Photo Credit: Nathan Keay, Tiny Mechanism) Thomas Brooker (MBA 1968) acquired his first rare book in 1959, during a junior year abroad in Paris. At a... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; antique books; collecting; retirement; hobbies

02 Nov 2021
News

Row On

Thousands of rowers descend on Cambridge for the Head of the Charles Regatta; this year, the event took place October 23 and 24 after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. For a trio of 70-something men, the return was a bittersweet reminder of past victories and a... View Details

Keywords: rowing; obituary; sports; retirement; Alzheimer's Disease; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

15 Dec 2024
News

The Golden Thread

Teresa Amabile grew up near Buffalo, New York, the third of seven children. Her parents were first-generation Americans who used their childhood Italian language when they didn’t want the kids to understand what they were saying. Her father and his brothers were... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Illustration by Nigel Buchanan; retirement; careers; psychology

Article

Why A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations Remains a Triumph at Fifty but the Labels 'Distributive' and 'Integrative' Should Be Retired

By: James K. Sebenius

Richard Walton and Robert McKersie's closeness to practice, disciplinary rigor, and successful search for powerful generalizations help explain the lasting impact of the Behavioral Theory of Labor Relations. Ironically, the names they chose for the fundamental... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Integrative Bargaining; Distributive Bargaining; Negotiation; Labor Unions

January 2025
Case

Thomas Müller: Mr. Bayern Munich

By: Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, Alexander Liebhart and Sarah Abbott

In 2024, FC Bayern Munich superstar Thomas Müller announced his retirement from German national football. His contract with Bayern Munich runs through the end of the 2024-25 season. In 2025, Müller reflects on his long career in football, on the skills that have driven... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Data Science And Analytics Management; Germany; Bundesliga; Sports Data; ＂Sports Organizations,; Career Changes And Transitions; Career Management; Retirement Transition; Skills Development; Sports; Analysis; Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Performance; Sports Industry; Germany

Educators

March 2020
Article

Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Jung Sakong

Previous research has shown that some people voluntarily use commitment contracts that restrict their own choice sets. We study how people divide money between two accounts: a liquid account that permits unrestricted withdrawals and a commitment account that is... View Details

Keywords: Quasi-hyperbolic Discounting; Present Bias; Sophistication; Naiveté; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Contract Design; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); IRA; Saving; Behavior; Contracts; Design; Interest Rates

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June 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Note on Pension Guarantee Funds

By: Robert C. Pozen and Patricia Bissett Higgins

The United States and the United Kingdom both had quasi-government agencies that provided back-up insurance for individuals participating in defined benefit ("DB") pension plans. This note compares and contrasts the United Kingdom's Pension Protection Fund ("PPF") with... View Details

Keywords: Pensions; Pension Guarantee Funds; Pension Protection Fund; Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; Employee Retirement Income Security Act; PBGC; ERISA; MAP-21; Legislation; Insurance; Saving; Retirement; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Employees; Insurance Industry; United States; United Kingdom

Educators

17 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Welcome to Retirement. Who Am I Now?

retirement in different phases of our careers, they talked to millennials just starting out in the work world, workers inching closer to retirement age, late-career professionals entering retirement, and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation

15 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

Want Your Employees to Plan Better for Retirement? Don't Do This

great success with this model by showing customers how much energy they were using compared to others living in their area. This quickly turned energy saving into a kind of friendly competition and drove great results. Sharing retirement... View Details

Keywords: Re: John Beshears; Financial Services

2024
Book

Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You

By: Teresa M. Amabile, Lotte Bailyn, Marcy Crary, Douglas T. Hall and Kathy E. Kram

Retirement, as a major life transition, can be both thrilling and challenging in unexpected ways. Written by acclaimed authors in the fields of business leadership, careers, and work, this book goes beyond the typical financial and health-related advice on retirement,... View Details

Keywords: Retirement