Publications

25 Oct 2017
News

New Report: Degree Inflation Hurting Bottom Line of U.S. Firms, Closing Off Economic Opportunity for Millions of Americans

05 Jun 2014
Video

Career & Professional Development Overview

Jeremy Yang

Jeremy Yang is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches Marketing in the MBA required curriculum. He develops data products for... View Details

Keywords: advertising; media; entertainment; information; consumer products

2020
Working Paper

A General Theory of Identification

By: Iavor Bojinov and Guillaume Basse

What does it mean to say that a quantity is identifiable from the data? Statisticians seem to agree on a definition in the context of parametric statistical models — roughly, a parameter θ in a model P = {Pθ : θ ∈ Θ} is identifiable if the mapping θ 7→ Pθ is injective.... View Details

Keywords: Identification; Econometric Models; Analytics and Data Science; Theory

February 2021
Tutorial

What is AI?

By: Tsedal Neeley

This video explores the elements that constitute artificial intelligence (AI). From its mathematical basis to current advances in AI, this video introduces students to data, tools, and statistical models that make a computer 'intelligent.' Through an explanation of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Digital; Technological Innovation; Leadership; AI and Machine Learning; Mathematical Methods

Article

De Gustibus non est Taxandum: Heterogeneity in Preferences and Optimal Redistribution

By: Benjamin B Lockwood and Matthew Weinzierl

The prominent but unproven intuition that preference heterogeneity reduces redistribution in a standard optimal tax model is shown to hold under the plausible condition that the distribution of preferences for consumption relative to leisure rises, in terms of... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Income; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Taxation; Microeconomics; Macroeconomics

September 1974 (Revised April 1975)
Case

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (A)

At the conclusion of a small-scale pilot survey, management must decide whether to invest in a larger survey or terminate the project. The objective of the study is to use psychographic measurement techniques to study the alternative positions of cranberry sauce.... View Details

Keywords: Surveys; Product Positioning; Mathematical Methods; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

2024
Working Paper

Incorporating Micro Data into Differentiated Products Demand Estimation with PyBLP

We delineate a general framework for incorporating many types of micro data from summary statistics to full surveys of selected consumers into Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) style estimates of differentiated products demand systems. We extend recommended practices... View Details

November 1989 (Revised June 1991)
Background Note

Facts and Figures on Defense Procurement: The Department of Defense and Defense Procurement, An Overview

By: Robert L. Simons

Provides statistics and other factual information on the Department of Defense procurement process, DOD expenditures, market share segmentation, the variety of contract types, and the role of the Defense Contract Audit Agency. View Details

Keywords: National Security

January 1996 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Deutsche Allgemeinversicherung

Describes the application of statistical process control in a service industry. In this case, Annette Kluck must decide how to adopt manufacturing-based principles to a service process ranging from customer account setup to legal services. View Details

Keywords: Quality; Analysis; Service Operations; Business Strategy; Service Industry

Educators

Miaomiao Zhang is a doctoral candidate at the Technology & Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Miaomiao received a B.S. in Applied Mathematics & Statistics and Economics from Emory Univeresity. She worked at the Strategy Unit at Harvard... View Details

TeachingInterests

Leading with People Analytics; HBS MBA Elective; 2021

Teaching fellow for course on using data science to make decisions about people, such as hiring, firing, promotion, team composition, etc.
Led weekly student review sessions teaching statistics and the R... View Details

January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Technical Note

The Scope of Business at the Base of the Pyramid: Poverty in the U.S. and Other OECD Countries

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Tricia Gregg

Using data from U.S. Census and OECD, this note defines poverty as those populations who fall below 50% of that country’s median per capita income. It then provides a brief statistical tour of six key challenges facing such populations: Income and Jobs, Healthcare,... View Details

Keywords: Poverty; Social Issues; Problems and Challenges; Global Range

Educators

27 Jul 2016
News

Airbnb's data shows that Airbnb helps the middle class. But does it?

January 1982 (Revised December 1997)
Background Note

Note on the New Deal: From the First to the Second ""Hundred Days""

A brief summary of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies between 1933 and 1935. Contains three statistical tables that supplement Selected U.S. Statistics: Part I and Selected U.S. Statistics: Part II. View Details

Keywords: History; Mathematical Methods; Policy; Public Administration Industry; United States

Article

Beyond Statistics: The Economic Content of Risk Scores

By: Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, Raymond Kluender and Paul Schrimpf

"Big data" and statistical techniques to score potential transactions have transformed insurance and credit markets. In this paper, we observe that these widely-used statistical scores summarize a much richer heterogeneity, and may be endogenous to the context in which... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Risk and Uncertainty; Insurance Industry

25 Oct 2018
HBS Seminar

Fanyin Zheng, Columbia University

20 Aug 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Best Ideas

Keywords: by Miguel Antón, Randolph B. Cohen, and Christopher Polk; Financial Services

2024
Working Paper

Anytime-Valid Inference in Linear Models and Regression-Adjusted Causal Inference

By: Michael Lindon, Dae Woong Ham, Martin Tingley and Iavor I. Bojinov

Linear regression adjustment is commonly used to analyze randomized controlled experiments due to its efficiency and robustness against model misspecification. Current testing and interval estimation procedures leverage the asymptotic distribution of such estimators to... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science