Publications

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October 2009 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Generation Health: A Pioneer in Genetics Benefit Management (A)

By: Robert F. Higgins, Jeffrey D. Marrazzo and Rachel Gordon

Generation Health, a pioneer in the new field of genetics benefit management and a newly formed company, faces many strategic issues. CEO Per Lofberg is in the midst of negotiating a partnership with a major pharmacy benefit management company. As part of these... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Genetics; Health Industry; Insurance Industry

2005
Chapter

Environmental Federalism in the European Union and the United States

By: David Vogel, Michael W. Toffel and Diahanna Post

The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) are federal systems in which the responsibility for environmental policy-making is divided or shared between the central government and the (member) states. The attribution of decision-making power has important policy... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Legislation; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Climate Change; European Union; United States

2000
Other Unpublished Work

New Trading Practices and the Short-run Predictability of the S&P 500: Market Volatility and Investor Confidence, Report to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc.

By: André Perold

Keywords: Stocks; Financial Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Capital Markets; Volatility; Market Timing

01 Jun 2015
News

Rebooting Europe

For centuries, Europe has been at the forefront of innovation: the Greek and Roman architects, the Renaissance inventors, the intrepid navigators in the Age of Exploration. Even in more recent history, Europe has dazzled in its efforts to recover from the devastating... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; European Union; Government; Health, Social Assistance

30 Jun 2010
News

Congressional Pork Is Bad for Business

The passing on June 28 of Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia at 92, after a 51-year career in the Senate, triggered an outpouring of remembrances, positive and negative, of his long service on Capitol Hill. Serving in a variety of leadership roles, including most... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government

August 2024
Case

Zipline: Expanding the World's Largest Autonomous Drone Delivery Network

By: Tarun Khanna and George Gonzalez

Zipline initially established the world's largest logistics network in Rwanda and Ghana by delivering medical supplies to hospitals via automated drones from a centralized hub. The company is now looking to expand to the U.S. home delivery market and designed a... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Expansion; Air Transportation; Business Model; Rwanda; Ghana; United States

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

08 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 8, 2008

comprehensive micro-data allow us to study how the entry rate, the distribution of entry sizes, and survival rates for firms responded to changes in banking competition. We also distinguish the relative effect of the policy reforms on the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets

Keywords: by Alberto Cavallo

24 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Can Obamacare Be Saved?

On August 15th, Aetna announced that it would reduce by 80 percent its participation in the Obama administration’s public exchanges for health insurance policies in 2017, citing significant financial losses. The move came just a few weeks after the Department of... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch and Emily Boudreau; Insurance; Health

Forthcoming
Article

Regulatory Incentives for Innovation: The FDA's Breakthrough Therapy Designation

By: Amitabh Chandra, Jennifer Kao, Kathleen L. Miller and Ariel Dora Stern

Regulators of new products confront a tradeoff between speeding a product to market and collecting additional product quality information. The FDA's Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) provides an opportunity to understand if regulators can use new policy to... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Administration; Research and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry

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January 11, 2024
Article

Understanding the Tradeoffs of the Amazon Antitrust Case

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin, Andrei Hagiu and Dionne Lomax

Regulators in the United States and Europe have been taking on Big Tech, challenging what they say are the companies’ anti-competitive and predatory strategies that harm consumers and third-party users of their platforms. This article examines the FTC’s case against... View Details

Keywords: Monopoly; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Design; Lawsuits and Litigation