Publications

November–December 2012
Article

Toward a Theory of Extended Contact: The Incentives and Opportunities for Bridging Across Network Communities

By: Maxim Sytch, Adam Tatarynowicz and Ranjay Gulati

This study investigates the determinants of bridging ties within networks of interconnected firms. Bridging ties are defined as nonredundant connections between firms located in different network communities. We highlight how firms can enter into these relationships... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities

June 2013
Background Note

Mobilizing an Online Business

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

Entrepreneurs starting online businesses often need to mobilize multiple sets of users or customers, each of whom hesitates to participate unless others join also. This case presents several challenges with similar structure. View Details

Keywords: Mobilization Strategy; Network Effects; Platforms; Internet; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Computer Industry

Educators

2017
Chapter

Multinational Activity in Emerging Markets: How and When Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Growth?

By: Laura Alfaro

Among the prominent economic trends in recent decades is the exponential increase in flows of goods and capital driven by technological progress and a falling number of restrictions. A key driver of this phenomenon has been the cross-border production, foreign... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Activity; Growth; Spillovers; Complementarities; Foreign Direct Investment; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development; Multinational Firms and Management

Research Summary

Growth and the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment: Is All FDI Equal? (joint with Andrew Charlton)

By: Laura Alfaro

In this paper we distinguish different qualities of FDI to re-examine the relationship between FDI and growth. Establishing the quality of FDI, however, is a difficult concept. Quality, that is the effect of a unit of FDI on economic growth, is a combination and... View Details

2006
Article

Performance Measure Properties and the Effect of Incentive Contracts

By: J. Bouwens and L. van Lent

Using data from a third-party survey on compensation practices at 151 Dutch firms, we show that less noisy or distorted performance measures and higher cash bonuses are associated with improved employee selection and better-directed effort. Specifically, (1) an... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Data and Data Sets; Problems and Challenges; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Netherlands

25 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Incubators Take Notice: Your Entrepreneurs Are Networking with the Wrong People

solutions, says Koning, who studies the ripple effects that occur when entrepreneurs fail to harness new advice, skills, or marketing opportunities. It’s difficult to shake the gravitational pull of sameness and comfort that people feel... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

July 2010
Article

Board Interlocks and the Propensity to Be Targeted in Private Equity Transactions

By: Toby E. Stuart and Soojin Yim

In this paper, we examine the propensity for U.S. public companies to become targets for private equity-backed, take-private transactions. We consider the characteristics of 483 private equity-backed deals in the 2000-2007 period relative to public companies, and find... View Details

Keywords: Board Interlocks; Board Networks; Social Networks; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Public Ownership; Market Transactions; Governing and Advisory Boards; United States

02 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

Networked Incubators: Hothouses of the New Economy

important and lasting way of creating value and wealth in the new economy? Morten Hansen, Henry Chesbrough, Nitin Nohria, and Donald Sull argue that one type of incubator, called a networked incubator, represents a fundamentally new and... View Details

Keywords: by Morten T. Hansen, Henry W. Chesbrough, Nitin Nohria & Donald N. Sull

09 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

Old-fashioned mentoring may be one of the most effective ways to improve job performance, but many mentorship programs don’t reach new hires who need guidance most, new research suggests. Newly hired employees at a United States call... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

Research Summary

The Unexpected Effects of Workplace Transparency

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

Workplace transparency provides a foundation for learning and control, and therefore for satisfaction and productivity. Yet my research shows that an obsession with transparency-enhancing tools and structures can backfire, producing the unintended consequences of... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Privacy; Productivity; Field Experiments; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Human Resources; Leadership; United States; Europe; China; Japan

30 Jun 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

The Role of Emotions in Effective Negotiations

and say there's value on the table, but I don't care." That said, anger isn't always a bad variable in negotiation. Deployed the right way, it can demonstrate passion and conviction that can help sway the other side to accept less. The trick is to View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation; Sports

April 2006
Article

Competitive Advantage and the Value Network Configuration: Making Decisions at a Swedish Life Insurance Company

By: Øystein D. Fjeldstad and Christian H.M. Ketels

When the Swedish Life Insurers Förenade Liv found themselves in difficulties in a rapidly changing market, their response was to call in the consultants. And one of the consultant's first suggestions was to use the Value Network, not the Value Chain, as a new... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Fluctuation; Networks; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Value; Quality; Decision Making; Market Transactions; Performance Effectiveness; Customers; Insurance Industry; Sweden

January 2000 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Cambridge Hospital Community Health Network - The Primary Care Unit

By: V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem and Ryan Moore

The Cambridge Hospital Community Health Network needed to gain a better understanding of its unit-of-service costs, which had been rising at a rate of 10% per year. The network's step-down costing system gave only aggregate costing information, and there was some... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Accounting; Cost; Network Effects; Health Industry; Service Industry; Massachusetts

Educators

2025
Working Paper

An Empirical Examination of Business Climate Alliances: Effective and/or Harmful?

By: Matteo Gasparini and Peter Tufano

This research studies business alliances that seek to address climate change, offering empirical evidence to address claims advanced by alliance supporters and critics. We study eleven major alliances mostly focused on financial services firms and 424 major... View Details

Keywords: Antitrust; Climate Change; Financial Institutions; Competition; Network Effects; Alliances

SSRN

December 2020
Article

The Employment Effects of Faster Payment: Evidence from the Federal Quickpay Reform

By: Jean-Noel Barrot and Ramana Nanda

We study the impact of Quickpay, a federal reform that indefinitely accelerated payments to small business contractors of the U.S. government. We find a strong direct effect of the reform on employment growth at the firm level. Importantly, however, we also... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Employment; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

2023
Working Paper

Point Four and the Politics of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States during the Early Cold War

By: Melanie Sheehan

This article traces business influence in the formulation of the Point Four technical assistance program, the first US Cold War-era international development program. It focuses specifically on business interest associations’ efforts to secure federal incentives to... View Details

Keywords: Point Four Program; Business Interest Association; International Development; Cold War; Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Business and Government Relations

2022
Article

The Effects of Public and Private Equity Markets on Firm Behavior

By: Shai Bernstein

In this article, I review the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of public and private equity markets on firm behavior, emphasizing the consequences that emerge from disclosure requirements, ownership concentration, and degree of firm standardization.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance And Governance; Financing Policy; Commercialization; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Public Equity; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Cost of Capital

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Motion Picture Industry: Critical Issues in Practice, Current Research & New Research Directions

Keywords: by Jehoshua Eliashberg, Anita Elberse & Mark A. A. M. Leenders; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video; Advertising

2023
Working Paper

Estimating Productivity in the Presence of Spillovers: Firm-Level Evidence from the U.S. Production Network

By: Ebehi Iyoha

This paper examines the extent to which productivity gains are transmitted across U.S. firms through buyer-supplier relationships. Many empirical studies measure firm-to-firm spillovers using firm-level productivity estimates derived from control function approaches.... View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Partners and Partnerships; Production