Publications

11 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Politicians Benefited From Using Toxic Loans

politicians get fooled into engaging in risky transactions, or did they take the risks knowingly, opting for the short-term benefits in spite of the risks?" Vallée recently tackled that question in the paper The Political Economy of... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

Research Summary

Transition Leadership

Michael Watkins is developing frameworks, programs, and e-performance tools for helping leaders to take charge in new senior management roles. New leaders' actions during their first few months on the job have a disproportionate impact on their ultimate success or... View Details

02 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Shareholders Need a Say on Pay

between shareholders and boards." He adds that it forces both entities to grapple with an extremely complex issue. "To have more say on pay, you need to have something to say in the first place." One At A Time The View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

2024
Report

Overcoming Barriers to Resolving Gaza and Beyond

By: James K. Sebenius

As of early January 2024, discussion of the Gaza war heavily focuses on its humanitarian costs, cease fire possibilities, hostage prospects, and “day after” options. Yet what longer-term strategy guides actions on these vital issues while offering a more positive... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; War; International Relations; Israel; Middle East

11 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Managers and Market Capitalism

Keywords: by Rebecca Henderson & Karthik Ramanna

2020
Working Paper

EMEs and COVID-19: Shutting Down in a World of Informal and Tiny Firms

By: Laura Alfaro, Oscar Becerra and Marcela Eslava

Emerging economies are characterized by an extremely high prevalence of informality, small-firm employment and jobs not fit for working from home. These features factor into how the COVID-19 crisis has affected the economy. We develop a framework that, based on... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Emerging Economies; Informality; Firm-size Distribution; Health Pandemics; Developing Countries and Economies; Economy; System Shocks; Latin America

December 2011
Case

Peace, Non-Aligned: The Pragmatic Optimism of Lakhdar Brahimi

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

Describes the background and career of Lakhdar Brahimi in numerous roles ranging from Algeria's ambassador to Indonesia and the Arab League, to serving as that country's foreign minister, and to his many years at the United Nations, with special emphasis on his actions... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Conflict Management; Personal Development and Career; Government and Politics; Algeria

12 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Competition the Cure for Healthcare

to do so will certainly improve. Gaming of the system will be corrected. The whole process of working hard to measure results better and better is extremely good for patients. If doctors can demonstrate results, they will not have health... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Health

2019
Working Paper

Labor Market Shocks and the Demand for Trade Protection: Evidence from Online Surveys

By: Rafael Di Tella and Dani Rodrik

We study preferences for government action in response to layoffs resulting from different types of labor-market shocks. We consider the following shocks: technological change, a demand shift, bad management, and three kinds of international outsourcing. Respondents... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Markets; System Shocks; Trade; Attitudes; Surveys

2017
Book

Managing Risk in Reinsurance: From City Fires to Global Warming

By: Niels Viggo Hauter and Geoffrey Jones

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive history of the reinsurance industry from the nineteenth century to the present day. Reinsurance developed at the fringe of financial services and, for most of its existence, was largely unnoticed outside the expert... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Risk Management; Business History; Globalization; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; Africa; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America; Asia

Find at Harvard

05 Dec 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Growth Good?

standard of living for the clear majority of citizens. . . . Economic progress needs to be broadly based if it is to foster social and political progress." Further, Friedman maintains that moral societies foster economic growth. This... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November 1993 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Continental Airlines--1992 (Abridged)

By: Stuart C. Gilson

The CEO is preparing a recommendation to the board regarding several potential outside investments in the company, which is currently operating in bankruptcy. In making his decision, the CEO has to consider various financial and strategic factors, including possible... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Taxation; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Aerospace Industry; United States

Article

Memos to the President from a 'Council of Psychological Science Advisers'

By: Bethany A. Teachman, Michael I. Norton and Barbara A. Spellman

On September 15, 2015, President Obama issued an Executive Order recommending that executive departments and agencies use "behavioral science insights to better serve the American people." The articles in this special section were already in press when the order was... View Details

Keywords: Social Psychology; Government Administration; Public Administration Industry; United States

July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Background Note

M&A Legal Context: Standards Related to the Sale or Purchase of a Company

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Constance E. Bagley and James Quinn

Introduces students to the legal standards affecting officers and directors when selling or purchasing a company. Provides a practical understanding of the Revlon Standard, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5, and the legal criteria for a cause of... View Details

Keywords: Laws and Statutes; Law Enforcement; Government Legislation; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Courts and Trials

24 Oct 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Diasporas and Outsourcing: Evidence from oDesk and India

Keywords: Re: William R. Kerr; Manufacturing

February 1998
Case

Creating the International Trade Organization

By: David A. Moss, George R. Appling and Andrew D Archer

In the late 1940s, officials at the U.S. State Department began campaigning for the creation of an International Trade Organization (ITO). This new organization would oversee global negotiations on trade liberalization, foreign direct investment, cartels, and commodity... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Agreements and Arrangements; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Systems; International Relations

December 1998 (Revised November 2005)
Background Note

Contribution to Capital

By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard

Distinguishes and explains the basic rules associated with two types of contributions to capital: (1) transfers of property by a government to a company to entice it to take some action such as relocate a plant, and (2) transfers of property to a corporation by... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Property; Taxation; Public Administration Industry; United States

2014
Chapter

Too Big To Trust? Managing Stakeholder Trust in Business in the Post-Bail-Out Economy

By: Deepak Malhotra

This chapter considers the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, and specifically the subsequent “bail-out” of the large financial institutions by the American government, from the perspective of trust in the post-bail-out economy. The author considers the impacts... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Government and Politics; Financial Crisis

Register to Read

August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Background Note

International Enforcement of U.S. Patents

By: Robert C. Pozen and Jordan Hirsch

A company that owns a U.S. patent can enforce its patent protections in three ways: by filing a lawsuit in U.S. federal district court, by bringing action in the International Trade Commission, or through the World Trade Organization. This note discusses the pros and... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Patents; Courts and Trials; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights