Publications

SSRN

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04 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Is Government Just Stupid? How Bad Decisions Are Made

have to do with the difficulties they have in making and understanding tradeoffs. This book will illustrate how this new understanding of tradeoffs can clarify the flaws in existing government policies and... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, Jonathan Baron & Katherine Shonk

2016
Book

Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 17

By: Shane Greenstein, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern

The seventeenth volume of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Innovation Policy and the Economy provides an accessible forum for bringing the work of leading academic researchers to an audience of policymakers and those interested in the interaction... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Governance; Policy; Economy

2008
Working Paper

Learning Processes in Environmental Policy Making and Implementation

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

This paper explores how "learning" occurs in the context of environmental policy formulation and implementation. Rather than viewing policy learning as a rational and technocratic process, the emphasis here is on the political and institutional contexts within which... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Power and Influence; South Africa; Brazil

08 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Monetary Policy and Long-Term Real Rates

Keywords: by Samuel G. Hanson & Jeremy C. Stein

October 2012
Case

Romney vs. Obama and U.S. Energy Policy

By: Rawi Abdelal and Kaitlyn Tuthill

In 2012, the energy sector in the United States was demanding major reform. Prices of oil and gas had continued to cripple the middle and lower class as the U.S. economy slowly recovered. At the same time, the U.S. lagged behind developed economies in production of... View Details

Keywords: Mitt Romney; Barack Obama; Energy; Election Outcomes; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Political Elections; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry; United States

Educators

Teaching Interest

The Role of Government in Market Economies (RoGME)

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

RoGME is about one question: What is the proper role of government in market economies? We study the role of government as it plays out in the real world, using case studies to examine policies of current interest and importance.... View Details

02 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Government and Financial Tech Can Fix Cash Woes for Small Businesses

products and services. Making the payrolls that support middle class families across the country. These are all things we rely on small businesses for, so we should look with more than just casual interest at how technology, and even View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills

November 2011
Article

Corporate Governance When Founders Are Directors

By: Feng Li and Suraj Srinivasan

We examine CEO compensation, CEO retention policies, and M&A decisions in firms where founders serve as a director with a non-founder CEO (founder-director firms). We find that founder-director firms offer a different mix of incentives to their CEOs than other firms.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Executive Compensation; Retention; Policy; Motivation and Incentives; Performance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mergers and Acquisitions; Wages; United States

SSRN

2020
Working Paper

Mortgage Prepayment, Race, and Monetary Policy

By: Kristopher Gerardi, Paul Willen and David Hao Zhang

Over the period 2005 to 2015, Black borrowers paid more than 40 basis points higher mortgage interest rates than Non-Hispanic white borrowers. We show that the main reason is that Non-Hispanic white borrowers are much more likely to exploit periods of falling interest... View Details

Keywords: Mortgages; Consumer Behavior; Race; Ethnicity; Equality and Inequality; Policy; United States

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July 2024
Article

The Home State Effect: How Subnational Governments Shape Climate Coalitions

By: Jonas Meckling and Samuel Trachtman

Organized business interests often seek to block public interest regulations. But whether firms oppose regulation depends on institutional context. We argue that, in federal systems, sub-national policies and politics can have a home state effect on firms' national... View Details

Keywords: Local Range; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations

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March 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Opportunity Insights: Research and Policy for Social Mobility

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Jeffrey Huizinga and Allison Ciechanover

Opportunity Insights -- a non-profit that researches drivers of economic opportunity and develops policy solutions to help families achieve better life outcomes -- seeks to expand its impact. View Details

Keywords: Economic Opportunity; Social Mobility; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues; Housing; Policy; Opportunities

Educators

March 2009 (Revised May 2013)
Supplement

Kinyuseisaku: Monetary Policy in Japan (B)

By: Laura Alfaro and Akiko Kanno

Toshihiko Fukui, Governor of the Bank of Japan, faced a complex situation in the fall of 2007. An economic recovery had allowed the central bank to abandon its zero interest rate policy, which had been in place for years, and raise rates to 0.5%. The Bank of Japan was... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Money; Central Banking; Interest Rates; Policy; Japan

October 1994 (Revised November 1995)
Case

N.V. Philips Electronics - Currency Hedging Policies

By: Richard F. Meyer

Describes Philips Electronics' policies and problems relating to foreign exchange risk and hedging. Explains centralization versus decentralization of currency hedging, economic role versus transaction role, the difficulties of capturing the necessary information... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Currency Exchange Rate; International Finance; Globalization; Policy; Information Management; Management; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty

October 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Malaysia: Standing on a Single Leaf

By: Diego Comin, Maurice Kuykendoll and Monne Williams

The case discusses the development of palm oil in Malaysia. This experience provides important insights about when and how government intervention can be successful in developing new sectors in the economy. View Details

Keywords: Malaysia; Industrial Policy; Agriculture; Palm Oil; Innovation; Plantations; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business and Government Relations; Innovation and Invention; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Malaysia

Educators

22 Sep 2015
News

Promoting a Healthy Policy Agenda

As chair of the public health committee in the Massachusetts legislature, state senator Jason Lewis (MBA 1995) focuses on promoting prevention and wellness. In this video, he talks about applying his business training to public policy... View Details

23 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

How Countries Use Financial Policy to Fight COVID-19

fingertips: Harvard MBA students. Over the course of three months, they created the Global Policy Tracker, an interactive site that compares government policies and financial... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Article

Public Policy Towards Patent Pools

By: Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole

Keywords: Policy; Patents

11 May 2020
Op-Ed

Immigration Policies Threaten American Competitiveness

percent. For much of the past decade, H-1B visas have run out within a single week (see Figure 4). Despite even the COVID-19 pandemic, the government received 275,000 applications in March of this year for the 85,000 slots in fiscal year... View Details

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

February 2003
Article

Commercial Policy with Altruistic Voters

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

Keywords: Policy; Voting