Publications

27 Jun 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Inter-Generational Investment

Keywords: by Nava Ashraf, Natalie Bau, Corinne Low, and Kathleen McGinn

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

CAMBRIDGE, Mass — On a rainy afternoon in late October, Mohsen Mostafavi stood before a packed auditorium at Harvard University and considered the history of cities in terms of three cooked eggs. Mostafavi, the Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, described... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

26 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Corporate Field Researchers Share Tricks of the Trade

The term "academic research" can conjure images of scientists conducting experiments in a basement laboratory, or of tweed-clad professors poring through old theories to develop new ones. But let's not forget about field research, which happens beyond university... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Winter–Spring 2024
Article

Grand Bargain: Negotiating Toward a Better Middle East

By: James K. Sebenius

How can sophisticated negotiation bring about a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East? While a "grand bargain" to accomplish this lofty goal may seem implausible, the potential value of such an agreement would be vast for most Israelis, Palestinians, and key... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; War; Conflict and Resolution; Israel; West Bank

2018
Working Paper

The Digital Commons: Tragedy or Opportunity? A Reflection on the 50th Anniversary of Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons

By: Frank Nagle

On the 50th anniversary of Garrett Hardin’s “The Tragedy of the Commons,” this article considers the benefits and potential downsides of the digital commons, which emerged well after Hardin wrote his seminal article. Unlike the physical world Hardin wrote about, the... View Details

Keywords: Digital Commons; Economics; Society; Transformation; Opportunities

SSRN

June 2013 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Rawabi

By: Arthur I. Segel, Sarika Agrawal, Nimrod Brandt, Daniel Kuhagen, Thomas Reithinger and Margot Eiran

Bashar Masri is developing the first new stand-alone Palestinian city 25 kilometers north of Jerusalem and 9 kilometers north of Ramallah in the West Bank on 6300 dunams (1556 acres) for 40,000 people with financial support from the Qatari investment authority and... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Urban Development; Projects; Problems and Challenges; Construction Industry; Middle East

Educators

December 2013
Article

Land Politics and Local State Capacities: The Political Economy of Urban Change in China

By: Meg Rithmire

Despite common national institutions and incentives to remake urban landscapes to anchor growth, generate land-lease revenues, and display a capacious administration, Chinese urban governments exhibit varying levels of control over land. This article uses a paired... View Details

Keywords: China; Land Politics; Urban Planning; Local Government; Northeast China; Property Rights; Urban Development; Property; Government and Politics; China

November 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Making Lemonade in Chicago's Troubled Neighborhoods

By: Nicolas Retsinas, Jazzmin Lamas and Lisa Strope

This case focuses on the complexities of building a real estate investment company in two Chicago low-income neighborhoods, Roseland and Englewood, during the foreclosure crisis in 2011. View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Investment Management; Financial Management; Social Issues; Investment; Real Estate Industry; Chicago

Educators

Article

Coming Out of Recession: The Role of Business in Alleviating Poverty

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Djordjija B. Petkoski

Keywords: Economics; Business Ventures; Poverty

Article

Business and Poverty: Opening Markets to the Poor

By: Djordjija B. Petkoski, V. Kasturi Rangan and William S. Laufer

Keywords: Poverty; Markets; Business Ventures

April–May 2005
Article

History, Social Divisions and Public Goods in Rural India

By: Abhijit Banerjee, Lakshmi Iyer and Rohini Somanathan

Keywords: History; Goods and Commodities; Public Ownership; Society; India

1987
Other Unpublished Work

Opening the Window: Needs Analysis and Long Term Effort to Pay for College

By: Dutch Leonard

Keywords: Higher Education; Human Needs; Cost

2024
Chapter

The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy

By: Dean Grodzins and David Moss

This chapter examines the U.S. secession crisis of 1860–1861 as a case of democratic breakdown. From December 1860 to early June 1861, eleven of the fifteen slaveholding states in the U.S. South declared secession from the Union. The trigger for the crisis was Abraham... View Details

Keywords: War; History; Political Elections; United States

2005
Chapter

Social Pressures in Siting Conflicts: A Case Study of Siting a Radioactive Waste Repository in Pennsylvania

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Howard Kunreuther

Keywords: Wastes and Waste Processing; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Conflict and Resolution; Local Range

2023
Working Paper

Location-Specificity and Geographic Competition for Remote Workers

By: Thomaz Teodorovicz, Prithwiraj Choudhury and Evan Starr

The precipitous growth of remote work has given rise to a new phenomenon: geographic competition between localities for the physical presence of remote workers. Remote workers with high general human capital may create value for their new destinations and reverse net... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Human Capital; Geographic Location; Civil Society or Community; Motivation and Incentives

SSRN

June 2013
Background Note

Venture Philanthropy: Its Evolution and Its Future

By: Allen Grossman, Sarah Appleby and Caitlin Reimers

This note explores the current state of venture philanthropy in the U.S. and its future. Based on interviews with 28 practitioners in the field of philanthropy and a review of the literature since the publication of the article introducing the concept of venture... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Nonprofit; Social Institutions; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Civil Society or Community; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States

Educators

01 Sep 2010
News

Reinventing the Annual Report

little to do with each other. This is a huge problem. A sustainable society requires that all companies be committed to sustainable strategies. Increasing social expectations regarding a company’s commitment to sustainability mean that... View Details

Keywords: Robert G. Eccles

2024
Working Paper

Social Movements and Public Opinion in the United States

By: Amory Gethin and Vincent Pons

Recent social movements stand out by their spontaneous nature and lack of stable leadership, raising doubts on their ability to generate political change. This article provides systematic evidence on the effects of protests on public opinion and political attitudes.... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Social Issues; Voting; Public Opinion; Social Media

Register to Read

2008
Chapter

Public Action for Public Goods: Theory and Evidence

By: Abhijit Banerjee, Lakshmi Iyer and Rohini Somanathan

This chapter focuses on the relationship between public action and access to public goods. It begins by developing a simple model of collective action which is intended to capture the various mechanisms that are discussed in the theoretical literature on collective... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Quality; Groups and Teams; Human Needs; Poverty; Welfare or Wellbeing; Public Administration Industry