Publications

Educators

2015
Working Paper

Customers and Investors: A Framework for Understanding Financial Institutions

By: Robert C. Merton and Robert T. Thakor

Financial institutions have both investors and customers. Investors, such as those who invest in stocks and bonds or private/public-sector guarantors of institutions, expect an appropriate risk-adjusted return in exchange for the financing and risk-bearing that they... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions

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15 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

GM: What Went Wrong and What’s Next

reluctance to take environmental issues seriously. But these were not overnight developments. Beyond that, did GM's financial controls become too powerful a force for the product engineers to overcome? Did the marketers not see what... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto

08 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

The Height Tax, and Other New Ways to Think about Taxation

rich topic of study and an immensely powerful policy tool.” "The problem is this: The government can't tell whether it is easy or hard for a given person to earn income, because it can't measure... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2011
Article

What Drives Innovation?

By: Tom Nicholas

The idea that innovation drives economic growth is incontrovertible, but the factors that, in turn, drive innovation are not fully understood. This paper surveys the recent literature, focusing on three main drivers: intellectual property rights institutions, the... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth

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25 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: July 25, 2017

forthcoming Journal of Political Economy Reserve Design: Unintended Consequences and the Demise of Boston's Walk Zones By: Dur, Umut, Scott Duke Kominers, Parag A. Pathak, and Tayfun Sönmez... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

markets, which have had biosimilar competition since 2006. Using our own survey, we analyze how market features and public policies predict biosimilar entry, price, and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 2015 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Bonitas

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Bonitas, a South African medical scheme (i.e., health insurer), must navigate highly restrictive regulations that make it difficult for Bonitas to innovate, grow, and compete with market leader Discovery as well as providers of alternative insurance products. Bonitas... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Care; South Africa; Medical Scheme; Public Policy; Bonitas; Bonitas Medical Fund; National Health Insurance; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Policy; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; South Africa; Johannesburg; Africa

Educators

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

August 2018 Journal of Accounting Research Virtual Issue on Empirical Management Accounting Research By: Abernethy, Margaret, and Dennis Campbell Abstract—No abstract available. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

insights and practices as pandemic recovery plans are developed. Consider these five elements of organizational decision-making: information gathering; strategy; combining long-term thinking with short-term actions; clear communication... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

2023
Working Paper

Keep Your Enemies Closer: Strategic Platform Adjustments during U.S. and French Elections

By: Rafael Di Tella, Randy Kotti, Caroline Le Pennec and Vincent Pons

A key tenet of representative democracy is that politicians' discourse and policies should follow voters' preferences. In the median voter theorem, this outcome emerges as candidates strategically adjust their platform to get closer to their opponent. Despite its... View Details

Keywords: Political Ideology; Political Elections; United States; France

January–February 2011
Article

Adverse Selection in Online 'Trust' Certifications and Search Results

By: Benjamin Edelman

Widely used online "trust" authorities issue certifications without substantial verification of recipients' actual trustworthiness. This lax approach gives rise to adverse selection: the sites that seek and obtain trust certifications are actually less trustworthy than... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Safety; Trust; Internet; Search Technology; Web Sites

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09 Nov 2022
In Practice

COP27: What Can Business Leaders Do to Fight Climate Change Now?

The US government’s newly passed Inflation Reduction Act will direct $370 billion toward advancing renewal energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions—the country's largest investment in fighting climate change so far. As business and government leaders around the... View Details

Keywords: by Lynn Schenk and Danielle Kost

10 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 10, 2018

business plans, and key personnel ignited a bi-coastal battle between two fierce rivals that was played out in courts competing for jurisdiction and states with diametrically opposed laws View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

the partner type and private consumption. We estimate our model using the 2013 "Living Costs and Food Survey" database. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54695... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

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

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January 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Chinese Restriction, Violence, and Exclusion in the United States

By: Tom Nicholas, Boyang Han and Tomas Rosales

Many early Chinese immigrants to the United States during the 1850s worked as traditional gold miners, but as gold mining declined in significance, an increasing number were employed as laborers for large scale construction projects such as railroads, roadways, and in... View Details

Keywords: Immigration Acts; Immigration; Labor; Jobs and Positions; Race; Social Issues; Laws and Statutes

Educators