Publications

April 2003
Teaching Note

Argentine Paradox, The: Economic Growth and the Populist Tradition (TN)

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

Teaching Note for (9-702-001). View Details

Keywords: Argentina

November 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Inequality and the "American Model"

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

Official data that suggest economic inequality has been mounting in the United States on various dimensions since 1979. Many causes of such inequality have been postulated: technological change, globalization, demographic factors, and changes in public policy (notably... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Wealth and Poverty; Corporate Governance; Social Issues; Government Administration; United States

Educators

February 2002
Case

Strategy of the Firm Under Regulatory Review: The Case of Chilectra

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Alexander Dyck

Discusses the largest electric distribution company in Chile and one of the five largest private Chilean companies. Introduces the exercise of operating control in order to improve the profitability of the investments, privatization, and international expansions. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Growth and Development Strategy; Privatization; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Strategy; Governance Compliance; Utilities Industry; Chile

Educators

October 2007
Teaching Note

Rovna Dan: The Flat Tax in Slovakia (TN)

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Renee Kim

Teaching Note to 707043. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Taxation; System; Labor; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Slovakia

March 2003
Teaching Note

Bolivia: Globalization, Sovereignty, or Democracy?

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Huw Pill

Teaching Note for (9-702-086). View Details

Keywords: Bolivia

March 2002
Teaching Note

Strategy of the Firm Under Regulatory Review: The Case of Chilectra TN

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Alexander Dyck

Teaching Note for (9-702-025). View Details

Keywords: Utilities Industry; Chile

March 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Menem and the Populist Tradition in Argentina

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Eliseo Neuman

Argentina has flourished under a fixed exchange rate system, yet there are large income and employment fluctuations. The social cost of unemployment is threatening the viability of the economic model. Building a welfare state is one alternative, but this may be a... View Details

Keywords: History; Governance; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employment; Currency Exchange Rate; Welfare; Government Administration; Government and Politics; Argentina

Educators

November 1999 (Revised February 2001)
Teaching Note

Menem and the Populist Tradition in Argentina TN

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Eliseo Neuman

Teaching Note for (9-700-061). View Details

2002
Chapter

Political and Economic Incentives during an Anti-Corruption Crackdown

By: Rafael Di Tella and Ernesto S. Schargrodsky

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Government and Politics; Economics

September 2018 (Revised January 2022)
Teaching Note

Hank and Nancy: The Subprime Crisis, the Run on Lehman and the Shadow Banks, and the Decision to Bailout Wall Street

By: Alberto Cavallo and Rafael Di Tella

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-022. View Details

December 2018
Article

Some Elements of Peronist Beliefs and Tastes

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

We study the beliefs and values of Peronism. Instead of a comprehensive approach, we focus on three elements. First, we study beliefs and values about the economic system present in Peron’s speeches during the period 1943–1955. Second, given that these beliefs are... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Altruism; Exploitation; Economic Systems; Values and Beliefs; Argentina

2013
Comment

Fairness and Redistribution: Comment

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

In an influential paper, Alesina and Angeletos (2005)—henceforth, AA—argued that a preference for fairness could lead two identical societies to choose different economic systems. In particular, two equilibria might arise: one with low taxes and a belief that the... View Details

Keywords: Taxes; Beliefs; Economic Systems; Values and Beliefs; Fairness; Taxation

2011
Working Paper

Free to Punish? The American Dream and the Harsh Treatment of Criminals

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

We describe the evolution of selective aspects of punishment in the U.S. over the period 1980-2004. We note that imprisonment increased around 1980, a period that coincides with the "Reagan revolution" in economic matters. We build an economic model where beliefs about... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economy; Moral Sensibility; Mathematical Methods; Opportunities; Behavior; United States

December 2010
Article

Happiness Adaptation to Income and to Status in an Individual Panel

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

We study adaptation to income and to status using individual panel data on the happiness of 7,812 people living in Germany from 1984 to 2000. Specifically, we estimate a "happiness equation" defined over several lags of income and status and compare the long-run... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Status and Position; Happiness; Income; Change; Germany

2009
Chapter

Should Central Banks Maximize Happiness? Happiness, Contentment and Other Emotions for Central Banks

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

Keywords: Central Banking; Happiness; Satisfaction; Emotions; Banking Industry

2006
Chapter

Corruption and the Demand for Regulating Capitalists

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Economic Systems

2002
Working Paper

Cost Reductions, Cost Padding and Stock Market Prices: The Chilean Experience with Price Cap Regulation

By: Rafael Di Tella and Alexander Dyck

2001
Working Paper

Using a Terrorist Attack to Estimate the Effect of Police on Crime

By: Rafael Di Tella and Ernesto Schargrodsky

Article

Informal Family Insurance and the Design of the Welfare State

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

We study unemployment benefit provision when the family also provides social insurance. In the benchmark case, more generous State transfers crowd out family risk-sharing one-for-one. An extension gives the State an advantage in enforcing transfers through taxes... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Design; Welfare