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Publications

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    • All HBS Web  (170)
      • Faculty Publications  (39)

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      • December 2024
      • Article

      Human Bias in the Oversight of Firms: Evidence from Workplace Safety Violations

      By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Andreya Pérez Silva
      We study the effects of mood as a source of human bias on regulators’ oversight and enforcement decisions. We use weather at facilities at the time of an OSHA inspection to proxy for the OSHA compliance officers’ mood. We find that during periods of good mood due to... View Details
      Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Happiness; Working Conditions; Safety
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      Heese, Jonas, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos, and Andreya Pérez Silva. "Human Bias in the Oversight of Firms: Evidence from Workplace Safety Violations." Review of Accounting Studies 29, no. 4 (December 2024): 3413–3448.
      • April 2024
      • Article

      Decision Authority and the Returns to Algorithms

      By: Hyunjin Kim, Edward L. Glaeser, Andrew Hillis, Scott Duke Kominers and Michael Luca
      We evaluate a pilot in an Inspections Department to explore the returns to a pair of algorithms that varied in their sophistication. We find that both algorithms provided substantial prediction gains, suggesting that even simple data may be helpful. However, these... View Details
      Keywords: Algorithmic Aversion; Algorithmic Decision Making; Algorithms; Public Entrepreneurship; Govenment; Local Government; Crowdsourcing; Crowdsourcing Contests; Inspection; Principal-agent Theory; Government Administration; Decision Making; Public Administration Industry; United States
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      Kim, Hyunjin, Edward L. Glaeser, Andrew Hillis, Scott Duke Kominers, and Michael Luca. "Decision Authority and the Returns to Algorithms." Strategic Management Journal 45, no. 4 (April 2024): 619–648.
      • February 26, 2024
      • Article

      Making Workplaces Safer Through Machine Learning

      By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
      Machine learning algorithms can dramatically improve regulatory effectiveness. This short article describes the authors' scholarly work that shows how the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) could have reduced nearly twice as many occupational... View Details
      Keywords: Government Experimentation; Auditing; Inspection; Evaluation; Process Improvement; Government Administration; AI and Machine Learning; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
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      Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Making Workplaces Safer Through Machine Learning." Regulatory Review (February 26, 2024).
      • October 2023
      • Article

      Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA

      By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
      We study how a regulator can best target inspections. Our case study is a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program that randomly allocated some inspections. On average, each inspection averted 2.4 serious injuries (9%) over the next five years.... View Details
      Keywords: Safety Regulations; Regulations; Regulatory Enforcement; Machine Learning Models; Safety; Operations; Service Operations; Production; Forecasting and Prediction; Decisions; United States
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      Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 15, no. 4 (October 2023): 30–67. (Profiled in the Regulatory Review.)
      • August 2023 (Revised October 2023)
      • Case

      Beyond the Barricades: Chile 2023

      By: Debora Spar, Willis Emmons, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Ruth Costas
      Chile, often considered among Latin America's greatest economic success stories, suffered a shocking wave of protests in October 2019, as its citizens demanded reforms across healthcare and education systems, and protested inequality and rising costs of living. As... View Details
      Keywords: Government Administration; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Public Opinion; Equality and Inequality; Public Administration Industry; Chile; Latin America; South America
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      Spar, Debora, Willis Emmons, Leonard A. Schlesinger, and Ruth Costas. "Beyond the Barricades: Chile 2023." Harvard Business School Case 324-005, August 2023. (Revised October 2023.)
      • April–May 2021
      • Article

      The Effect of Retaliation Costs on Employee Whistleblowing

      By: Jonas Heese and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos
      We use large increases in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to study the effects of expected retaliation costs on employee whistleblowing. Increases in UI benefits reduce the costs that arise from a job loss, one of the costliest forms of retaliation. We find that... View Details
      Keywords: Employee Whistleblowing; Retaliation Costs; Labor Unemployment Insurance; Workplace Safety Inspections
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      Heese, Jonas, and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos. "The Effect of Retaliation Costs on Employee Whistleblowing." Art. 101385. Journal of Accounting & Economics 71, nos. 2-3 (April–May 2021).
      • June 2020
      • Article

      How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections

      By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
      Accuracy and consistency are critical for inspections to be an effective, fair, and useful tool for assessing risks, quality, and suppliers—and for making decisions based on those assessments. We examine how inspector schedules could introduce bias that erodes... View Details
      Keywords: Assessment; Bias; Inspection; Scheduling; Econometric Analysis; Empirical Research; Regulation; Health; Food; Safety; Quality; Performance Consistency; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
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      Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections." Management Science 66, no. 6 (June 2020): 2396–2416. (Revised February 2019. Featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Food Safety Magazine, Food Safety News, and KelloggInsight. (2020 MSOM Responsible Research Finalist.))
      • December 2019
      • Article

      The Impact of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment

      By: Donald Ngwe, Kris J. Ferreira and Thales Teixeira
      Many online stores are designed such that shoppers can easily access any available discounted products. We propose that deliberately increasing search frictions by placing small obstacles to locating discounted items can improve online retailers’ margins and even... View Details
      Keywords: Online Retailing; Friction; Effor; Search Costs; Price Discrimination; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Strategy; Price; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry
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      Ngwe, Donald, Kris J. Ferreira, and Thales Teixeira. "The Impact of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 56, no. 6 (December 2019): 944–959.
      • 2020
      • Working Paper

      Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA

      By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
      We study how a regulator can best target inspections. Our case study is a US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program that randomly allocated some inspections. On average, each inspection averted 2.4 serious injuries (9%) over the next five years.... View Details
      Keywords: Government Administration; Working Conditions; Safety; Quality; Production; Analysis; Resource Allocation; Manufacturing Industry; United States
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      Johnson, Matthew S., David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel. "Improving Regulatory Effectiveness Through Better Targeting: Evidence from OSHA." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-019, August 2019. (Revised February 2020.)
      • May 16, 2019
      • Article

      To Improve Food Inspections, Change the Way They're Scheduled

      By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
      Health inspections are an important tool to increase food safety, but there are still 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses and 128,000 hospitalizations every year in the United States. Our research finds that inspectors reported fewer health code violations as they... View Details
      Keywords: Inspection; Scheduling; Food; Safety; Health; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Improvement
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      Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "To Improve Food Inspections, Change the Way They're Scheduled." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 16, 2019).
      • 2019
      • Working Paper

      The Impact of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment

      By: Donald Ngwe, Kris J. Ferreira and Thales Teixeira
      Many online stores are designed such that shoppers can easily access any available discounted products. We propose that deliberately increasing search frictions by placing small obstacles to locating discounted items can improve online retailers’ margins and even... View Details
      Keywords: E-commerce; Online Retailing; Friction; Effor; Search Costs; Price Discrimination; Consumer Behavior; Price; Search Technology
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      Ngwe, Donald, Kris J. Ferreira, and Thales Teixeira. "The Impact of Increasing Search Frictions on Online Shopping Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-080, January 2019.
      • October 2017
      • Case

      Shift Technologies, Inc.

      By: Thomas Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest Keller
      In 2017, management at Shift, an online marketplace that uses a “high touch,” concierge approach to buy and sell used cars, was formulating plans for the San Francisco–based startup’s next phase of expansion. One option was to preserve Shift’s current business model... View Details
      Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Multi-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States
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      Eisenmann, Thomas, and Nicole Tempest Keller. "Shift Technologies, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 818-002, October 2017.
      • October 2017 (Revised April 2018)
      • Case

      Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning (A)

      By: Michael W. Toffel, Dan Levy, Jose Ramon Morales Arilla and Matthew S. Johnson
      Managers make predictions all the time: How fast will my markets grow? How much inventory do I need? How intensively should I monitor my suppliers? Which potential customers will be most responsive to a particular marketing campaign? Which job candidates should I... View Details
      Keywords: Machine Learning; Policy Implementation; Empirical Research; Inspection; Occupational Safety; Occupational Health; Regulation; Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Policy; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Safety; Manufacturing Industry; Construction Industry; United States
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      Toffel, Michael W., Dan Levy, Jose Ramon Morales Arilla, and Matthew S. Johnson. "Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning (A)." Harvard Business School Case 618-019, October 2017. (Revised April 2018.)
      • 2018
      • Working Paper

      How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections

      By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel
      Many production processes are subject to inspection to ensure they meet quality, safety, and environmental standards imposed by companies and regulators. Inspection accuracy is critical to inspections being a useful input to assessing risks, allocating quality... View Details
      Keywords: Assessment; Bias; Inspection; Scheduling; Econometric Analysis; Empirical Research; Regulation; Health; Food; Safety; Quality; Performance Consistency; Performance Evaluation; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry
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      Ibanez, Maria, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-090, April 2017. (Revised October 2018. Formerly titled "Assessing the Quality of Quality Assessment: The Role of Scheduling". Featured in Forbes, Food Safety Magazine, and Food Safety News.)
      • Fall 2016
      • Article

      The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring

      By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
      Government agencies are increasingly turning to private, third-party monitors to inspect and assess regulated entities’ compliance with law. The integrity of these regulatory regimes rests on the validity of the information third-party monitors provide to regulators.... View Details
      Keywords: Regulation; Compliance; Compliance Policies; Conflict Of Interest; Independent Third Party; Inspection; Audit Quality; Auditor; Audit; Environment; Safety; Conflict of Interests; Working Conditions; Labor; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governance Compliance; Accounting Audits
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      Short, Jodi L., and Michael W. Toffel. "The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring." Administrative & Regulatory Law News 42, no. 1 (Fall 2016): 22–25.
      • Article

      Crowdsourcing City Government: Using Tournaments to Improve Inspection Accuracy

      By: Edward Glaeser, Andrew Hillis, Scott Duke Kominers and Michael Luca
      The proliferation of big data makes it possible to better target city services like hygiene inspections, but city governments rarely have the in-house talent needed for developing prediction algorithms. Cities could hire consultants, but a cheaper alternative is to... View Details
      Keywords: User-generated Content; Operations; Tournaments; Policy-making; Machine Learning; Online Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; City; Infrastructure; Business Processes; Government and Politics
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      Glaeser, Edward, Andrew Hillis, Scott Duke Kominers, and Michael Luca. "Crowdsourcing City Government: Using Tournaments to Improve Inspection Accuracy." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 106, no. 5 (May 2016): 114–118.
      • February 2016 (Revised October 2017)
      • Case

      The Jungle and the Debate over Federal Meat Inspection in 1906

      By: David Moss and Marc Campasano
      In early June 1906, the House Committee on Agriculture heard testimony from two investigators appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to verify allegations of unsanitary conditions at Chicago slaughterhouses that had appeared in Upton Sinclair's recent novel, The... View Details
      Keywords: Safety; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Governance Compliance; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States
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      Moss, David, and Marc Campasano. "The Jungle and the Debate over Federal Meat Inspection in 1906." Harvard Business School Case 716-045, February 2016. (Revised October 2017.)
      • 2015
      • Working Paper

      The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring

      By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
      Government agencies are increasingly turning to private, third-party monitors to inspect and assess regulated entities’ compliance with law. The integrity of these regulatory regimes rests on the validity of the information third-party monitors provide to regulators.... View Details
      Keywords: Regulation; Compliance; Compliance Policies; Conflict Of Interest; Independent Third Party; Inspection; Audit Quality; Auditor; Audit; Environment; Production; Supply Chain; Quality; Government Administration; Working Conditions; Safety; Labor; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governance Compliance; Manufacturing Industry; Public Administration Industry; Accounting Industry; Service Industry; United States
      Citation
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      Short, Jodi L., and Michael W. Toffel. "The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring." Harvard Kennedy School Regulatory Policy Program Working Paper, No. RPP-2015-20, November 2015. (Revised December 2015.)
      • October 2015 (Revised September 2016)
      • Technical Note

      Flight: Now without Humans Aboard

      By: Mitchell Weiss, Karim Lakhani, HT Kung and Kerry Herman
      This note provides an overview of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) industry in September 2015. UAVs offered many potential applications in industries as diverse as aerial imaging and photography, agriculture, construction, infrastructure inspection and... View Details
      Keywords: Public Entrepreneurship; Drones; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Design; Research and Development; Technological Innovation; Rights; Ethics; Strategy; Transportation Networks; Market Entry and Exit; Innovation and Management; European Union; Asia; United States
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      Weiss, Mitchell, Karim Lakhani, HT Kung, and Kerry Herman. "Flight: Now without Humans Aboard." Harvard Business School Technical Note 816-045, October 2015. (Revised September 2016.)
      • 2015
      • Chapter

      How Leaders Use Values-based Guidance Systems to Create Dynamic Capabilities

      By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Matthew Bird, Ethan Bernstein and Ryan Raffaelli
      How do strategic leaders create change-adept organizations? Based on qualitative field research, this chapter argues that well-defined institutionalized purpose, values, and principles act as an organizational guidance system that integrates and strengthens the... View Details
      Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Field Research; Intrinsic Motivation; Organizational Identity; Ecosystem; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Motivation and Incentives; Research; Management Systems; Change
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      Kanter, Rosabeth M., Matthew Bird, Ethan Bernstein, and Ryan Raffaelli. "How Leaders Use Values-based Guidance Systems to Create Dynamic Capabilities." Chap. 2 in The Oxford Handbook of Dynamic Capabilities, edited by David J. Teece and Sohvi Leih. Oxford University Press, 2015. Electronic.
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