Publications

Educators

September 2023
Article

Customer Churn and Intangible Capital

By: Scott R. Baker, Brian Baugh and Marco Sammon

Intangible capital is a crucial and growing piece of firms’ capital structure, but many of its distinct components are difficult to measure. We develop and make available several new firm-level metrics regarding a key component of intangible capital – firms’ customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Base; Transaction Data; Customer Churn; Intangible Capital; Capital Structure; Measurement and Metrics; Customers

2024
Working Paper

Residential Battery Storage - Reshaping the Way We Do Electricity

By: Christian Kaps and Serguei Netessine

In this paper, we aim to understand when private households invest in behind-the-meter battery storage next to rooftop solar and how those batteries impact households, the electricity market, and emissions. We answer three main research questions: 1) When do customers... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Energy Storage; Technology And Innovation Management; Energy; Energy Policy; Renewable Energy; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Energy Industry

SSRN

September 26, 2022
Article

Is Your Family Office Built for the Future?

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Family offices can provide a number of benefits, including privacy, customization, and having your own team to handle a wide range of services, such as guiding family philanthropy, managing shared properties, or even managing household help. Successful principals in... View Details

Keywords: Business Offices; Family and Family Relationships

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February 2020
Case

Rotoplas: Bringing More and Better Water

By: John D. Macomber and Carla Larangeira

Private companies were being turned to for potable water in the world’s megacities due to impacts of climate change including droughts and flooding. Mexico City had endured several water-related crises, with its population suffering from floods, droughts, water... View Details

Keywords: Water Supply; Water Management; Finance; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Business and Government Relations; Latin America; Mexico

Educators

2019
Working Paper

On Her Own Account: How Strengthening Women's Financial Control Affects Labor Supply and Gender Norms

By: Natalia Rigol, Erica Field, Rohini Pande, Simone Schaner and Charity Troyer-Moore

Can greater control over earned income incentivize women to work and influence gender norms? In collaboration with Indian government partners, we provided rural women with individual bank accounts and randomly varied whether their wages from a public workfare program... View Details

Keywords: Gender Norms; Economics; Gender; Employment; Income; Societal Protocols; India

Article

Happiness on Tap: Piped Water Adoption in Urban Morocco

By: Florencia Devoto, Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, William Pariente and Vincent Pons

Connecting private dwellings to the water main is expensive and typically cannot be publicly financed. We show that households' willingness to pay for a private connection is high when it can be purchased on credit, not because a connection improves health but because... View Details

Keywords: Water Supply; Urban Development; Household; Credit; Well-being; Morocco

June 2012
Article

Reality versus Propaganda in the Formation of Beliefs about Privatization

By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky

Argentina privatized most public utilities during the 1990s but re-nationalized the main water company in 2006. We study beliefs about the benefits of the privatization of water services amongst low- and middle-income groups immediately after the 2006 nationalization.... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; Business and Community Relations; Household; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Public Ownership; Utilities Industry; Argentina

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Article

Credit Access and Social Welfare: The Rise of Consumer Lending in the United States and France

By: Gunnar Trumbull

Research into the causes of the 2008 financial crisis has drawn attention to a link between growing income inequality in the United States and high household indebtedness. Most accounts trace the U.S. idea of credit-as-welfare to the period of wage stagnation and... View Details

Keywords: Household Finance; Welfare State; Credit; Personal Finance; Welfare; Borrowing and Debt; France; United States

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2008
Working Paper

Reality versus Propaganda in the Formation of Beliefs about Privatization

By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky

Argentina privatized most public utilities during the 1990s but re-nationalized the main water company in 2006. We study beliefs about the benefits of the privatization of water services amongst low and middle income groups immediately after the 2006 nationalization.... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; Public Ownership; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Values and Beliefs; Public Opinion; Utilities Industry; Argentina

December 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Loblaw Companies Ltd.: The Road Ahead

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

After 24 years at the helm of Loblaw Companies, Canada's largest food retailer, Richard Currie is trying to decide on a strategy for the company's future. The firm's current emphasis on one-stop shopping for everyday household needs has been phenomenally successful.... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Distribution; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Canada