Publications

November 2014
Article

Government Green Procurement Spillovers: Evidence from Municipal Building Policies in California

By: Timothy Simcoe and Michael W. Toffel

We study how government green procurement policies influence private-sector demand for similar products. Specifically, we measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the U.S. Green Building... View Details

Keywords: Public Procurement; Green Building; Quality Certification; Environmental Policy; Buildings and Facilities; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Government and Politics; Green Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; California

2020
Chapter

Construction and Public Procurement in Uganda

By: Emanuele Colonnelli and Nicole Ntungire

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Infrastructure; Economic Growth; Construction Industry; Uganda

21 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Public Procurement and the Private Supply of Green Buildings

Keywords: by Timothy Simcoe & Michael W. Toffel

2024
Working Paper

Do Information Frictions and Corruption Perceptions Kill Competition? A Field Experiment on Public Procurement in Uganda

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Francesco Loiacono, Edwin Muhumuza and Edoardo Teso

We study whether information frictions and corruption perceptions deter firms from doing business with the government. We conduct two nationwide randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in collaboration with the national public procurement supervisory and anti-corruption... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Use and Leverage; Government and Politics; Crime and Corruption; Trust; Perception; Business and Government Relations

January 2017
Article

Impact Evaluation Methods in Public Economics: A Brief Introduction to Randomized Evaluations and Comparison with Other Methods

By: Dina Pomeranz

Recent years have seen a large expansion in the use of rigorous impact evaluation techniques. Increasingly, public administrations are collaborating with academic economists and other quantitative social scientists to apply such rigorous methods to the study of public... View Details

Keywords: Practice; Public Sector; Research; Policy; Performance Evaluation

Find at Harvard

July 2018 (Revised December 2018)
Case

SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command

By: Herman Leonard, Mitchell Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik and Kerry Herman

James “Hondo” Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command, was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. The questions had a common theme: how... View Details

September 2012
Case

SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa

By: Ananth Raman, Noel Watson, Santiago Kraiselburd and Emmanuel Akili

In 2005, USAID and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), created the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) to procure and distribute essential medicines and supplies; provide technical assistance to transform existing supply chains; and... View Details

January 2014
Case

Anglo American: Implementing a 'Social Way' for Global Mining

By: Christopher Marquis, David Plumb, Tom Blathwayt and Zoe Yang

The mining giant Anglo American attempts to differentiate itself through its social performance, yet public expectations are still growing. Maintaining a "social license" to operate was increasingly challenging and critical to business success.

The case... View Details

Keywords: Global Mining; Localization; Socioeconomic Issues; Procurement; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Supply Chain Management; Globalization; Reputation; Emerging Markets; Mining Industry; South Africa

Dennis Yao is the Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration and Chair of the Doctoral Programs at Harvard Business School. He joined the faculty in 2004 after having been at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. From 1991-1994 he served as... View Details

Keywords: automotive; defense; federal government; high technology

18 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 18

results show that the opportunity to avoid being submitted to regulation produces more unethical conduct than situations in which regulation is either exogenously imposed or entirely absent. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/13-029.pdf View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2022
Article

Revealing Corruption: Firm and Worker Level Evidence from Brazil

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Spyridon Lagaras, Jacopo Ponticelli, Mounu Prem and Margarita Tsoutsoura

We study how the disclosure of corrupt practices affects the growth of firms involved in illegal interactions with the government using randomized audits of public procurement in Brazil. On average, firms exposed by the anti-corruption program grow larger after the... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Corporate Disclosure; Business Growth and Maturation; Brazil

Research Summary

Current research

Professor Pomeranz's research is situated at the intersection of development economics and public finance. Her current work focuses in particular on corporate taxation and public procurement, the two key ways in which government finance affects firms and entrepreneurs.... View Details

Kym Lew Nelson

Kym Lew Nelson joined the NOM unit of the Harvard Business School as a Visiting Lecturer in January of 2020. In July of 2020, she became a Senior Lecturer in the Negotiations unit. Prior to joining the faculty, Kym was a guest lecturer in the Negotiations class at... View Details

04 Apr 2016
HBS Seminar

Ariel Stern, Harvard Business School

01 Dec 2015
HBS Seminar

Nicola Lacetera, University of Toronto

22 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Government Technology Policy, Social Value, and National Competitiveness

Keywords: by Frank Nagle

April 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

StarKist (A)

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Forest L. Reinhardt

Set in April 1990, this case focuses on H.J. Heinz and its subsidiary, StarKist, the largest producer of canned tuna in the United States. During the 1980s, the public became increasingly concerned about tuna fishing practices that killed dolphins. StarKist was the... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Decision Choices and Conditions; Laws and Statutes; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Environmental Sustainability; Competition; Mexico; United States

July 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Raymond Jefferson: Trial by Fire

By: Anthony Mayo and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In the spring of 2021, Raymond (Ray) Jefferson applied for a job in President Joseph Biden’s administration. Ten years earlier, false allegations were used to force him to resign from his prior U.S. government position as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Personal Development and Career; Ethics; Lawsuits and Litigation