Publications

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June 1993
Article

Power, Social Influence, and Sense Making: Effects of Network Centrality and Proximity on Employee Perceptions

By: H. Ibarra and S. Andrews

03 May 2024
Research & Ideas

How Much Does Proximity Influence Startup Innovation? 20 Meters' Worth to Be Exact

A new study of startups sharing a coworking space offers a new wrinkle in the debate over work-from-anywhere: Proximity matters, especially close proximity, to spread knowledge between disparate enterprises. “The more different the... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

September 2013
Article

Testimonials Do Not Convert Patients from Brand to Generic Medication

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Gwendolyn Reynolds

Objectives: To assess whether the addition of a peer testimonial to an informational mailing increases conversion rates from brand name prescription medications to lower-cost therapeutic equivalents, and whether the testimonial's efficacy increases when... View Details

Keywords: Testimonial; Peer Information; Social Proximity; Communication; Generic Medication; Familiarity; Marketing Communications; Decision Choices and Conditions; Identity; Health Care and Treatment; Marketing Reference Programs; Power and Influence; Brands and Branding; Health Industry

14 Dec 1999
Research & Ideas

From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as a Beta Site for Business Innovation

Despite its long economic boom, America's social problems abound. To ensure future economic success, the country needs dramatic improvement in public schools, more highly skilled workers, jobs with a future for people coming off the... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

15 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How Does a Social Startup Decide to Commercialize? It May Depend on the Founder's Gender

anecdotal learnings on the role of gender in social venture commercialization,” says Liza Mueller, director of operations and knowledge management at the New York–based organization. “The research findings on View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2018
Article

Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance

By: Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning

We conduct a field experiment at an entrepreneurship bootcamp to investigate whether interaction with proximate peers shapes a nascent startup team's performance. We find that teams whose members lack prior ties to others at the bootcamp experience peer effects that... View Details

Keywords: Field Experiment; Peer Effects; Office Space; Knowledge Spillovers; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Knowledge Sharing; Performance; Technology Industry; India

March 2009
Article

Trade-offs in Staying Close: Corporate Decision Making and Geographic Dispersion

By: Augustin Landier, Vinay Nair and Julie Wulf

We document the role of geographic dispersion on corporate decision-making. Our findings include: (i) geographically dispersed firms are less employee friendly; (ii) dismissals of divisional employees are less common in divisions located closer to corporate... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Business Headquarters; Decision Choices and Conditions; Geographic Location; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Retention

Working Paper

Trade and Geography in the Origins and Spread of Islam

By: Stelios Michalopoulos, Alireza Naghavi and Giovanni Prarolo

This study examines the spatial distribution of Muslim societies shedding light on its geographic origins. The empirical analysis conducted across countries, virtual countries, and ethnicities establishes that geographic inequality and proximity to pre-Islamic trade... View Details

Keywords: Geography; Religion; Trade

March 2024
Article

Being Together in Place as a Catalyst for Scientific Advance

By: Eamon Duede, Misha Teplitskiy, Karim R. Lakhani and James Evans

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated social distancing at every level of society, including universities and research institutes, raising essential questions concerning the continuing importance of physical proximity for scientific and scholarly advance. Using customized... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Power and Influence; Body of Literature; Research

April 2005
Article

The Geography of Equity Analysis

By: Christopher J. Malloy

I provide evidence that geographically proximate analysts are more accurate than other analysts. Stock returns immediately surrounding forecast revisions suggest that local analysts impact prices more than other analysts. These effects are strongest for firms located... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Stocks; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Performance; Equity; Information; Prejudice and Bias; Agency Theory

March 2020
Article

Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction

By: Priyanka D. Joshi, Cheryl J. Wakslak, Gil Appel and Laura Huang

Drawing on construal level theory, which suggests that experiencing a communicative audience as proximal rather than distal leads speakers to frame messages more concretely, we examine gender difference in linguistic abstraction. In a meta-analysis of prior studies... View Details

Keywords: Construal Level Theory; Psychological Distance; Gender; Communication; Leadership

June 2009 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Crosley

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

In October 1941, a top secret envoy from the U.S. military was sent to Crosley Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio to request their assistance to construct a weapon that would drastically strengthen the defenses of U.S. troops: the proximity fuze. Such a fuze would allow... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; History; Production; National Security; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Research and Development; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Creativity; Innovation and Invention; Ohio

Educators

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2015
Working Paper

Do People Shape Cities, or Do Cities Shape People? The Co-evolution of Physical, Social, and Economic Change in Five Major U.S. Cities

By: Nikhil Naik, Scott Duke Kominers, Ramesh Raskar, Edward L. Glaeser and Cesar Hidalgo

Urban change involves transformations in the physical appearance and the social composition of neighborhoods. Yet, the relationship between the physical and social components of urban change is not well understood due to the lack of comprehensive measures of... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Urban Development; Change; Economics

31 May 2016
First Look

May 31, 2016

June 2016 Medical Care Vaccination Rates Are Associated with Functional Proximity but Not Base Proximity of Vaccination Clinics By: Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 May 2024
HBS Case

Banned or Not, TikTok Is a Force Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

might also like many other things that may or may not be like it.” Unlike other systems that use a social graph—who you follow—as a proxy for an interest graph—what you like, TikTok’s system goes directly to an interest graph. The content... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

2018
Article

Knowledge about Tuberculosis and Infection Prevention Behavior: A Nine City Longitudinal Study from India

By: Sophie Huddart, Thomas Bossuroy, Vincent Pons, Siddhartha Baral, Madhukar Pai and Clara Delavallade

Background
Improving patients’ tuberculosis (TB) knowledge is a salient component of TB control strategies. Patient knowledge of TB may encourage infection prevention behaviors and improve treatment adherence. The purpose of this study is to examine how... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Knowledge Dissemination; Behavior; India

November–December 2012
Article

Toward a Theory of Extended Contact: The Incentives and Opportunities for Bridging Across Network Communities

By: Maxim Sytch, Adam Tatarynowicz and Ranjay Gulati

This study investigates the determinants of bridging ties within networks of interconnected firms. Bridging ties are defined as nonredundant connections between firms located in different network communities. We highlight how firms can enter into these relationships... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities