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- March 7, 2025
- Article
Leaders Can Move Fast and Fix Things
By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss
The assumption embedded in Silicon Valley’s famous “move fast and break things” ethos is that we can either make progress or take care of people, one or the other. A certain amount of wreckage is the price we have to pay for creating the future. The authors have spent... View Details
- 2025
- Working Paper
Turning Away from the State: Trade Shocks and Informal Insurance in Brazil
By: Paula Rettl
How does economic globalization affect vote choices? Conventional wisdom holds that voters who lose from economic integration support parties that propose expanding the welfare state. However, in the Global South, where the state is frequently weak or under-resourced,... View Details
- June 2024
- Article
Redistributive Allocation Mechanisms
By: Mohammad Akbarpour, Piotr Dworczak and Scott Duke Kominers
Many scarce public resources are allocated at below-market-clearing prices, and sometimes for free. Such "non-market" mechanisms sacrifice some surplus, yet they can potentially improve equity. We develop a model of mechanism design with redistributive concerns. Agents... View Details
- February 2024
- Article
An Economic Framework for Vaccine Prioritization
By: Mohammad Akbarpour, Eric Budish, Piotr Dworczak and Scott Duke Kominers
We propose an economic framework for determining the optimal allocation of a scarce supply of vaccines that become gradually available during a public health crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Agents differ in observable and unobservable characteristics, and the... View Details
- January 2024
- Article
Dog Eat Dog: Balancing Network Effects and Differentiation in a Digital Platform Merger
By: Chiara Farronato, Jessica Fong and Andrey Fradkin
Digital platforms are increasingly the subject of regulatory scrutiny. In comparison to multiple competitors, a single platform may increase consumer welfare if network effects are large or may decrease welfare due to higher prices or reduction in platform variety. We... View Details
- January 2024
- Article
Helping Children Catch Up: Early Life Shocks and the PROGRESA Experiment
By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Theresa Molina, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
Can investing in children who faced adverse events in early childhood help them catch up? We answer this question using two orthogonal sources of variation – resource availability at birth (local rainfall) and cash incentives for school enrollment – to identify the... View Details
- October 2023
- Article
Product Variety, the Cost of Living, and Welfare Across Countries
By: Alberto Cavallo, Robert C. Feenstra and Robert Inklaar
We use the structure of the Melitz (2003) model to compute the cost of living and welfare across 47 countries, and compare these to conventional measures of prices and real consumption from the International Comparisons Project (ICP). The cost of living is inferred... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Spatial Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and Crime
By: Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Daniel Ramos-Menchelli, Jorge Tamayo and Audrey Tiew
Neighborhoods are strong determinants of both economic opportunity and criminal activity. Does improving connectedness between segregated and unequal parts of a city predominantly import opportunity or export crime? We use a spatial general equilibrium framework to... View Details
- August 2023
- Article
Can Security Design Foster Household Risk-Taking?
By: Laurent Calvet, Claire Célérier, Paolo Sodini and Boris Vallée
This paper shows that securities with a non-linear payoff design can foster household risk-taking. We demonstrate this effect empirically by exploiting the introduction of capital guarantee products in Sweden from 2002 to 2007. The fast and broad adoption of these... View Details
- July–August 2022
- Article
How Do Disadvantaged Groups Seek Information about Public Services? A Randomized Controlled Trial of Communication Technologies
By: Katerina Linos, Melissa Carlson, Laura Jakli, Nadia Dalma, Isabelle Cohen, Afroditi Veloudaki and Stavros Nikiforos Spyrellis
Governments and NGOs are switching to phone- and Internet-based communication technologies to reduce costs and broaden access to public services. However, these technological shifts can backfire if they exacerbate administrative burden in high-need communities. We... View Details
- June 2022 (Revised November 2022)
- Case
The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Sweden's Utopia at a Crossroads
By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau
Sweden’s model of capitalism rests on a unique social contract, in which social welfare priorities can co-exist within a vibrant capitalist system. In 2022, however, contemporary pressures were growing on the traditional Swedish model, including mounting calls for... View Details
- June 2022 (Revised August 2023)
- Case
Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems
By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Amy Klopfenstein
In 2021, Gina Lucarelli, leader of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs, prepared for a meeting with UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The two planned to discuss the future of the Accelerator Labs, a network of social innovation labs located... View Details
Keywords: Change; Disruption; Transformation; Change Management; Education; Learning; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Local Range; Geopolitical Units; Country; Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Information Technology; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Dissemination; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Psychology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Society; Social Issues; Welfare; Strategy; Cooperation; Adaptation; Public Administration Industry; North and Central America
- Article
Multitasking While Driving: A Time Use Study of Commuting Knowledge Workers to Assess Current and Future Uses
By: Thomaz Teodorovicz, Andrew L. Kun, Raffaella Sadun and Orit Shaer
Commuting has enormous impact on individuals, families, organizations, and society. Advances in vehicle automation may help workers employ the time spent commuting in productive work-tasks or wellbeing activities. To achieve this goal, however, we need to develop a... View Details
- 2022
- White Paper
Building from the Bottom Up: What Business Can Do to Strengthen the Bottom Line by Investing in Front-line Workers
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Manjari Raman
A significant number of American workers—44%—are employed in low wage jobs at the front line of industries. Despite undertaking some of the most tedious, dirtiest, and most dangerous jobs, low-wage workers are—and have long been—the most likely to be overlooked by... View Details
- September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
- Case
Community Solutions
By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn
Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached in some partner communities, of ending... View Details
Keywords: Change; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Communication; Communication Strategy; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Capital Budgeting; Capital Markets; Country; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Housing; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Opportunities; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Poverty; Welfare; Well-being; System; Equality and Inequality; Consulting Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Florida; Texas
- May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition
By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson
By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable... View Details
Keywords: Marketing Communication; Integrated Strategy; Brand; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Communication; Brand Differentiation; Brand Building; Brand Management; E-Commerce Strategy; Ecommerce; App; App Development; Applications; COVID; COVID-19; Pandemic; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Subscription Model; Subscription; Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; B2B Vs. B2C; B2B; Health ＆ Wellness; Wellbeing; Digitization; Commoditization; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Healthcare; Mobile Marketing; Digital Brand; Digital Health; Consumer Health; Apps; Online Business; Online Competition; Online Community; Online Entertainment; Entertainment And Leisure; Meditation; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Partners and Partnerships; Health; Well-being; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communication; Communication Strategy; Disruption; Consumer Behavior; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Communications Industry; United States; North America; United Kingdom
- 2021
- Article
Fair Influence Maximization: A Welfare Optimization Approach
By: Aida Rahmattalabi, Shahin Jabbari, Himabindu Lakkaraju, Phebe Vayanos, Max Izenberg, Ryan Brown, Eric Rice and Milind Tambe
Several behavioral, social, and public health interventions, such as suicide/HIV prevention or community preparedness against natural disasters, leverage social network information to maximize outreach. Algorithmic influence maximization techniques have been proposed... View Details
- 2021
- Article
Fundraising for Stigmatized Groups: A Text Message Donation Experiment
By: Katerina Linos, Laura Jakli and Melissa Carlson
As government welfare programming contracts and NGOs increasingly assume core aid functions, they must address a long-standing challenge—that people in need often belong to stigmatized groups. To study other-regarding behavior, we fielded an experiment through a... View Details
- December 2020 (Revised February 2021)
- Supplement
The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations
By: Mihir A. Desai and Suzanne Antoniou
How should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants, including Representative Regina Goodwin of Tulsa, believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Judgments; Race; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Conflict and Resolution; Conflict Management; Loss; Motivation and Incentives; Perspective; Prejudice and Bias; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Welfare; Tulsa; Oklahoma; United States
- December 2020 (Revised February 2021)
- Teaching Note
The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations
By: Mihir A. Desai and Suzanne Antoniou
How should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants, including Representative Regina Goodwin of Tulsa, believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Judgments; Race; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Conflict and Resolution; Conflict Management; Loss; Motivation and Incentives; Perspective; Prejudice and Bias; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Welfare; Tulsa; Oklahoma; United States