Publications

June 2014 (Revised April 2015)
Background Note

Affordable Housing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in the United States

By: Arthur I Segel and Nicolas P. Retsinas

This background note explores the basic themes surrounding the government's approach to providing housing: namely its shift from a supplier and builder of affordable housing to an approach that focuses on demand-side solutions and indirect subsidies to private... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Welfare; Government and Politics

August 2016
Teaching Note

Mahindra Lifespace Developers' Venture into Affordable Housing

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Monica Baraldi

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited (MLDL) was the infrastructure and real estate arm of the Mahindra Group, an Indian conglomerate with revenues of $16.5 billion in 2014. Employing 400 experts in land acquisition, design, project management, sales and marketing, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Housing; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Human Needs; Social Issues; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; India

October 2016 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Phipps Houses and the Future of Affordable Housing in NYC

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Lisa A. Chase

April 2022
Case

Phipps Houses and the Future of Affordable Housing in NYC

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han

January 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Mahindra Lifespace Developers' Venture into Affordable Housing

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Vidhya Muthuram

June 2014
Teaching Note

Via Verde

By: Arthur I Segel

Developers Jonathan Rose and Adam Weinstein were trying to determine which of three proposals to submit to the city of New York in response to a RFP to create an affordable housing project in the South Bronx. The site, referred to as Via Verde, was a 1.5-acre... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Housing; Property; Real Estate Industry; United States

February 2015
Supplement

The Affordable Care Act (A): Legislative Strategy in the House of Representatives

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

In early 2009, the Obama administration and the Democratically-led Congress began working on what would eventually become the Affordable Care Act. The (A) case in this series discusses the legislative strategy in the House of Representatives, where three different... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Policy; Government And Politics; Government Administration; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

1990
Chapter

Resolving Local Regulatory Disputes and Building Consensus for Affordable Housing

By: M. A. Wheeler

Keywords: Housing; Government and Politics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Local Range; Conflict and Resolution; Negotiation; Construction Industry

1997
Article

Trading the Poor: Intermunicipal Affordable Housing Negotiation in New Jersey

By: M. A. Wheeler, J. Gilbert and P. Field

Keywords: New Jersey

June 2014 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Via Verde

By: Arthur I Segel, Nicolas P. Retsinas, Philip Berkman, Sean Liu, Jared Katseff and Shawn Tuli

Developers Jonathan Rose and Adam Weinstein were trying to determine which of three proposals to submit to the city of New York in response to a RFP to create an affordable housing project in the South Bronx. The site, referred to as Via Verde, was a 1.5-acre... View Details

Keywords: Jonathan Rose Companies; Affordable Housing; Property; Real Estate Industry; United States

27 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Podcast: Revisiting Rental Housing

state of affairs, how we got there, and how we might improve the lot of the American renter. In this podcast, Retsinas, who teaches at Harvard Business School and is director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Construction; Real Estate

February 2015
Supplement

The Affordable Care Act (G): The Final Votes

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

In the fall of 2009, the House and Senate each voted to pass health reform bills. These bills then had to be combined into the Affordable Care Act and the ACA had to be passed by both houses. Reconciliation had to be used because of Republican Scott Brown's Senate... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Policy; Government And Politics; Health; Policy; Health Industry; United States

January 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

United Housing—Otis Gates

By: Steven Rogers and Mercer Cook

Otis Gates, the only African-American in his HBS graduating class, is an entrepreneur from greater Boston area and has built a successful affordable housing firm. Along the way, he and his partners have contributed countless hours of community service to the... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Housing; Real Estate; Community Engagement; Social-good; Request For Proposal; Diversity; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Moral Sensibility; Fairness; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Housing; Business and Community Relations; Real Estate Industry

19 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Affordable Housing: Israel and the United States

include housing. Returning veterans could not find affordable homes. A condominium costs 12 times annual income; and the country has a dearth of rental units. In Israel, demand for housing outstrips supply—a... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas, John H. Vogel & Charles S. Laven; Construction; Real Estate

September 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

micro Home Solutions: A Social Housing Initiative in India

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

mHS is a social enterprise for the provision of affordable housing in India. After India's microfinance industry collapses, mHS needs to reposition itself for continued operations and long-term growth. View Details

Keywords: India; Loans; Development; Micro Finance; Entrepreneurship; Housing; Social Enterprise; Poverty; India

23 Jan 2008
Op-Ed

A House Divided: Investment or Shelter?

Dictionaries are not static. Some words go unused for so long that lexicographers dub them archaic. Definitions also gravitate to that catch-bin. The plummeting housing market has forced a reevaluation, not just of the financial value of... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Banking; Construction; Real Estate

February 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Asian Community Development Corporation: Building Housing and Community

By: Michael Chu and Alexis Lefort

Based in Boston’s Chinatown, the Asian Community Development Corporation’s mission was to build affordable homes, empower families, and strengthen communities. The case examines whether ACDC should continue pursuing all three goals or focus on affordable housing. View Details

Keywords: Housing; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Urban Development; Boston