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- 10 Sep 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Don’t Take ‘No’ for an Answer: An Experiment with Actual Organ Donor Registrations
More than 10,000 people in the United States die each year while waiting for an organ transplant. Policymakers and some economists who have tried to increase the rates of organ transplantation have focused on changing the registration question—usually asked when people renew their driver's license—from a simple opt-in to one in which potential donors have the opportunity to make an active "yes" or "no " choice. The authors provide the first concrete evidence of whether active choice affects registration decisions about organ donation. Somewhat surprisingly, the results suggest that not only does active choice not increase registration, it may decrease the transplantation rate by suggesting to next-of-kin that unregistered donors actively chose not to donate. At the same time, however, experimental results suggest other ways to increase the rates of organ donor registration. For example, people are 22 times more likely to add themselves to the registry than remove themselves from the registry, even though they had been asked previously about organ donor registration. This suggests the effectiveness of making a repeated appeal for organ donor registration. In addition, giving people more information about organ donation increases registration rates. Key concepts include: Giving people the opportunity to make an active choice about donation rather than a simple opt-in does not increase, and may decrease, organ donor registration rates. Asking more than once for organ donation increases the number of donors. We shouldn't assume that "no" is a final answer (i.e., don't take no for an answer). People who are registered donors are unlikely to remove themselves from the registry when given the opportunity to do so Giving people information about the benefits of donation, namely providing a list of organs that might be donated, increases the likelihood of registration. Increasing the number of individuals who register as deceased donors is just one way of addressing the need for transplantable organs. Kidney exchange, in which incompatible patient-donor pairs are matched, has facilitated transplantation of kidneys from living donors. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Aug 2014
- Research & Ideas
Climbing Down from the Ivory Tower
Nava Ashraf explains why it makes sense for field researchers to co-produce knowledge with the people they study and serve. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Jun 2014
- Research & Ideas
The Manager in Red Sneakers
Wearing the corporate uniform may not be the best way to dress for success. Research by Silvia Bellezza, Francesca Gino, and Anat Keinan shows there may be prestige advantages when you stand out rather than fit in. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 May 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Morality Rebooted: Exploring Simple Fixes to Our Moral Bugs
Although scholars know far more now than they used to about the conditions under which individuals are likely to behave, current understandings are still primarily descriptive. This paper responds to the challenge of advancing knowledge of unethical behavior from largely descriptive research to a framework aimed to reduce or even eliminate unethical behavior in organizations. The goal is twofold: First, the authors identify approaches to mitigating unethical behavior based on empirical evidence from existing research in moral psychology and behavioral ethics. Second, they develop a framework for evaluating different strategies with prescriptive recommendations on how to reduce unethical behaviors. Overall they find that ethical fixes emerge in two broad categories: values-oriented and structure-oriented approaches. Values-oriented approaches shift people's preferences to be moral, whereas structure-oriented approaches seek to design incentives, decisions, and tasks such that the unethical option is less tempting. Based on theory and empirical findings, the authors propose that adopting both values-oriented and structure-oriented approaches mitigates the risk of adverse effects from one strategy taken from a single approach. Key concepts include: This paper discusses the power of subtle changes and shows how they can point our moral compass toward a more ethical direction. The distinction the authors draw between values-oriented and structure-oriented approaches demonstrates that there is no one right approach to reduce unethical behavior in organizations and society more broadly. The prescriptions based on ethics research discussed here are grounded in economic and psychological models of unethical behavior. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 May 2014
- What Do You Think?
How Should Wealth Be Redistributed?
SUMMING UP James Heskett's readers weigh in on Thomas Piketty and how wealth disparity is burdening society. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Apr 2014
- HBS Case
Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?
A new case study by John Quelch charts the growing popularity of electronic cigarettes and how tobacco companies and regulators are responding. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Apr 2014
- Research & Ideas
Difficulties for Women Bridging Racial, Generational, and Global Divides
A symposium at Harvard Business School delved into "intersectionality"—the seemingly obvious yet complex idea that gender interacts with other axes of inequality such as race, age, class, and ethnicity. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Mar 2014
- Research & Ideas
Can We Get To Where We Need To Go?
America's infrastructure woes and how to fix them were front and center at the recent summit, America on the Move: Transportation and Infrastructure for the 21st Century, led by Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Feb 2014
- Research & Ideas
Uncovering Racial Discrimination in the ‘Sharing Economy’
New research by Benjamin G. Edelman and Michael Luca shows how online marketplaces like Airbnb inadvertently fuel racial discrimination. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Feb 2014
- Research & Ideas
Private Sector, Public Good
What role, if any, does business have in creating social good? A new seminar series at Harvard Business School tackles this complex question. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Jan 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Redrawing the Lines: Did Political Incumbents Influence Electoral Redistricting in the World’s Largest Democracy?
Most democratic countries undergo a process of redrawing their electoral boundaries every few years, usually with the goal of equalizing population sizes across constituencies. While this is important in maintaining the principle of one-person, one-vote, there is concern that the redistricting process can be influenced by political incumbents to create safe seats, where incumbents are unlikely to face strong electoral challenges ("gerrymandering"). In this paper the authors study this issue in the context of India, the world's largest democracy. India redrew the boundaries of national and state electoral constituencies in 2008 after a gap of three decades. Examining the influence of political incumbents on this redistricting process, the authors find that, by and large, the process achieved its primary goal of equalizing population sizes across constituencies. More importantly, the redistricting process does not appear to have been influenced by incumbent politicians to a great extent, although there is some evidence that the constituencies of specific politicians (advisory committee members) were less likely to undergo unfavorable changes. Overall, the redistricting process did not make a large difference to either the advantage enjoyed by the incumbent party or the electoral prospects of incumbent politicians. An important policy conclusion of the study is that it is possible to implement politically neutral redistricting plans in a developing country, provided that a non-political body is in charge of the process, and that the process is transparent and inclusive of all relevant stakeholders. Key concepts include: The recently completed electoral redistricting process in India substantially changed the boundaries of both state and national electoral constituencies. In this case the redistricting process did not make a large difference to either the advantage enjoyed by the incumbent party or the electoral prospects of incumbent politicians. The redistricting was conducted by a non-partisan commission, but several incumbent politicians were part of an advisory committee for the commission, suggesting that there might have been avenues for incumbents to influence the process. This methodology may be applicable to other countries and electoral systems. It offers an advance in proposing simple measures of the extent of redistricting of specific constituencies, which can be easily computed with the availability of GIS data to match up the boundaries of old and new constituencies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Jan 2014
- What Do You Think?
Do Productivity Increases Contribute to Social Inequality?
Summing Up: Jim Heskett's readers are divided about whether corporate productivity increases make social inequality worse. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Oct 2013
- Op-Ed
Response to Readers: Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking
Following a contentious online debate, Professor Joe Lassiter expands his argument that nuclear power and fracking are the lesser evils when stacked up against coal power, and presents a way forward. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Sep 2013
- Research & Ideas
Unspoken Cues: Encouraging Morals Without Mandates
Harvard Business School professor Michel Anteby studied his own employer to better understand how organizations can create moral behavior using unspoken cues. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Aug 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
From Green Users to Green Voters
Does the diffusion of technology affect voting patterns? Technology is usually not aligned with a specific ideology or political party. Indeed, to the extent that technology raises living standards, all parties tend to favor technology diffusion. However, in some cases, voters may associate a political party with a specific technology. Green parties, for example, advocate for the diffusion of green energy technologies and pursue policies that foster the diffusion of green energies. This paper finds a significant effect of photovoltaic (PV) adoption on the increase in the share of votes for Germany's Green Party. In particular, the increase in the diffusion rate of PV systems between 1998 and 2009 led to an increase in the fraction of green votes of 1 percent, which represents 25 percent of the actual increase in the voting rate experienced by the Green Party between 1998 and 2009. Key concepts include: This study uncovered the impact that the diffusion of PV systems has on the votes obtained by Germany's Green Party. Individuals that use green technologies are more likely to become Green Party voters. Approximately a quarter of the increase in the share of votes experienced by the Green Party between 1998 and 2009 is driven by the diffusion of PV systems. In contrast, there were no such effects from the diffusion of industrial PV systems and eolic systems. This contrast confirms the importance of voters' direct involvement with the adoption and/or operation of the technology for this to affect their voting patterns. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 19 Aug 2013
- Research & Ideas
Studying How Income Inequality Shapes Behavior
Professor David A. Moss is studying how growing income disparity affects our decision-making on everything from risk-taking to voting. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Aug 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Firm Competitiveness and Detection of Bribery
Bribery is widespread around the world, illegal, detrimental to economic progress and social stability, and at the same time it can have clear economic benefits for a firm. While the benefits of bribery for a firm, through acquisition of contracts or avoidance of government bureaucracy, are intuitive and well documented, the costs after detection are less well understood. In this paper the author examines how the impact on firm competitiveness from the detection of bribery varies with the identity of the initiator, the method bribery was detected, and the firm's response after detection. All three dimensions are significantly associated with the impact on firm competitiveness. In addition, the data suggest that the most significant impact is on employee morale, followed by business relations and reputation, and then regulatory relations. Key concepts include: Internally initiated bribery from senior executives is correlated with higher likelihood of significant impact. Bribery cases detected by the internal control systems of the firm are associated with a lower likelihood of significant impact on the business and regulatory relations of a firm. Firms that responded by firing an employee or ceasing business relations with outside parties that initiated the bribery have lower likelihood of significant impact. Understanding how managers' perceptions of impact on firm competitiveness vary with characteristics of the bribery case is likely to provide with useful evidence on how managers think of the costs of bribery. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 31 Jul 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning from Double-Digit Growth Experiences
Double-digit growth in real GDP is defined as a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent or more over a period of eight years or longer. This paper was written as a policy memorandum for the Government of Liberia, which seeks rapid growth in order to reach middle-income status by 2030. For Liberia, current IMF forecasts predict growth in real GDP on the order of 6 to 7 percent per year. The comparative analysis of this paper asks: In what ways do countries growing real GDP at double-digit rates differ from countries growing real GDP at rates of 6-7 percent? Overall, the findings suggest that Liberia is reasonably well positioned to become another country with double-digit growth. Yet as the analysis shows, countries that have attained double-digit growth are not unequivocally a group that one should strive to join. The ultra-rapid growers whose growth has been driven by resources, aid, or remittances have not generally conducted the sorts of reforms to the legal, regulatory, and governance environment that could have generated high growth without such unearned income. They have also not generally invested their rents well in infrastructure or human capital. Moreover, post-conflict double-digit growers have found it difficult to reform or invest well. Key concepts include: Even among the most successful countries, double-digit growth in real GDP has been a rare outcome over the last 50 years. Despite double-digit growth, the correlates of such growth generally leave question marks as to the broad impact on the population of many episodes of economic performance. Although their macroeconomic numbers look better than the slower growers, the double-digit group looks precarious in other respects-notably governance and the regulatory environment. On average, the double-digit growers exhibited a worse performance on every indicator of the quality of the business environment compared to the 6-7 percent growers. For example, legal rights were weaker, it took more time to register property, more money to start a business, and there were higher corporate taxes and informal payments to government officials. Many members of the double-digit group have failed, even after the high-growth episode, to reduce corruption, invest in education, and raise human development indices. Liberia is actively working to improve a number of indicators-physical infrastructure, internet connectivity, governance, and health measures-that appeared in this study as being weaker than those of the double-digit-growth countries. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Jul 2013
- Op-Ed
Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In
After a long period of economic decline, the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy protection last week. John Macomber, Robert Pozen, Eric Werker, and Benjamin Kennedy offer their views on some down-the-road scenarios. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Individual Experience of Positive and Negative Growth Is Asymmetric: Global Evidence from Subjective Well-being Data
Are individuals more sensitive to losses than gains in macroeconomic growth? The authors analyze subjective well-being data drawn from three large data sets to investigate whether economic downturns are associated with decreases in individual well-being that are significantly larger than increases in well-being from equivalent upswings. The authors argue that public policy discussions focusing on the benefits of economic growth often overlook and should consider the psychological toll that recessions may create. Key concepts include: Individuals experience losses more acutely than gains in a macroeconomic setting. Recession years are significantly associated with losses in well-being. The question whether people are more sensitive to losses than equivalent gains in economic growth relates to the famous behavioral finding on individual loss aversion that underpins prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979). Closed for comment; 0 Comments.