Peter Tufano
There are 14 articles for this faculty member.
The Consequences of Financial Innovation: A Counterfactual Research Agenda
| Authors: | Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano |
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| Published: | April 7, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | February 2011 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
While financial innovation is often praised as a positive force for societal growth, it also takes much of the blame for the recent global financial crisis. In this paper, Harvard Business School professors Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano explore financial innovation and discuss how it differs from other types of innovation.
A Brief Postwar History of US Consumer Finance
| Authors: | Andrea Ryan, Gunnar Trumbull, and Peter Tufano |
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| Published: | January 27, 2011 |
| Paper Release Date: | December 2010 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
The growth of the consumer finance sector after World War II provided a bevy of new financial options for Americans. These options led to a "do-it-yourself" approach to consumer finance, and an increase in household risk taking. In this paper, Harvard Business School professors Gunnar Trumbull and Peter Tufano, along with former HBS research associate Andrea Ryan, discuss the major themes that dominated the expansive postwar sector, including some of the factors that set the stage for the recent subprime mortgage crisis.
Published in 2010
The Economic Crisis and Medical Care Usage
| Authors: | Annamaria Lusardi, Daniel Schneider, and Peter Tufano |
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| Published: | April 14, 2010 |
| Paper Release Date: | March 2010 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
The global economic crisis has taken a historic toll on national economies and household finances around the world. What is the impact of such large shocks on individuals and their behavior, especially on their willingness to seek routine medical care? In this research, Annamaria Lusardi of Dartmouth College, Daniel Schneider of Princeton University, and Peter Tufano of Harvard Business School find strong evidence that the economic crisis—manifested in job and wealth losses—has led to large reductions in the use of routine medical care. Specifically, more than a quarter of Americans reported reducing their use of such care, as did between 5 and 12 percent of Canadian, French, German, and British respondents.
Published in 2009
HBS Begins Teaching Consumer Finance
| Q&A with: | Peter Tufano |
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| Published: | October 28, 2009 |
| Feature: | Lessons from the Classroom |
Last spring HBS became the first top-ranked U.S. business school to offer a course in consumer finance. Professor Peter Tufano talks about the course and his determination to make consumer finance a broadly accepted academic pursuit. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin.
Published in 2008
Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement
| Authors: | Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider |
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| Published: | June 23, 2008 |
| Paper Release Date: | April 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
This paper acknowledges the wide range of solutions to the problem of low family savings. Families, and of particular interest to the authors, low-income families, save for a wide variety of purposes, including identifiable reasons such as education and retirement and others that are more broad, like rainy days or emergencies. Given societal pressures to consume, and given the diversity among people, it is unlikely that there is a single solution to the savings problem. Yet a number of programs described by Tufano and Schneider have great promise in supporting household savings. Tufano and Schneider discuss each program from the perspectives of would-be savers as well as from that of other key stakeholders.
Innovative Ways to Encourage Personal Savings
| Q&A with: | Peter Tufano |
|---|---|
| Published: | June 23, 2008 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Saving money doesn't need to be so difficult. According to HBS professor Peter Tufano, "The most interesting ideas—indeed the oldest—try to make savings a fun or satisfying experience." As Tufano describes in this Q&A, different solutions appeal to different people. Here's what government policy, the private sector, and nonprofits can do.
Where Does it Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained
| Authors: | Shawn A. Cole, John Thompson, and Peter Tufano |
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| Published: | April 10, 2008 |
| Paper Release Date: | March 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Despite widespread interest by academics, businesspeople, and policymakers, much is unknown about the financial behavior of low-income individuals, particularly those who rarely or ever use banks. Do credit constrained consumers spend money more quickly than less constrained consumers? Do they spend the money in different manners (card-based merchant transactions versus cash ATM withdrawals)? Do credit constrained consumers have different spending patterns than the less constrained—do they buy different goods and services? This working paper provides preliminary data on spending patterns by over 1.5 million refund recipients, all of whom used either a loan or a settlement product to receive refund money faster than the IRS processes would have otherwise allowed. The results should inform the view of policymakers, financial service professionals, scholars, and consumer advocates.
Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis
| Authors: | Peter Tufano, Nick Maynard, and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve |
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| Published: | February 22, 2008 |
| Paper Release Date: | February 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Prize-linked savings (PLS) products are savings vehicles that may appeal to people with little savings and little interest in traditional savings products. PLS products offer savers a return in the form of the chance to earn large prizes, rather than in more traditional forms of interest or dividend income or capital appreciation. The probability of winning is typically determined by account balances, and the aggregate prize pool can be set to deliver market returns to all savers. Prize-linked assets are offered in over twenty countries around the world—including the U.K., Sweden, South Africa, and many Latin American and Middle Eastern countries—but are not available in the United States, where state laws and federal regulations make the offering of prize-linked programs problematic. This working paper provides a first look into demand for a PLS product in the United States.
Published in 2007
Helping Low-Income Families Save More
| Published: | February 15, 2007 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Marketers are quite efficient at targeting potential customers when they have money—that is, at tax-refund time. Professor Peter Tufano thinks tax time could also be perfect for helping low-income families save more.
Published in 2006
Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond
| Published: | July 5, 2006 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Families with low and moderate incomes have difficulty saving money—many can't even open bank accounts. To help these families plan for the future, professor Peter Tufano proposes minor changes to the U.S. savings bonds program.
Published in 2005
Reinventing Savings Bonds
| Authors: | Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider |
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| Published: | July 5, 2006 |
| Paper Release Date: | September 2005 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
At one point in American history, savings bonds were an important tool families used to build assets and get ahead. While times have changed, this function of savings bonds may be even more important now, especially for the 41 million low- and moderate-income American households. Tufano and Schneider lay out a case for why savings bonds should be reimagined to help millions of Americans build assets now.
Published in 2002
Are Assets Only for America's Wealthy?
| Published: | March 25, 2002 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
It's a crucial question: How can this country's poor build up their assets and jump out of the spiral of poverty? The challenge is to create asset-building programs that go beyond savings, expanding into other financial services with higher return rates and greater opportunities, with a big assist from technology, argues Harvard Business School professor Peter Tufano.
Published in 2001
Digital Designs on the Inner City
| Published: | March 12, 2001 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Bridging the digital divide, at least in inner cities, requires a lot more than computer power — although more computers would certainly be nice. According to business and political leaders who focus their efforts on empowering residents of urban areas, access is only one rung on the ladder. Stated one Harlem entrepreneur, "It's more so about attitude." And attitudes, panelists noted, can be shaped by exposure to the wonders of technology.
Published in 1999
Where Main Street Meets Wall Street
| Published: | October 12, 1999 |
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| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Its phenomenal growth, based on its near-perfect fit with consumer needs and aspirations, has made the mutual fund one of this century's big success stories. How is it adapting to the age of the Internet and 21st century change? HBS Professors Jay O. Light and Peter Tufano and three alumni take a look at the state of the mutual fund industry 75 years after its beginnings in Boston's financial district.
