Tarun Khanna

22 Results

 

Board Games: Timing of Independent Directors’ Dissent in China

Juan Ma and Tarun Khanna

Independent directors are an integral part of corporate governance. Despite the copious scholarly debates surrounding board independence, however, little progress has been made in studying the inner workings of public boards. Fortunately, the regulatory environment in China offers a rare window to observe the inner workings of independent directors. This paper is one of the first statistical investigations of the circumstances under which so-called "independent" directors voice their independent views. The authors explore the following questions: 1) Why do independent directors dissent? 2) Under which circumstances is an independent director more likely to issue an open dissent? and 3) Does dissent matter sufficiently to affect independent directors' careers and firm performance? Unlike most of the previous models that view boards as a monolithic entity that "shares a common agenda on all matters," this study allows the authors to see boards as consisting of individuals with different utility functions and to examine board behaviors at the individual director level. Read More

India’s Ambitious National Identification Program

The Unique Identification Authority of India has been charged with implementing a nationwide program to register and assign a unique 12-digit ID to every Indian resident—some 1.2 billion people—by 2020. In a new case, Professor Tarun Khanna and HBS India Research Center Executive Director Anjali Raina discuss the complexities of this massive data management project. Open for comment; 24 Comments posted.

Caste and Entrepreneurship in India

Lakshmi Iyer, Tarun Khanna, and and Ashutosh Varshney

Has India's political revolution been accompanied by corresponding changes in the economic sphere? This paper argues that for the most vulnerable, whether in villages or cities, the social structure has not changed. While Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and traditionally "middle-level" castes have made significant progress at the level of political representation in independent India, their progress in entrepreneurship has been uneven. By looking at the ownership of enterprises across the country, this paper sheds light on two larger narratives about India's emerging political economy: first, that the rich have benefitted more than the poor, the towns and cities more than the villages, and the upper castes more than the lower castes has acquired salience in several quarters. And second, that "Dalit entrepreneurship," a category conspicuous by its absence in India's business history, has become a significant trend. Findings by Lakshmi Iyer, Tarun Khanna, and Ashutosh Varshney show that while the "middle-level" castes have made progress in entrepreneurship, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are considerably under-represented in the entrepreneurial sphere. That is, for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, political gains have not manifested themselves in greater entrepreneurial prowess. Read More

Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets

Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu

How can multinationals, entrepreneurs, and investors identify and respond to new challenges and opportunities around the world? In this Q&A, HBS professors and strategy experts Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu offer a practical framework for succeeding in emerging markets. Plus: Book excerpt with action items. Read More

State Owned Entity Reform in Absence of Privatization: Reforming Indian National Laboratories and Role of Leadership

Prithwiraj Choudhury and Tarun Khanna

Is privatization necessary? In India and across emerging markets, state-owned entities (SOEs) continue to make up a large proportion of industrial sales, yet they lag behind private counterparts on performance measures. But SOEs may be able to significantly improve performance even in the absence of property rights, according to HBS doctoral candidate Prithwiraj Choudhury and professor Tarun Khanna. As they document, 42 Indian state-owned laboratories started from a base of negligible U.S. patents, yet in the period 1993-2006 (during which the Indian government launched an ambitious privatization program), the labs were granted more patents than all domestic private firms combined. The labs then licensed several of these patents to multinationals, and licensing revenue increased from 3 percent to 15 percent as a fraction of government budgetary support. Findings are relevant to firms and R&D entities around the world that depend on varying degrees of government budgetary support and government control, especially in emerging markets like India, where SOEs control up to one-third of all industrial activity. Read More

Are the Olympics a Catalyst for China Reforms?

Tarun Khanna

By hosting the Summer Games, China is putting itself at the center of the world's stage, a position some reformers would like to leverage to spark human rights improvements in the country. Can outsiders influence Chinese policy? Not without help, says HBS professor Tarun Khanna. Read More

Podcast: The Potential Partnership of India and China

Even without cooperation between them, China and India appear headed toward economic superpower status in the coming decades. But what if they worked together? In this podcast, Harvard Business School professor Tarun Khanna discusses the possibility of Sino-Indian cooperation and its impact on global business. Read More

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

Tarun Khanna

Entrepreneurship in both China and India is rising dramatically and thriving under quite different conditions. HBS professor Tarun Khanna explains what it all means in this Q&A about his new book, Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours. Plus: book excerpt. Read More

The Rise of Medical Tourism

Tarun Khanna

Medical tourism—traveling far and wide for health care that is often better and certainly cheaper than at home—appeals to patients with complaints ranging from heart ailments to knee pain. Why is India leading in the globalization of medical services? Q&A with Harvard Business School's Tarun Khanna. Read More

Diasporas and Domestic Entrepreneurs: Evidence from the Indian Software Industry

Ramana Nanda and Tarun Khanna

Several recent studies have highlighted the important role that cross-border ethnic networks might play in facilitating entrepreneurship in developing countries. Little is known, however, about the extent to which domestic entrepreneurs rely on the diaspora and whether this varies systematically by the characteristics of the entrepreneurs or their local business environment. The Indian diaspora is estimated at over 18 million people spanning 130 countries. Given that formal institutions in India remain weak and hence the informal barriers to trade are higher, do diaspora networks serve as substitutes to the functioning of the local business environment? Do they help entrepreneurs to circumvent the barriers to trade arising from imperfect institutions? This study examines the extent to which software entrepreneurs within India vary in their reliance on expatriate networks. Read More

Tata-Corus: India’s New Steel Giant

By acquiring Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus, India's Tata Steel is now one of the world's top five steel makers. Professor Tarun Khanna says the fact that the deal is the largest out of India and generated by the private sector makes this a notable event. But now comes the hard part—making the merger work. Can Tata avoid mistakes made by Chinese companies? From The Economic Times/India Times. Read More

India Needs to Encourage Trade with China

Although India and China have increased bilateral trade over the last five years, the amount is far less than what would be expected. Harvard Business School professor Tarun Khanna says India has primarily itself to blame. From The Economic Times. Read More

Identify Emerging Market Opportunities

Yes, you understand your company needs to compete in emerging markets. But which country is the best fit for you? A Harvard Business Review excerpt by Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu, and Jayant Sinha. Read More

Entrepreneurial Hospital Pioneers New Model

A "Robin Hood" cardiac hospital in India—which charges wealthy patients, yet equally welcomes the destitute—is an exciting example of entrepreneurship in the subcontinent, says HBS professor Tarun Khanna. Read More

Bringing History into International Business

Geoffrey G. Jones and Tarun Khanna

International Business scholars often talk about history, but rarely take it seriously. The first generation of International Business scholars placed a high priority on evolutionary and historical perspectives and methodology, but little work these days grapples with the history of International Business or uses historical data to explore an issue. Jones and Khanna discuss new avenues for researching business groups in history and in contemporary emerging markets, resource-based and path-dependent theories of the firm, and foreign direct investment and development over time. Read More

HBS Center Focuses on Europe

Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjöman

The Euro is changing the face of business in Europe, and Harvard Business School’s Europe Research Center is right in the middle of it all. Read More

Studying Japan from the Inside

Mihir A. Desai and Tarun Khanna

What comes next for Japan’s economy? Masako Egawa, executive director of Harvard Business School’s Japan Research Office, sees a period of fundamental change ahead. Read More

It’s India Above China in New World Order

Tarun Khanna

Can India overtake China? That's the title of an influential new article in Foreign Policy magazine. A Q&A with authors Yasheng Huang of MIT and Tarun Khanna of HBS. Read More

Corporate Transparency Improves For Foreign Firms in U.S. Markets

International companies that interact with U.S. markets are more transparent in their dealings, say Harvard Business School doctoral candidate Suraj Srinivasan. Read More

Governance in India and Around the Globe

India is not known for rigid corporate governance standards. Is software giant Infosys changing all that? A working paper by HBS professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu looks at how globalization may—or may not—foster convergence of corporate governance. Read More

Group Therapy

By filling gaps in the infrastructure of emerging economies, business groups can both foster and deter entrepreneurship in various ways. Peter K. Jacobs explores the research of HBS associate professor Tarun Khanna in this article from Working Knowledge. Read More

The Right Way to Restructure Conglomerates in Emerging Markets

Western financial institutions, consultants and academic advisors alike have often urged the breakup of the large, diversified business groups that dominate the private sector in many emerging economies. But a rush to dismantle these groups would be a mistake, say HBS Professors Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu. Read More