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Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

by Dina Gerdeman

In the Harvard Business School course Behavioral Insights, students work in the UK with psychology experts to understand what motivates consumers and workers. What they learn can help businesses of all types, says Michael Luca. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Product Quality and Entering Through Tying: Experimental Evidence

by Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca

This study empirically explores Google’s decision to tie its new reviews product to the top of its search results, excluding competitors. Results suggest that such "tying" can facilitate dominant platforms’ entry into adjacent markets, even when the tied product is of worse quality compared to existing options.

Hunting for a Hot Job in High Tech? Try 'Digitization Economist'

by Roberta Holland

Amazon has more economists on staff than any university economics department, and technology firms are snapping them up the minute they graduate, says Michael Luca. Why? Call it the economics of digitization. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Complex Disclosure

by Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca, and Daniel Martin

This study shows that companies looking to hide unfavorable information might strategically be making contract terms unnecessarily complex, harming consumers and undermining the effectiveness of disclosure. These results highlight a role for regulation that would encourage simpler forms of disclosure.

How to Know If Your Neighborhood Is Being Gentrified

by Dina Gerdeman

Using modern digital tools, Michael Luca and colleagues hope to give urban planners a look into gentrification as it is happening. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Nowcasting Gentrification: Using Yelp Data to Quantify Neighborhood Change

by Edward L. Glaeser, Hyunjin Kim, and Michael Luca

This study finds that data from digital platforms (in this case, Yelp) can help forecast which neighborhoods are gentrifying and provide new ways to measure business landscape changes that accompany demographic changes.

Handgun Waiting Periods Prevent Hundreds of Homicides Each Year

by Dina Gerdeman

Waiting-period laws reduce gun-related homicides by 17 percent and gun-related suicides by up to 11 percent, according to a study by Deepak Malhotra, Michael Luca, and Christopher Poliquin. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Nowcasting the Local Economy: Using Yelp Data to Measure Economic Activity at Scale

by Edward L. Glaeser, Hyunjin Kim, and Michael Luca

Data from online platforms ranging from Yelp to Zillow offer the potential for improved measurement of the local economy. This paper finds that Yelp data can predict business growth, as measured by the Census Bureau, before official statistics are released. Predictive power increases with population density, income, and education level.

Minimum Wage Hikes Drive (Lousy) Restaurants Out of Business

by Dina Gerdeman

Do minimum wage increases harm businesses? Evidence from Yelp-inspired research by Michael and Dara Lee Luca suggests the popularity of the business has a lot to do with it. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Promises and Limitations of Big Data

by Sean Silverthorne

Recent stories chart the rise of big data, its impact on business, and how it affects our lives every day. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit

by Dara Lee Luca and Michael Luca

This study examines the impact of minimum wage increases on restaurant closures in the San Francisco Bay Area, using data from 2008 through 2016 from the review platform Yelp. The study demonstrates that higher minimum wages increase closure rates among lower-rated restaurants, while higher-rated restaurants are largely insulated from changes.

Paid Search Ads Pay Off for Lesser-Known Restaurants

by Dina Gerdeman

Researchers Michael Luca and Weijia Dai wanted to know if paid search ads pay off for small businesses such as restaurants. The answer: Yes, but not for long. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

September 20, 2016

Sean Silverthorne

Redeveloping a 15th century palace ... Building trust in online marketplaces ... Improving Jewish leadership.

Prospective Students Steer Clear of Schools Rocked by Scandal

by Dina Gerdeman

Who says there is no such thing as bad publicity? When a college experiences a scandal, applications drop. Michael Luca explains what colleges and other businesses should learn when bad news dips the demand curve. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Impact of Campus Scandals on College Applications

by Michael Luca, Patrick Rooney, and Jonathan Smith

This paper explores the prevalence and impact of negative incidents at top United States colleges covered in the media, looking at data from 2001 through 2013. During this period, the authors identified 124 widely covered scandals. Scandals lead to large reductions in applications; a scandal covered in a long-form article has roughly the same impact on applications as a 10-ranking drop in the influential US News and World Report College Rankings.

July 5, 2016

Sean Silverthorne

Using behavioral insights to promote corporate conservation measures ... Do campus scandals hurt admissions? ... Creating shared value at Nestlé.

When Mass Shootings Lead to Looser Gun Restrictions

by Carmen Nobel

Do mass shootings lead to more gun-related legislation? The answer is yes, with an important twist, according to new research by Michael Luca, Deepak Malhotra, and Christopher Poliquin. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Civic Benefits of Google Street View and Yelp

by Michael Blanding

Cities are increasingly rich in citizen-created data, which can be used to improve programs and services, says Michael Luca and his research colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment

by Benjamin G. Edelman, Michael Luca & Daniel Svirsky

Online platforms such as Airbnb create new markets by eliminating search frictions, building trust, and facilitating transactions. With the rise of the sharing economy, however, comes the prospect of racial discrimination that is unheard of in established platforms. The authors suggest changes to Airbnb’s site design to reduce or prevent discrimination.

Airbnb Hosts Discriminate Against African-American Guests

by Carmen Nobel

Experimental research by Ben Edelman, Michael Luca, and Daniel Svirsky revealed widespread discrimination against African-American guests on Airbnb. Now the researchers have created an online tool to mitigate it. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.