- 30 Sep 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Comments on Macri's Macro by Federico Sturzenegger
Rafael Di Tella analyzes a paper by Federico Sturzenegger, the Governor of the Central Bank of Argentina under President Mauricio Macri, detailing the country’s efforts to stabilize the economy following 12 years of a populist administration.
- 28 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Labor Market Shocks and the Demand for Trade Protection: Evidence from Online Surveys
This paper provides evidence on the role played by different kinds of labor-market shocks in shaping individuals’ policy preferences. Specifically, it studies how people’s opinions about trade protectionism and compensatory financial transfers change when presented with six different types of shocks, all of which have the same effect on local labor markets.
- 22 Mar 2018
- Cold Call Podcast
Trump’s Populism: What Business Leaders Need To Understand
Whether you are a fan of populism or not, it is vital for business leaders to understand the debate around it, says Rafael Di Tella in our latest Cold Call podcast. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Oct 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Crime and Violence: Desensitization in Victims to Watching Criminal Events
Findings from an experiment show that victims of crimes become desensitized to violence in biological and cognitive ways. These results may help explain a troubling contradiction in Latin America: rising crime along with decreasing public concern about it. As the rate of crime victimization increases, a larger group of the population shares this increased desensitization.
- 10 Oct 2017
- First Look
First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 10, 2017
Measuring sales the right way ... Does crime desensitize victims? ... Innovation in a 100-year-old medical devices giant .
- 11 Jan 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Populism and the Return of the 'Paranoid Style': Some Evidence and a Simple Model of Demand for Incompetence as Insurance Against Elite Betrayal
Two themes emerging from studies of populist discourse have been “betrayal” and disdain for scientific or technical competence as traditionally embraced by elites. This paper connects betrayal and competence to examine why voters sometimes choose the less competent candidate.
- 03 Jan 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Meet the Oligarchs: Business Legitimacy, State Capacity and Taxation
What role do people’s beliefs about the rich play in the determination of public policy? This study focuses on three policy domains: public-private sector meetings (assumed to be an important determinant of state capacity), demand for taxation of the top 1 percent, and business regulation. Results overall suggest that trust in business and government operate differently in people’s mind. While business legitimacy leads to a lower demand for regulation, this is not so clear-cut for trust in government.
- 19 Mar 2013
- First Look
First Look: March 19
When daily deals misfire on merchants ... Lessons of war for negotiators ... The unexpected effect of electronic monitoring of criminals. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 26 Jan 2011
- Working Paper Summaries
Conveniently Upset: Avoiding Altruism by Distorting Beliefs about Others
This paper explores the idea that people who can take advantage of a particular situation will tend to believe that others would choose to take advantage of the same situation if given the chance-thus helping to justify the decision to act selfishly. In their research, Harvard Business School professor Rafael Di Tella and Harvard PhD student Ricardo Pérez-Truglia test their hypothesis on a group of well-heeled Argentinean college students, using a modified version of the "dictator game" in which both the "dictators" and the "recipients" are given the chance to make a selfish choice. Key concepts include: The researchers conducted a modified dictator game in which the "dictator" player could take any percentage of tokens from the "recipient" player (à la taxation), but the recipient player could reduce the overall size of the pie in exchange for a personal side payment (à la hiding economic activities from the authorities). In general, the dictators who chose to take a large number of tokens from the recipients reported believing that the recipients would choose to take the side payment-that is, to make a selfish choice. The results of the experiment support the idea that people often avoid altruistic actions by letting themselves believe that others are selfish, too. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Jul 2009
- Research Event
Business Summit: Ethics in Globalization
It is impossible to regulate against greed and ethical shortcomings. What can be done is to force greater transparency and accountability. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Jan 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
A Resource Belief-Curse: Oil and Individualism
Capitalism is not as widespread as economists would hope. Data from surveys of public opinion, as well as on the distribution of political parties, confirm the idea that capitalism doesn't flow to poor countries. In some countries, anti-market sentiment has increased in recent years, a period where the price of oil and other primary commodities have soared. This combination of anti-market sentiment and high oil prices has led to renegotiations of oil contracts and even nationalizations in some countries such as Bolivia and Venezuela. It is tempting for economists trained in the theory of political capture to argue that this is just another instance where special interests exploit the circumstances to make an extra dollar. Given that these nationalizations are often popular with the majority of voters, however, the researchers resist this temptation and ask if there are explanations where a positive correlation emerges between voter anti-market sentiment and dependence on oil. Key concepts include: Antipathy toward markets has become particularly acute in Latin America. In Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Argentina, policymakers have focused their anti-market energies and attention on natural resource companies, in several cases even renegotiating their contracts. A connection between dependence on oil and receptivity to populist rhetoric is both natural in economic models and has some support in the data. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 May 2007
- Research & Ideas
How Property Ownership Changes Your World View
When Argentine squatters were granted property title it changed the way they viewed the world. HBS professor Rafael Di Tella discusses his research into how property ownership affects our beliefs and also our attitudes toward capitalism. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Mar 2005
- Research & Ideas
Should I Pay the Bribe?
How should you handle corruption in your markets? On the heels of a recent Harvard Business Review fictional case study on corruption, HBS professor Rafael Di Tella lays out the not-so-black-and-white issues in this Q&A. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Aug 2000
- Research & Ideas
Faculty Research Looks to Latin America
HBS faculty have long found Latin America a fertile landscape for in-depth study. In Buenos Aires, nine members of the faculty presented synopses of their latest research—the raw material for present and future case studies, journal articles, books and new management ideas. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Persuasion by Populist Propaganda: Evidence from the 2015 Argentine Ballotage
This paper studies data generated prior to the 2015 Argentine presidential ballotage, when a government propaganda campaign was used to attack the opposition candidate and influence voter preferences. Results show the propaganda was persuasive.