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Corruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China

by Lily Fang, Josh Lerner, Chaopeng Wu, and Qi Zhang

Governments subsidize a growing number of innovation efforts, many of which may face the challenge of corruption. Using Chinese data, this study finds corruption-related distortions in government R&D subsidies, which diminished after the 2012 anti-corruption campaign and rotation of provincial officials. It provide insights for designing effective R&D subsidy programs.

Ratcheting, Competition, and the Diffusion of Technological Change: The Case of Televisions Under an Energy Efficiency Program

by Tomomichi Amano and Hiroshi Ohashi

The diffusion of innovation in many markets is greatly influenced by the presence of policy intervention. Importantly, diffusion is further affected by the fact that firms often also have a say in affecting the implementation of policy. This analysis of the Japanese TV market suggests that firms may delay the introduction of more high quality products when there are across-the-board policy standards.

Should US Companies Still Care About the Paris Climate Change Agreement?

Re: Vincent Pons

American President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change one year ago. Vincent Pons discusses what it means for US business leaders in confronting environmental challenges. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Some Facts of High-Tech Patenting

by Michael Webb, Nick Short, Nicholas Bloom, and Josh Lerner

This study details the growth of patenting in software, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and related technologies in the twenty-first century, and the continuing dominance of inventors in large US, Japanese, and Korean companies. Researchers still need to understand the impact of such trends on social welfare more generally.

Homesick or Home Run? Distance from Hometown and Employee Performance: A Natural Experiment from India

by Prithwiraj Choudhury and Ohchan Kwon

In the short and long term, distance from one’s hometown has a different effect on individual work performance. First-year performance ratings tend to be high the farther employees work from their hometown. Three years later, however, longer travel times are associated with lower ratings, with implications for managers.

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

by Sean Silverthorne

Electronics manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to stay ahead of low-cost competitors, says Willy Shih. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

No More General Tso's? A Threat to 'Knowledge Recombination'

by Michael Blanding

Immigrants bring with them innovations from their homelands, knowledge that local inventors often build upon, says Prithwiraj Choudhury. Examples: turmeric medicine, double-entry bookkeeping, and American Chinese food. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Business, Governments, and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America Since 1970

by Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

This study shows how perceptions of political risk by business leaders in emerging markets have differed between regions. For Latin Americans, macroeconomic and policy turbulence were the biggest sources of risk. For South Asians, excessive bureaucracy was the biggest source of risk. The study is based on a unique Harvard Business School oral history database.

How Companies Managed Risk (and Even Benefitted) in World War Internment Camps

by Julia Hanna

Foreign businesses located in at-war countries are often victims of expropriation. Historian Valeria Giacomin explores how German businesses in the United Kingdom and India mitigated risk and even benefitted when their employees were placed in internment camps during the World Wars. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Op-Ed: The Trouble with Tariffs

by Willy C. Shih

The world's economies are interconnected by globalization, which makes threats of tariff wars doubly dangerous, says Willy Shih. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Government Incentives and Financial Intermediaries: The Case of Chinese Sell-Side Analysts

by Sheng Cao, Xianjie He, Charles C.Y. Wang, and Huifang Yin

This study is the first to examine analysts’ incentives vis-à-vis the government in a context where government has the ability and motives to influence capital market institutions. The paper highlights the role of government incentives in analysts’ behavior and output.

Subjectivity in Tournaments: Implicit Rewards and Penalties and Subsequent Performance

by Wei Cai and Susanna Gallani

Analyzing data from a Chinese manufacturing company, this study explores side effects of subjective performance evaluations in a setting where workers are rewarded based on performance rankings and subject to both rewards and penalties. Among other contributions the paper highlights factors that could impact the overall effectiveness of incentive systems.

How to Get People Addicted to a Good Habit

by Carmen Nobel

Reshmaan Hussam and colleagues used experimental interventions to determine if people could be persuaded to develop a healthy habit. Potentially at stake: the lives of more than a million children. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How to Monetize Happiness

Re: Ethan S. Bernstein

Is there a business model around happiness? Hitachi believes that a happy employee is a productive one, and is investing in "happiness sensors" to prove the connection. Ethan Bernstein explains why in this podcast. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

What We've Learned from 101 Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets

by Sean Silverthorne

Harvard Business School’s project exploring the evolution of business leadership in emerging economies has reached an important milestone. Project leaders Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna discuss what's been learned from the Creating Emerging Markets study so far. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Language and Globalization: The Mandate to Speak English at Rakuten

Re: Tsedal Neeley

Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten, is rapidly expanding into global markets and requiring all employees, where ever they are located, to conduct business in English. Tsedal Neeley discusses the strong connection between language and globalization. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How Economic Clusters Drive Globalization

by Julia Hanna

Historical research by Valeria Giacomin shows that industrial clusters, often cited in explaining local economic growth, have had a much wider impact, especially in developing countries. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Habit Formation and Rational Addiction: A Field Experiment in Handwashing

by Reshmaan Hussam, Atonu Rabbani, Giovanni Reggiani, and Natalia Rigol

This study in rural West Bengal considers the role of habituation in an essential but unpopular preventive health behavior: handwashing with soap. The study finds that frontloading both financial and social incentives facilitates habituation, and agents internalize this habitual nature. Findings help guide the design of optimal incentives to increase the adoption of positive habits.

Marry Rich, Poor Girl: Investigating the Effects of Sex Selection on Intrahousehold Outcomes in India

by Reshmaan Hussam

This study examines the unintended consequences in India of sex selection technology on the marriage market and the bargaining power of surviving women. It finds women in regions exposed to ultrasound face poorer matches and outcomes in marriage.

Using Language to Build a Global Company

by Sean Silverthorne

In her new book The Language of Global Success, Tsedal Neeley describes Japanese tech giant Rakuten's five-year effort to adopt English as its lingua franca of business. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.