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What the Rise of Far-Right Politics Says About the Economy in an Election Year

by Rachel Layne

With voters taking to the polls in dozens of countries this year, could election outcomes lean conservative? Paula Rettl says a lack of social mobility and a sense of economic insecurity are some of the factors fueling far-right movements around the world.

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

by Michael Blanding

Regular absenteeism can hobble output and even bring down a business. But fostering a collaborative culture that brings managers together can help companies weather surges of sick days and no-shows. Research by Jorge Tamayo shows how.

Do Disasters Rally Support for Climate Action? It's Complicated.

by Rachel Layne

Reactions to devastating wildfires in the Amazon show the contrasting realities for people living in areas vulnerable to climate change. Research by Paula Rettl illustrates the political ramifications that arise as people weigh the economic tradeoffs of natural disasters.

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

A survey of 50 companies across countries and industries reveals business leaders are hard at work adapting to the COVID threat. Research by Raffaella Sadun and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

by Geoffrey Jones

Capitalism has created much wealth, but at the cost of massive ecological destruction. This has been particularly severe in Latin America over the past century. Yet the last three decades have also seen a wave of businesses across sectors ranging from beauty to eco-tourism aimed at greater sustainability.

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.

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; 0 Comments.

Telemundo: The Fastest Growing TV Network in the United States

Re: Henry W. McGee

Telemundo is the fastest-growing television network in the United States, but Chairman Cesar Conde must attract millennials to the fold. In this podcast, Henry McGee discusses Telemundo's David and Goliath rise. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Crime and Violence: Desensitization in Victims to Watching Criminal Events

by Rafael Di Tella, Lucia Freira, Ramiro H. Gálvez, Ernesto Schargrodsky, Diego Shalom, and Mariano Sigman

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.

Emerging Markets and the Future of Business History

by Gareth Austin, Carlos Dávila, and Geoffrey Jones

This paper argues that there are important commonalities about the business history of countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America despite differences between countries and within regions of each country. It is possible to discern a distinctive body of scholarship different from that on the West.

Reputation is Vital to Survival in Turbulent Markets

by Sean Silverthorne

Reputation and resilience are key ingredients that determine whether companies will survive tumultuous markets, according to a new paper by Geoffrey Jones, Tarun Khanna, Cheng Gao, and Tiona Zuzul. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Historian Who Came in from the Cold

by Dina Gerdeman

While much has been written about the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Jeremy S. Friedman’s Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World is the first book to explore in detail the significance of the “Second Cold War” that China and the Soviet Union fought in the shadow of the communist and capitalist struggle. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Adding Value Through Venture Capital in Latin America and the Caribbean

by Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon, James Tighe & Susana Garcia-Robles

The process of value creation starts with the choice of a promising company, extends through the structure of the investment and into the deal management process, and ends as the venture capitalist positions the company for an exit to a situation where it can continue to grow. In all regions, value creation plays an important role in every venture capital investment. Given the relative youth of the industry in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the issue of value addition is particularly critical. In this paper the authors draw on scholarship, industry statistics, and interviews with six LAC fund managers. They also place the material in the context of their combined 56 years of experience studying the VC industry in order to describe the challenges facing fund managers in value creation. The paper concludes with nine best practices that should be especially helpful in LAC as these economies develop. Key concepts include: There are nine best practices for creating value in portfolio companies. Some of them apply to the internal operations of the VC firm while others address methods through which the fund managers interact with the portfolio companies. An unwillingness to risk failure restrains LAC's innovative and entrepreneurial culture. Entrepreneurs in the LAC region are less familiar with best practices in business, such as reaching beyond family and friends for investors in their companies, and most are new to the expectations of active, equity-owning investors. Situations vary greatly between countries. What works in one LAC country may not succeed in another, forcing fund managers to be particularly flexible and creative to add value in their portfolio companies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

The Real Effects of Capital Controls: Financial Constraints, Exporters, and Firm Investment

by Laura Alfaro, Anusha Chari & Fabio Kanczuk

The massive surge of foreign capital to emerging markets in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 has led to a renewed debate about the merits of international capital mobility. To stem the flow of capital and manage the attendant risks, several emerging markets have recently imposed taxes or controls to curb inflows of foreign capital. The case for capital controls usually rests on measures designed to mitigate the volatility of foreign capital inflows. However, controls also have an implicitly protectionist aspect aimed at maintaining persistent currency undervaluation. In this paper the authors investigate the effects of capital controls on firm-level stock returns and real investment using data from Brazil. Brazil is important because it has taken center stage as a country that has implemented extensive controls on capital flows between 2008 and 2012. Among the authors' key findings, real investment at the firm level falls significantly in the aftermath of controls. Overall, capital controls can increase market uncertainty and reduce the availability of external finance, which in turn can lower investment at the firm level. Capital controls disproportionately affect small, non-exporting firms, especially those more dependent on external finance. Key concepts include: Capital controls policy measures range from large-scale efforts to reduce the volatility of foreign capital inflows to a protectionist stance on maintaining the competitiveness of the external sector. The intended purpose of controls notwithstanding, evidence in this paper suggests that capital controls can increase market uncertainty and reduce the availability of external finance, which in turn can lower investment at the firm level. Controls affect small, non-exporting firms most, especially those more dependent on external finance. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

World Cup Soccer: 770 Billion Minutes of Attention

by Thales Teixeira

FIFA stands to generate $23 billion in revenue from World Cup soccer over the next few weeks. Clearly the organization understands "Attention Economics," says marketing expert Thales Teixeira. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Building Histories of Emerging Economies One Interview at a Time

by Julia Hanna

Much of modern business history has been written on experiences in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Now, the unheard stories of emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are being told on a new website by the Business History Initiative. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

To Pay or Not to Pay: Argentina and the International Debt Market

by Laura Alfaro

Argentina's escalating financial crisis seems rocketing toward disaster. The fix? Finance Professor Laura Alfaro, who served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Costa Rica, recommends a radical solution sure to anger banks and fund managers: absolute sovereign immunity, Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Calderón: Economic Arguments Needed to Fight Climate Change

by Carmen Nobel

Former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón says the United States Congress and Chinese coal plants are the biggest obstacles to fixing climate change. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

When Do Alliances Make Sense?

by Michael Blanding

Analyzing drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, John Beshears explores a question as old as business itself: When does it pay to make an alliance? Open for comment; 0 Comments.

First Look: March 19

Sean Silverthorne

When daily deals misfire on merchants ... Lessons of war for negotiators ... The unexpected effect of electronic monitoring of criminals. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.