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New research on society from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including political polarization, urban life, and social networks.
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How Companies Can Increase Market Rewards for Sustainability Efforts

by Rachel Layne

There is a connection between public sentiment about a company and how the market rewards its corporate social performance, according to George Serafeim. Is your company undervalued? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

What’s the Best Administrative Approach to Climate Change?

by James Heskett

Addressing climate change is a massive undertaking for global society, involving local, national, and multinational entities. James Heskett asks how such an effort should be managed from an administrative perspective. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Gifts of the Immigrants, Woes of the Natives: Lessons from the Age of Mass Migration

by Marco Tabellini

Investigating the economic and political effects of immigration across US cities between 1910 and 1930, this paper finds that political opposition to immigration can arise even when immigrants bring widespread economic benefits. The paper provides evidence that cultural differences between immigrants and natives were responsible, at least in part, for natives’ anti-immigration reactions.

Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Inter-Generational Investment

by Nava Ashraf, Natalie Bau, Corinne Low, and Kathleen McGinn

For many girls in developing countries, early adolescence is a time of key challenges: school dropout rates rise, and social and economic pressures increase for marriage and motherhood. This randomized control trial involving Zambian adolescent girls finds that negotiation skills can help them navigate these challenges. Girls taught negotiation skills had significantly better educational outcomes over the next three years.

Think of it as Professors in Cars Having Coffee

by Sean Silverthorne

Has the art of civil debate returned? In the new Harvard Business School podcast series After Hours, professors Youngme Moon, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, and Mihir Desai discuss issues ranging from gun control to voice-activated digital assistants. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

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.

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.

Corporate Tax Cuts Increase Income Inequality

by Suresh Nallareddy, Ethan Rouen, and Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato

This paper examines corporate tax reform by estimating the causal effect of state corporate tax cuts on top income inequality. Results suggest that, while corporate tax cuts increase investment, the gains from this investment are concentrated on top earners, who may also exploit additional strategies to increase the share of total income that accrues to the top 1 percent.

Why JPMorgan Chase Is Investing Millions in Detroit

Re: Joseph L. Bower

JPMorgan Chase is making extensive investments into the revitalization of Detroit. What does it expect in return? Professor Joseph Bower and JP Morgan executive Peter Scher discuss the challenges and rewards of partnering with cities in this podcast. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them

by John Macomber

When governments take on a smart city project, it's often the private sector that's left to execute the vision—sometimes at the expense of good public policy. John Macomber proposes a roadmap that considers situation, solution, and sovereignty. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Trump’s Populism: What Business Leaders Need To Understand

Re: Rafael M. Di Tella

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; Comment(s) posted.

One Love: Managing a Movement Against Relationship Violence

Re: Thomas J. DeLong

One Love Foundation is dedicated to the prevention of relationship violence through education. Professor Tom DeLong talks about the challenges CEO Katie Hood faces as the organization works to create a movement and then maintain momentum around community engagement, fundraising, and growth. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

by Carmen Nobel

As technological innovations continue to transform urban growth, many believe the private sector should lead the future of cities—and that government regulators should follow its lead. But in a recent cross-disciplinary panel at Harvard, not everyone agreed. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Could a Hackathon Help Solve the Heroin Crisis?

Re: Mitchell B. Weiss

What’s the value of crowdsourcing technological solutions to societal problems? Could a hackathon help solve the heroin crisis in Cincinnati, Ohio? Mitch Weiss discusses a recent case study. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Op-Ed: In Tackling #MeToo, Don’t Ignore Micro-Insults That Harm Women’s Careers

by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

The #MeToo movement is giving women power to speak out against sexual harassment, but Rosabeth Moss Kanter worries about less visible, but still harmful, "micro-insults" that undermine careers of women. 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.

Fearing Fox News, Democratic-leaning Companies Delayed Negative Announcements

by Jen Deaderick

Jonas Heese and Vishal P. Baloria explore strategies used by companies to reduce the risk of potentially negative press, focusing on Fox News and the 2000 presidential election. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

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.

The Three Types of Leaders Who Create Radical Change

by Carmen Nobel

Every successful social movement requires three distinct leadership roles: the agitator, the innovator, and the orchestrator, according to institutional change expert Julie Battilana. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

by Sean Silverthorne

George Serafeim has a theory that if industry competitors collaborated more, big world problems could start to be addressed. Is that even possible in a market economy? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.