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It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

Clear decision-making in a crisis depends on sound methodology and gathering information from a variety of sources. Advice from Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How Should US Bank Regulators Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis?

by Michael Blank, Samuel G. Hanson, Jeremy C. Stein, and Adi Sunderam

Instead of the "watchful waiting" approach taken by US bank regulators to the pandemic crisis, they should use their prudential authorities to encourage banks to increase their equity capital. This is effectively a way of buying low-cost insurance against adverse scenarios that have become more likely.

Inventing the Endless Frontier: The Effects of the World War II Research Effort on Post-War Innovation

by Daniel P. Gross and Bhaven N. Sampat

Investments made in World War II by the United States Office of Scientific Research and Development powered decades of subsequent innovation and the take-off of regional technology hubs around the country.

Market Investors Pay More for Resilient Companies

by Kristen Senz

During a market collapse, investors will pay up for companies considered resilient in their response, according to George Serafeim. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action

by Ashley Whillans and 28 coauthors

Assembling a large, diverse team of researchers to make sense of COVID-19’s impact on issues of work and organizational psychology, this project explores changes that are unfolding for practitioners and human resources professionals.

Predictable Financial Crises

by Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, Andrei Shleifer, and Jakob Ahm Sørensen

One central issue in the study of macroeconomic stability is financial crisis predictability. This paper estimates the probability of financial crises as a function of past credit and asset price growth.

SmileDirect Looks Beyond Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

PODCAST: Teledentistry company SmileDirectClub is butting up against the limits of direct-to-consumer marketing. Len Schlesinger discusses his recent case study with Matt Higgins. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Right Way to Manage Customer Churn for Maximum Profit

by Michael Blanding

Many companies actively manage customer churn but aren't seeking out the best customers to retain, warns Sunil Gupta. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets

by Alberto Cavallo

Examining the impact that changes in expenditure patterns are having on the measurement of consumer price indices (CPI) inflation in 17 countries, this study finds that the cost of living for the average consumer is higher than estimated by the official CPI. This implies that real consumption is falling more quickly over time.

Social Interactions in Pandemics: Fear, Altruism, and Reciprocity

by Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Nora Lamersdorf, and Farzad Saidi

An analysis of 89 cities worldwide shows that mobility responds to infection risk, altruism, and reciprocity. Correcting the SIR model to account for this behavior shows that a balanced approach involving stringency measures, in respect of human dignity, and responsible social preferences mitigates the pandemic health and economic costs.

Scaling Up Behavioral Science Interventions in Online Education

by Rene F. Kizilcec, Justin Reich, Michael Yeomans, Christoph Dann, Emma Brunskill, Glenn Lopez, Selen Turkay, Joseph J. Williams, and Dustin Tingley

Online courses can lack support structures that are often bundled with traditional higher education. Short pre-course interventions can have short-term benefits, but more innovation throughout the course is needed to have sustained impact on student success.

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

by James Heskett

Business schools need to be better recruiters of Black students. How can past, unsuccessful outreach attempts be improved? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Capitalism Is More at Risk Than Ever

by Martha Lagace

Almost a decade after writing Capitalism at Risk, Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that not enough companies are stepping up to fix big global problems. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Measuring the Perceived Liquidity of the Corporate Bond Market

by Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

The liquidity of corporate bond markets is crucial to their functioning. This paper proposes a novel measure of bond market liquidity based on portfolio holdings instead of transaction data. The measure can be applied to asset-backed securities, syndicated loans, and municipal securities for which publicly available data on transactions are not available.

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

by Dina Gerdeman

As demonstrated after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japanese businesses have a unique capability for long-term survival. Hirotaka Takeuchi explains their strategy of investing in community over profits during turbulent times. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Weak Credit Covenants

by Victoria Ivashina and Boris Vallée

Prior to the 2020 pandemic, the leveraged loan market experienced an unprecedented boom, which came hand in hand with significant changes in contracting terms. This study presents large-sample evidence of what constitutes contractual weakness from the creditors’ perspective.

Dignity, Inequality, and the Populist Backlash: Lessons from America and Europe for a Sustainable Globalization

by Rawi Abdelal

COVID-19 has enhanced already existing fissures undermining some societies’ commitments to globalization. Governments and firms need to act decisively to make the models of capitalism in the United States and Europe more friendly to small- and medium-sized firms, more equal in opportunity, and more meritocratic.

Is it Time for Big Apple Circus to Fold the Tent?

Re: David G. Fubini

David Fubini discusses his case study about the future of Big Apple Circus. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Beginning America Over Again with a New Electoral System

by Sean Silverthorne

In a new book, Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter argue for a new way of electing political leaders, the Final-Five Voting System, to revitalize America’s fossilized governing process. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Iterative Coordination and Innovation

by Sourobh Ghosh and Andy Wu

Do Agile methodologies promote innovation? Results of a field experiment with Google show that increasing the frequency and goal orientation of stand-up meetings reinforces integration and value but reduces specialization and novelty in outcomes.