- 10 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Going Digital: Implications for Firm Value and Performance
More and more nontechnology companies are adopting digital technologies like AI, data analytics, and machine learning. This study of the economic performance of nontech firms adopting new digital technologies finds a persistent future increase in valuation. However, investors only slowly incorporate the value implications of digital activities into prices. Nontech companies with senior executives with tech talent improve performance more than those without.
- 08 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
The Gift of Global Talent: Innovation Policy and the Economy
High-skilled workers in today’s knowledge-based economy are arguably the most important resource to the success of businesses, regions, and industries. This chapter pulls from Kerr’s book The Gift of Global Talent to examine the migration dynamics of high-skilled individuals. He argues that improving our knowledge of high-skilled migration can lead to better policy decisions.
- 07 Jun 2019
- Book
Are You a Digital Manager?
Linda Hill explains how the digital workplace is generating greater burdens on managers but also creating new opportunities to shine. PLUS: Book excerpt. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Reflexivity in Credit Markets
Investors’ biases and market outcomes affect each other in a two-way feedback loop. This study develops a model of a credit market feedback loop, finding that when investors become more bullish this can predict positive returns in the short run, even if expected returns become more negative at longer horizons.
- 05 Jun 2019
- Managing the Future of Work
Investing in innovation: boosting growth beyond superstar cities
Can a Manhattan Project on steroids revitalize languishing US regions and drive balanced economic growth? In their book Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream MIT economists Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson hearken back to the scientific, technical, and economic juggernaut assembled during the Second World War to make the case that public investment in innovation is the key to stimulating growth and reversing rising inequality across the country.
- 05 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice
Three studies examined how firms can use transparency into social and environmental responsibility initiatives to differentiate themselves in the consumer market. Results show that transparency into internal, responsible operations practices can increase sales at least as much as transparency into external, corporate social responsibility practices, if not more so.
- 05 Jun 2019
- Research & Ideas
If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?
Consumer inertia is the tendency of some customers to buy a product, even when superior options exist. Alexander J. MacKay discusses how that habit affects competitive strategy and even regulatory oversight. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Political Influence and Merger Antitrust Reviews
This paper uses a large sample of United States mergers between 1998 and 2010 to study how political connections help firms obtain favorable antitrust regulatory outcomes for mergers. Given that antitrust regulators are subject to congressional oversight, the authors predict and find evidence that outcomes systematically favor firms that are constituents of politicians serving on judiciary committees.
- 04 Jun 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
Israel Turns 70: Does it Need a Rebrand?
When market research revealed that many people associated Israel with military and political conflict, the country knew a rebrand was in order. In this podcast, Elie Ofek discusses the campaign's results. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Memory and Representativeness
We explore the foundations of individuals’ probabilistic judgments, looking to better understand the sources of systematic errors. We conduct a laboratory experiment where participants view abstract images and are then asked to recall what they saw. We find evidence that interference in episodic memory contributes to biased probabilistic judgments.
- 30 May 2019
- What Do You Think?
Is There a Distinctive West Coast Style of Management?
SUMMING UP: Does West Coast Management Need Adult Supervision? Jim Heskett's readers dissect East Coast vs. West Coast management styles. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
US Antitrust Law and Policy in Historical Perspective
Since the late 19th century, American antitrust law and policy has responded to multiple changes: technological advances that have transformed business structures, political imperatives that have reformed regulations and informed prosecutorial discretion, and economic theories that have reshaped the boundaries of government interventions into the economy. Today, antitrust remains a contested field.
- 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.
- 28 May 2019
- Research & Ideas
Investor Lawsuits Against Auditors Are Falling, and That's Bad News for Capital Markets
It's becoming more difficult for investors to sue corporate auditors. The result? A weakening of trust in US capital markets, says Suraj Srinivasan. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Voting Trusts and Antitrust: Rethinking the Role of Shareholder Rights and Private Litigation in Public Regulation, 1880s to 1930s
Historically, judges were reluctant to intervene in corporations’ internal affairs and displayed a particular wariness of shareholders’ derivative suits. By the end of the 19th century, however, they had begun to revise their views and to see shareholders’ private actions as useful checks on economic concentration.
- 23 May 2019
- Book
These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems
Using business to create social change has been at the center of many entrepreneurial efforts by Harvard Business School alumni. Howard Stevenson discusses their pragmatic approaches to overcoming long odds. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 May 2019
- Managing the Future of Work
From gig to gig: Thumbtack’s CEO on the challenges facing contract workers
The phrase “gig worker” often conjures an image of a driver providing a routine service for low pay. But freelancers provide services on a contracted, or “gig,” basis in a wide range of fields from cosmetology to carpentry. In this episode, Joe hosts Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta, whose platform matches hundreds of thousands of professionals with contract jobs across the country. Marco provides a unique view into the shared challenges these varied “pros” face. Will platforms like his provide the solutions?
- 22 May 2019
- Research & Ideas
Forgiving Student Loan Debt Leads to Better Jobs, Stronger Consumers
Without the burden of student loan debt, people seek higher-paying careers, stabilize their finances, and contribute to the economy, says Marco Di Maggio. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
rTSR: When Do Relative Performance Metrics Capture Relative Performance?
Managers are increasingly evaluated based on relative performance metrics, particularly relative total shareholder returns (rTSR). This paper finds that the majority of firms that tie CEO performance-based contracts to rTSR do a remarkable job of filtering out the systematic risk in TSR. However, a significant portion of firms make relatively poor choices in the design and selection of rTSR, a result of weak governance and an overreliance on compensation consultants.
Throwing the Baby Out with the Drinking Water: Unintended Consequences of Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh
In this study, households that were encouraged to switch water sources to avoid arsenic exposure experienced a significant rise in infant and child mortality, likely due to diarrheal disease from exposure to unsafe alternatives. Public health interventions should carefully consider access to alternatives when engaging in mass behavior change efforts.