Publications
Challenges to Business in the Twenty-First Century
| Authors: | Gerald Rosenfeld, Jay W. Lorsch, and Rakesh Khurana, eds. |
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| Publication: | Cambridge, Mass.: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2011 |
An abstract is unavailable at this time.
Advertising, the Matchmaker
| Authors: | Bharat N. Anand and Ron Shachar |
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| Publication: | RAND Journal of Economics 42, no. 2 (summer 2011) |
Abstract
We empirically study the informational role of advertising in matching consumers with products when consumers are uncertain about both observable and unobserved program attributes. Our focus is on the network television industry, in which the products are television shows. We estimate a model that allows us to distinguish between the direct effect of advertising on utility and its effect through the information set. A notable behavioral implication is that exposure to informational advertising can decrease the consumer's tendency to purchase the promoted product. The structural estimates imply that an exposure to a single advertisement decreases the consumer's probability of not choosing her best alternative by approximately 10%. Our results are relevant for industries characterized by product proliferation and horizontal differentiation.
Read the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/banand/matchmaker2011published.pdf
Accelerating the Adoption of Integrated Reporting
| Authors: | Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim |
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| Publication: | Chap. 2.2 of CSR Index |
Abstract
This chapter describes the concept of integrated reporting, provides a brief history of its development, reviews the current state of practice, presents a strategy for institutional change that will accelerate the adoption of integrated reporting in order to meet the five-year objective, and concludes with a call to the reader to do whatever he or she can to speed the adoption of integrated reporting.
A 2-phase Labeling and Choice Architecture Intervention to Improve Healthy Food and Beverage Choice
| Authors: | Anne Thorndike, Lilian Sonnenberg, Jason Riis, Susan Barraclough, and Doug Levy |
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| Publication: | American Journal of Public Health (forthcoming) |
Abstract
Objectives: We assessed whether a 2-phase labeling and choice architecture intervention increased sales of healthy food and beverages in a large hospital cafeteria.
Methods: Phase 1 was a 3-month color-coded labeling intervention (red= "unhealthy"; yellow= "less healthy"; green= "healthy"). Phase 2 added a 3-month choice architecture intervention which increased visibility and convenience of some green items. We compared relative changes in 3-month sales from baseline to Phase 1 and from Phase 1 to Phase 2.
Results: At baseline (N=977,793 items, including 199,513 beverages), 24.9% of sales were red and 42.2% green. Sales of red items decreased in both phases (p
Conclusions: A color-coded labeling intervention improved sales of healthy items and was enhanced by a choice architecture intervention.
Working Papers
When Smaller Menus Are Better: Variability in Menu-Setting Ability
| Authors: | David Goldreich and Hanna Hałaburda |
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Abstract
Are large menus better than small menus? Recent literature argues that individuals' apparent preference for smaller menus can be explained by choosers' behavioral biases or informational limitations. These explanations imply that absent behavioral or informational effects, larger menus would be objectively better. However, in an important economic context—401(k) pension plans—we find that larger menus are objectively worse than smaller menus, as measured by the maximum Sharpe ratio achievable. We propose a model in which menu setters differ in their ability to preselect the menu. We show that when the cost of increasing the menu size is sufficiently small, a lower-ability menu setter optimally offers more items in the menu than a higher-ability menu setter. Nevertheless, the menu optimally offered by a higher-ability menu setter remains superior. This results in a negative relation between menu size and menu quality: smaller menus are better than larger menus.
Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-086.pdf
Cases & Course Materials
BANEX and the ,,No Pago" Movement (A)
Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner
Harvard Business School Case 211-092
This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress.
Purchase this case:
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/211092-PDF-ENG
Purchase this supplement (B):
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/211102-PDF-ENG
The Sandbox: Creating a Bottom-Up Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Shikhar Ghosh, Lynda M. Applegate, Rhea Ghosh, and Amar Kumar
Harvard Business School Case 811-053
Discussion of new model of social enterprise that applies the venture capital model to social enterprise.
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http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/811053-PDF-ENG
Redesigning a 401(k) Plan at Haley-Midland
Robert C. Pozen and Scott Perl
Harvard Business School Case 311-128
Rose Adams, the CFO of Haley-Midland, Inc., dispensed with pleasantries and started right in on her questions for Jim Sweeney, the senior vice president of human resources, and Nancy Walters, Haley-Midland's vice president and treasurer, about the brewing crisis with the company's 401(k) plan.
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http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/311128-PDF-ENG
How Government Debt Accumulates
Dante Roscini and Jonathan Schlefer
Harvard Business School Note 711-087
This note discusses the economics of government debt accumulation. Fiscal deficits are only part of the picture; other factors include the level of debt as a percent of nominal GDP; the interest rate; the inflation rate; the growth rate; and changes in the exchange rate if some debt is owed in a foreign currency. The note discusses how these factors interact to affect government debt levels.
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http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/711087-PDF-ENG
Oddo Securities—ESG Integration
George Serafeim, Paul M. Healy, and Aldo Sesia
Harvard Business School Case 111-085
The case describes the process of integrating environmental, social, and governance issues into valuation models and research analyst recommendations.
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http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/111085-PDF-ENG
Ultimate Fighting Championship: License to Operate
George Serafeim and Kyle Welch
Harvard Business School Case 112-011
The case describes the challenges that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) faced as a result of regulatory opposition and loss of the license to operate. The genesis of the business idea, the subsequent growth, and the fall of the UFC are described. The case concludes with Lorenzo Fertitta deciding whether to invest in the company.
Purchase this case:
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/112011-PDF-ENG