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    New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

    First Look

    17 Jul 2018

    Of special interest among new research papers, case studies, articles, and books released this week by Harvard Business School faculty:

    Should we blame the robots when high tech does harm?

    When robotics and other artificial intelligence technology take a wrong turn and people get hurt, who's at fault? (With driverless cars, will the focus of car accident litigation shift from driver liability to product liability?) Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso explore the links between liability laws and tech innovation in an upcoming Economics of Artificial Intelligence article. Punishing Robots: Issues in the Economics of Tort Liability and Innovation in Artificial Intelligence.

    Time to mingle vs. money to spend

    People who prioritize time over money tend to be more socially connected. In a recent Journal of Social and Personal Relationships article, A.V. Whillans and Elizabeth W. Dunn discuss their study finding that people who valued time spent 18 percent longer socializing with new peers than people who valued money. Valuing Time Over Money Is Associated with Greater Social Connection.

    Creative consultants bring fresh ideas

    During the past 50 years, several consulting companies have introduced important new ideas that strongly influenced management practices. Robert S. Kaplan, Richard Nolan, and David P. Norton show in a working paper released this month how three consulting companies developed several management ideas that made a big impact. The Creative Consulting Company.

    A complete list of new research and publications from Harvard Business School faculty follows.

    —Dina Gerdeman
    LinkedIn
    Email
    • Spring 2018
    • Journal of Cold War Studies

    The Enemy of My Enemy: The Soviet Union, East Germany, and the Iranian Tudeh Party's Support for Ayatollah Khomeini

    By: Friedman, Jeremy

    Abstract—This article examines the strategy of the Iranian Tudeh Party in concert with its Soviet and East German patrons and allies during and after the Iranian revolution of 1979. The article assesses the thinking behind the Tudeh’s strategy of unwavering support for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his Islamist allies, even after other major leftist parties had begun fighting the new Islamic regime. This strategy was a product of the international Communist movement’s model of revolution in the developing world that envisioned new states following a “non-capitalist path of development.” In Iran, this was compounded by the use of Allende-era Chile as a model for the politics of revolutionary Iran, as well as a deep conviction that Islamism could not provide an effective model of governance in the twentieth century and therefore would collapse of its own accord within months after the Islamists seized power.

    Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52375

    • forthcoming
    • Journal of Political Economy

    Costly Concessions: An Empirical Framework for Matching with Imperfectly Transferable Utility

    By: Galichon, Alfred, Scott Duke Kominers, and Simon Weber

    Abstract—We introduce an empirical framework for models of matching with imperfectly transferable utility and unobserved heterogeneity in tastes. Our framework allows us to characterize matching equilibrium in a flexible way that includes as special cases the classic fully- and non-transferable utility models, collective models, and settings with taxes on transfers, deadweight losses, and risk aversion. We allow for the introduction of a very general class of unobserved heterogeneity on agents' preferences. Under minimal assumptions, we show existence and uniqueness of equilibrium. We provide two algorithms to compute the equilibria in our model. The first algorithm operates under any structure of heterogeneity in preferences. The second algorithm is more efficient, but applies only in the case when random utilities are logit. We show that the log-likelihood of the model has a particularly simple expression and we compute its derivatives. As an application, we build a model of marriage with two-sided preferences over the partner type and private consumption. We estimate our model using the 2013 "Living Costs and Food Survey" database.

    Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54695

    • forthcoming
    • The Economics of Artificial Intelligence

    Punishing Robots: Issues in the Economics of Tort Liability and Innovation in Artificial Intelligence

    By: Galasso, Alberto, and Hong Luo

    Abstract—No abstract available.

    Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54705

    • forthcoming
    • Review of Financial Studies

    Social Risk, Fiscal Risk, and the Portfolio of Government Programs

    By: Hanson, Samuel G., David S. Scharfstein, and Adi Sunderam

    Abstract—We develop a model of government portfolio choice in which a benevolent government chooses the scale of risky projects in the presence of market failures and tax distortions. These two frictions generate motives to manage social risk and fiscal risk. Social risk management makes attractive programs that ameliorate market failures in bad economic times. Fiscal risk management makes unattractive programs that entail large government outlays at times when other programs in the government's portfolio also require large outlays. We characterize the determinants of social and fiscal risk and argue that these two risk management motives often conflict. Using the model, we explore how the attractiveness of different financial stability programs varies with the government's fiscal burden and with characteristics of the economy.

    Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54694

    • in press
    • Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

    Valuing Time Over Money Is Associated with Greater Social Connection

    By: Whillans, A.V., and Elizabeth W. Dunn

    Abstract—Can the trade-offs that people make between time and money shape our social relationships? Across three studies, utilizing self-report (N=127; N=249) and behavioral outcomes (N=358), we provide the first evidence that the chronic orientation to prioritize time over money encourages greater investment in daily social interactions. For example, in Study 2, respondents who valued time spent 18% longer socializing with a new peer than respondents who valued money. These findings could not be explained by extroversion (Study 1) or by demographic characteristics such as age, gender, or socioeconomic status (Studies 1–3). Together, these studies suggest that valuing time over money facilitates social connection.

    Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54685

    How Does Product Liability Risk Affect Innovation? Evidence from Medical Implants

    By: Galasso, Alberto, and Hong Luo

    Abstract—Liability laws designed to compensate for harms caused by defective products may also affect innovation incentives. This paper examines this issue, exploiting a major quasi-exogenous increase in liability risk faced by U.S. suppliers of polymers used to manufacture medical devices implanted in human bodies. Difference-in-differences analyses suggest that the surge in liability risk had a large and negative impact on downstream innovation in medical implants but no significant effect on upstream polymer patenting. These findings show how tort laws may affect the development of new technologies and how liability risk may percolate through an industry’s vertical chain.

    Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54706

    The Creative Consulting Company

    By: Kaplan, Robert S., Richard Nolan, and David P. Norton

    Abstract—During the past 50 years, several consulting companies introduced important new ideas that extended management theory and improved management practice. This paper draws upon public sources and the authors’ personal experiences to describe how three management consulting companies created and sustained several big management ideas. The consulting organizations identified companies that had introduced an innovation to address a practice gap or anomaly. It then described the innovation in articles, cases, and public conferences and proceeded to help a new set of companies implement the management innovation, which led to enhancements in the original innovation that made it more understandable, generalizable, and robust. The consulting leaders sustained their thought-leadership positions by creating an ecosystem with senior executives at pioneer corporations and academic/thought leaders. The paper also describes how other consulting companies did not sustain an initial thought-leadership position because of a failure to recognize the synergistic interplay between knowledge application and knowledge creation.

    Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54696

    • Harvard Business School Case 717-505

    Veolia: Resourcing the World

    A global environmental service provider goes through major changes to offer integrated solutions and reach out to new countries.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/717505-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 718-481

    Walmart Inc. takes on Amazon.com

    This case explores how Walmart should compete with Amazon.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/718481-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 518-010

    Lending Club: Predicting Default

    No abstract available.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/518010-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 317-009

    The EC Rains on Oracle/Sun (A)

    Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun was on a fast track until the EC's antitrust concerns about open-source MySQL ignited a transatlantic war of words delaying the deal. Sun's performance suffered and its customers were approached by competitors while regulatory objections were debated and tensions rose between U.S. and EC regulators.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/317009-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 317-010

    The EC Rains on Oracle/Sun (B)

    Supplements the (A) case.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/317010-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 218-008

    Blackstone's GSO Capital: Crosstex Investment

    No abstract available.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/218008-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 218-106

    Valuation Techniques in Private Equity: LBO Model

    This note introduces an "LBO model," the main performance assessment and valuation technique used in the private equity industry.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/218106-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 718-484

    Institutionalized Entrepreneurship: Flagship Pioneering

    No abstract available.

    Purchase this case:
    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/718484-PDF-ENG

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