- 2016
- New York: Oxford University Press
Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health: A Case-Based Approach to Sustainable Business
Abstract—The public health footprint associated with corporate behavior has come under increased scrutiny in the last decade, with an increased expectation that private profit not come at the expense of consumer welfare. Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health assembles 17 case studies at the intersection of business and public health to illustrate how each side can inform and benefit the other. Through contemporary examples from a variety of industries and geographies, this collection provides students with an appreciation for the importance of consumer empowerment and consumer behavior in shaping both health and corporate outcomes.
Publisher's link: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/consumers-corporations-and-public-health-9780190235123?facet_narrowbytype_facet=Books%20for%20Courses&lang=3n&cc=us#
- 2016
- Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance
Antonio Serra and the Economics of Good Government
Abstract—Little is known of Antonio Serra except that he wrote his extraordinary 1613 Short Treatise on the Causes That Make Kingdoms Abound in Gold and Silver even in the Absence of Mines in a Neapolitan jail and that he died there soon afterwards. However, the influence of this work represents a watershed not only in the discipline of economics but also in the history of social science and intellectual history more generally. In this book, some of the world’s leading economists and experts on Serra explore the enduring appeal of his Short Treatise. The authors analyse the work in its historical, economic, cultural, and intellectual contexts, exploring the finer details of his theories regarding economic development and international financial interactions, as well as his indebtedness to earlier Renaissance traditions. The book also uncovers new material relating to Serra’s life and provides in-depth interpretation of his key insights, influences, and political economy. This book highlights the parallels between issues discussed by Serra and modern political and scholarly consciousness and illustrates the importance and influences of historical debate in modern economic thinking.
Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51063
- in press
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Flying into a Rage: Physical and Situational Inequality on Airplanes Predict Air Rage
Abstract—We posit that the modern airplane is a social microcosm of class-based society, and that the increasing incidence of “air rage” can be understood through the lens of inequality. Research on inequality typically examines the effects of relatively fixed, macrostructural forms of inequality, such as socioeconomic status; we examine how temporary exposure to both physical and situational inequality, induced by the design of environments, can foster antisocial behavior. We use a complete set of all onboard air rage incidents over several years from a large, international airline to test our predictions. Physical inequality on airplanes—that is, the presence of a first class cabin—is associated with more frequent air rage incidents in economy class. Situational inequality—boarding from the front (requiring walking through the first class cabin) versus the middle of the plane—also significantly increases the odds of air rage in both economy and first class. We show that physical design that highlights inequality can trigger antisocial behavior on airplanes. More broadly, these results point to the importance of considering the design of environments—from airplanes to office layouts to stadium seating—in understanding both the form and emergence of antisocial behavior.
Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51072
- forthcoming
- Games and Economic Behavior
Contract Design and Stability in Many-to-Many Matching
Abstract—We develop a model of many-to-many matching with contracts that subsumes as special cases many-to-many matching markets and buyer/seller markets with heterogeneous and indivisible goods. In our setting, substitutable preferences are sufficient to guarantee the existence of stable outcomes; moreover, in contrast to results for the setting of many-to-one matching with contracts, if any agent’s preferences are not substitutable, then the existence of a stable outcome cannot be guaranteed. In many-to-many matching with contracts, a new market design issue arises: the design of the contract language can impact the set of stable outcomes. Bundling contractual primitives encourages substitutability of agents’ preferences over contracts and makes stable outcomes more likely to exist; however, bundling also makes the contractual language less expressive. Consequently, in choosing contract language, market designers face a tradeoff between expressiveness and stability.
Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51049
- in press
- Economic Growth and the Origins of Modern Political Economy: Economic Reasons of State, 1500–2000
Achtung! Banditi! An Alternate Genealogy of the Market
Abstract—No abstract available.
Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51066
- 2016
- Antonio Serra and the Economics of Good Government
Authority and Expertise at the Origins of Macroeconomics
Abstract—No abstract available.
Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51070
The Impact of Mass Shootings on Gun Policy
Abstract—There have been dozens of high-profile mass shootings in recent decades. This paper presents three main findings about the impact of mass shootings on gun policy. First, mass shootings evoke large policy responses. A single mass shooting leads to a 15% increase in the number of firearms bills introduced within a state in the year after a mass shooting. This effect increases with the number of fatalities. Second, mass shootings account for only 0.3% of all gun deaths but have an outsized influence relative to other homicides. Our estimates suggest that the per-death impact of mass shootings on bills introduced is about 66 times as large as the impact of individual gun homicides in non-mass shooting incidents. Third, when looking at enacted laws, the impact of mass shootings depends on the party in power. A mass shooting increases the number of enacted laws that loosen gun restrictions by 75% in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature.
Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51060
- Harvard Business School Case 516-079
Fair & Lovely vs. Dark Is Beautiful
Women of Worth (WOW) is an organization that seeks to empower women through training and workshops. The organization has also fought against discrimination based on the color of a person's skin through its “Dark is Beautiful” campaign—endorsed by well-known actor-director Nandita Das. However, despite the recent guidelines on advertising of skin-lightening products, many Indians still aspire to have fair skin. The sale of fairness creams continues to contribute to over 50% of the facial care market. Given this, what should WOW do to fight skin-color based discrimination?
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- Harvard Business School Case 516-004
Planters Nuts
No abstract available.
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- Harvard Business School Case 516-012
Planters Nuts (B): The Power of the Peanut
No abstract available.
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- Harvard Business School Case 816-030
Yabbly (A)
In November 2013, with less than 10 months of cash on hand, Tom Leung, the founder and CEO of Yabbly, must decide where to focus his resources. His startup, a question-and-answer application for shopping decisions, had benefited from a strong showing at the SXSW Accelerator competition and had a dedicated and engaged user base. However, Leung knew that the current growth trajectory would not lead them to the milestones needed to receive an additional round of financing. Leung must decide whether to continue pursuing user acquisition experiments, explore other product ideas, or begin searching for a potential acquirer to achieve a "soft landing" for his team and his investors.
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- Harvard Business School Case 816-032
Yabbly and the Anthology MVP (A)
In July 2014, after 18 months and eight unsuccessful product launches, the CEO of Yabbly has agreed to sell his company to a larger, well-funded startup, providing a return of capital for his investors and a home for his team. Two weeks prior to the scheduled closing, the team launches a final experiment based on the results of a customer interview. After creating a quick landing page and announcing the product launch through social media channels, the company finds significant customer interest. With only two weeks of promising data, the CEO must decide whether or not to abandon the planned sale to pursue the new product, and if so, what terms he should offer new and existing investors to finance the next phase of product development.
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- Harvard Business School Case 815-110
NXTP Labs: An Innovative Accelerator Model
This case follows a unique accelerator fund in Latin America, facing challenges on how to keep growing, including development of venture capital fund and leveraging of entrepreneur ecosystem.
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- Harvard Business School Case 716-402
Amazon.com, 2016
On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and investment in new business areas over profits, but pressure from analysts was mounting as growth was slowing and profits were failing to materialize. In 2014, Amazon had recorded a net loss of $241 million on revenues of $89 billion, in stark contrast to China’s leading Internet player Alibaba, which reported $3.9 billion of net income on revenue of $12.3 billion. While Alibaba was a third-party marketplace with no distribution or inventory holding, Amazon’s business model was more diverse. Amazon was primarily an online retail department store, offering a wide range of product categories, but it also maintained a significant third-party marketplace where it offered shipping, customer service, payment processing, and return services to independent retailers. Amazon also offered software and cloud storage services, online video streaming, and its own line of electronic hardware (mobile, e-reader, and smart television products). In addition, Amazon published books, hosted its own app store, funded video content development, and operated Amazon Prime, an annual membership program with a wide range of benefits. Indeed, Amazon’s activities overlapped with those of Apple, Google, eBay, Alibaba, and many other companies. Amazon had proven itself to be aggressive and resilient during the dotcom crash and a revenue-focused, secretive corporation in the years after, providing little information on the profitability of its lines of business, many of which were believed to be unprofitable. Which businesses would drive Amazon’s future growth? Would the investments Amazon was making in market share eventually translate into profits? Or would another major competitor or business model replace Amazon? On a visit to the United States in June 2015, Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba, stated, “We’re not coming here to compete.” Could Amazon or its investors afford to believe him?
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https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/716402-PDF-ENG