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- 2022
- Working Paper
Come Together: Firm Boundaries and Delegation
By: Raffaella Sadun, Laura Alfaro, Nicholas Bloom, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger, Patrick Legros, Andy Newman and John Van Reenen
We develop an incomplete-contracts model to jointly study firm boundaries and the allocation of decision rights within them. Integration has an option value: it gives firm owners authority to delegate or centralize decision rights, depending on who can best solve...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
Buy Now, Pay Later Credit: User Characteristics and Effects on Spending Patterns
Firms offering "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) point-of-sale installment loans with minimal underwriting and low interest have captured a growing fraction of the market for short-term unsecured consumer credit. We provide a detailed look into the US BNPL market by...
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- July 2022
- Teaching Note
Arçelik (A), (B): From a Dealer Network to an Omnichannel Experience
By: Ayelet Israeli, Fares Khrais and Menna Hassan
Arçelik Turkey, the country’s market leader in household appliances, was at an omnichannel crossroads in January 2020. Arçelik was a B2B player utilizing a dealership network with an umbrella of brands and had one of the largest brick-and-mortar store networks in...
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Keywords:
Digital Marketing;
Bricks And Mortar;
Franchise Management;
Franchising;
Dealer Network;
Dealers;
B2B;
B2B2C;
Tradition;
Culture Change;
Cultural Adaptation;
Omnichannel;
Omnichannel Retail;
Omni-channel;
Omnichannel Retailing;
Sales Channels;
Sales Channel Development;
Channel Management;
Channels Of Distribution;
Marketplace;
Platforms;
Collaboration;
Online Channel;
Online Data;
Online Sales;
Online Shopping;
Online;
Retail;
Retailing;
Disruption;
Transformation;
Franchise Ownership;
Change Management;
Partners and Partnerships;
Consumer Behavior;
Sales;
Internet and the Web;
Marketing Strategy;
Conflict and Resolution;
Conflict Management;
Organizational Culture;
Distribution Channels;
Digital Transformation;
Electronics Industry;
Retail Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Turkey
- 2022
- Working Paper
Social Protection and Social Distancing During the Pandemic: Mobile Money Transfers in Ghana
By: Dean Karlan, Matt Lowe, Robert Osei, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Benjamin N. Roth and Christopher Udry
We study the impact of mobile money transfers to a representative sample of low-income
Ghanaians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement of the upcoming transfers
affects neither consumption, well-being, nor social distancing. Once disbursed,...
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- July 2022
- Article
The Pass-Through of Uncertainty Shocks to Households
By: Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani, Rodney Ramcharan, Vincent Yao and Edison Yu
Using new employer-employee matched data, this paper investigates the impact of uncertainty, as measured by idiosyncratic stock market volatility, on individual outcomes. We find that firms provide at best partial insurance to their workers. An increase in firm-level...
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Keywords:
Employment Risk;
Consumption;
Employment;
Risk and Uncertainty;
System Shocks;
Insurance;
Household;
Spending
- June 2022
- Case
The SAH Group: The Time is Right
By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar
In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, cofounder and CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019,...
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- June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
- Case
Dollar Tree: Breaking the Buck
By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
For thirty-five years, Dollar Tree, a discount retail chain selling general merchandise, had held its fixed price point steady, pricing all of its household items, food, stationery, books, seasonal items, gifts, toys, and clothing that made up its diverse and...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
The Impact of Minority Representation at Mortgage Lenders
By: W. Scott Frame, Ruidi Huang, Erik J. Mayer and Adi Sunderam
We study links between the labor market for loan officers and access to mortgage credit. Using novel data matching the (near) universe of mortgage applications to loan officers, we find that minorities are significantly underrepresented among loan officers. Minority...
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- May 2022
- Article
Can Gambling Increase Savings? Empirical Evidence on Prize-Linked Savings Accounts
By: Shawn A. Cole, Benjamin Iverson and P. Tufano
This paper studies the adoption and impact of prize-linked savings (PLS) accounts, which offer lottery-like payouts to individual account holders in lieu of interest. Using microlevel data from a bank in South Africa, we show that PLS is attractive to a broad group of...
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- Article
Present Bias Causes and Then Dissipates Auto-enrollment Savings Effects
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Peter Maxted
Present bias causes procrastination, which leads households to stick with auto-enrollment defaults. However, present bias also engenders overconsumption. Separation from each employer generates a rollover of 401(k) balances to an individual retirement account (IRA)...
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- April 2022
- Article
Predictable Financial Crises
Using historical data on post-war financial crises around the world, we show that crises are substantially predictable. The combination of rapid credit and asset price growth over the prior three years, whether in the nonfinancial business or the household sector, is...
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- March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
- Case
Pittsburgh: A Successful City?
Pittsburgh, PA, was once the crown jewel of American heavy industry. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the city was an undisputed leader in steel production, boasting some of the largest companies and wealthiest individuals in the world. Its abundance of...
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Keywords:
Economic And Social Disparities;
Economic Development;
Local Economic Development;
Contextual Intelligence;
Contextual Knowledge;
Context;
City Growth;
City Innovation;
City Leadership;
Pittsburgh;
Local Government;
Local Stakeholders;
Business And Community;
Business And Community Relations;
Community Engagement;
Community Relations;
Cross-sector Collaboration;
Innovation;
Innovation Economy;
Innovation Clusters;
Innovation Ecosystems;
Shared Prosperity;
Equality Of Opportunity;
Equity;
Inclusion;
Business And Government;
Business ＆ Government Relations;
Business And Government Relations;
Business And Society;
Neighborhoods;
Race And Ethnicity;
Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship;
Diversity;
Ethnicity;
Race;
Household;
Income;
Economic Growth;
Economic Sectors;
Economics;
Local Range;
Urban Development;
Urban Scope;
City;
Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues;
Government and Politics;
Government Administration;
Growth and Development;
History;
Leadership;
Goals and Objectives;
Philanthropy and Charitable Giving;
Society;
Civil Society or Community;
Culture;
Human Needs;
Public Opinion;
Public Sector;
Social Issues;
Poverty;
Equality and Inequality;
Manufacturing Industry;
Steel Industry;
Education Industry;
Medical Devices and Supplies Industry;
Technology Industry;
United States;
Pittsburgh;
Pennsylvania
- 2022
- Working Paper
Investing in the Next Generation: The Long-Run Impacts of a Liquidity Shock
By: Patrick Agte, Arielle Bernhardt, Erica M. Field, Rohini Pande and Natalia Rigol
How do poor entrepreneurs trade off investments in business enterprises versus children's human capital, and how do these choices influence intergenerational socio-economic mobility? To examine this, we exploit experimental variation in household income resulting from...
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- February 2022
- Case
Sekisui House and the In-Home Early Detection Platform
By: John D. Macomber and Akiko Kanno
To address an aging population and sales declines, major Japanese homebuilder considers pivoting to provide and support an in-home health detection platform, in competition with tech companies. This case considers the point of view of major builders regarding how...
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- January 2022
- Article
Rational Habit Formation: Experimental Evidence from Handwashing in India
By: Reshmaan Hussam, Atonu Rabbani, Giovanni Reggiani and Natalia Rigol
We test the predictions of the rational addiction model, reconceptualized as rational habit formation, in the context of handwashing in rural India. To track handwashing, we design soap dispensers with timed sensors. We test for rational habit formation by informing...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
Understanding Rural Households' Time Use in a Developing Setting: Validating a Low-Cost Time Use Module
By: Erica M Field, Rohini Pande, Natalia Rigol, Simone G. Schaner, Elena M. Stacy and Charity M. Troyer Moore
Time use data facilitate deeper understanding of individual labor supply choices, especially for women, who are more likely to engage in unpaid care and home production. However, traditional time use data collection methods are time-consuming, expensive and susceptible...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
ESG: Hyperboles and Reality
By: George Serafeim
ESG has rapidly become a household name leading to both confusion about what it means and creating unrealistic expectations about its effects. In this paper, I draw on more than a decade of research to dispel several myths about ESG and provide answers to important...
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- 2021
- Chapter
Digital Infrastructure
By: Shane Greenstein
What determines the supply of innovative digital infrastructure and how does variance in supply shape the performance of digital services? The essay reviews research into the economic impact of deployment, innovation, and adoption of digital infrastructure. It...
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Keywords:
Information Technology;
Infrastructure;
Economics;
Policy;
Research;
Analysis;
United States
- September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars
By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Alpana Thapar
In mid-2021, Maaz Sheikh, cofounder and CEO of STARZPLAY, a Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) provider that catered to the Middle East and North Africa region, was wrestling with how to find the right balance between continued subscriber growth and...
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Keywords:
Pricing;
Growth;
Profitability;
Subscription Business;
Business Model Innovation;
Fintech;
Subscription;
Performance Measurement;
Promotions;
International Marketing;
Streaming;
Competition;
Marketing;
Price;
Strategy;
Entrepreneurship;
Performance;
Measurement and Metrics;
Business Model;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Middle East;
North Africa
- Article
Targeting Weather Insurance Markets
By: Anita Mukherjee, Shawn Cole and Jeremy Tobacman
The suitability of insurance products often depends greatly on individual circumstances. This paper examines the challenges of heterogeneity in a relatively new product, weather‐indexed insurance. This index insurance product has been launched in over a dozen...
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Keywords:
Index Insurance;
Labor Markets;
Self-insurance;
Self-protection;
Weather;
Insurance;
Markets;
Household;
Risk Management