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- June 2021
- Case
Acelero Learning
By: Mario Small, Kathleen L. McGinn, Amy Klopfenstein and Katherine Chen
In November 2020, Henry Wilde, co-founder and CEO of Acelero, Inc., must decide whether to change his company’s program model for delivering early childhood education to low-income children. One of the only for-profit Head Start providers in the United States, Acelero...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Targeting High Ability Entrepreneurs Using Community Information: Mechanism Design in the Field
Identifying high-growth microentrepreneurs in low-income countries remains a challenge due to a scarcity of verifiable information. With a cash grant experiment in India we demonstrate that community knowledge can help target high-growth microentrepreneurs; while the...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
In the Red: Overdrafts, Payday Lending and the Underbanked
The reordering of transactions from “high-to-low” is a controversial bank practice thought to maximize fees paid by low-income customers on overdrawn accounts. We exploit multiple class-action lawsuits resulting in mandatory changes to this practice, coupled with...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
The Market for Healthcare in Low Income Countries
By: Reshmaan Hussam, Abhijit Banerjee, Jishnu Das, Jeffrey Hammer and Aakash Mohpal
New research clearly identifies trust as an important driver of the demand for healthcare. However, doctors who realize that patients may not trust them may also alter their behavior in response. We assemble a large dataset that assesses clinical performance using...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
Income Volatility Increases Financial Impatience
By: Colin West, A.V. Whillans and Sanford DeVoe
Using a multi-method approach, we investigate whether income volatility is associated with financial impatience—the preference to receive a small sum of money immediately over a larger sum of money later. We find that experiencing more income volatility—including a...
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Keywords:
Income Volatility;
Compensation;
Impatience;
Time Preferences;
Income;
Personal Finance;
Behavior;
Demographics;
Policy
- September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Algramo
By: Michael Chu, Monica Silva and Mariana Cal
Founded in 2013 by José Manuel Moller in Chile, Algramo first became known for addressing the “poverty tax” (the surcharge paid by lower income families for staples sold in smaller sizes) through specially-designed dispensers in low-income neighborhood grocery stores...
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Keywords:
Packaging-as-a-wallet;
Plastic Waste;
Business At The Base Of The Pyramid;
Reusable Packaging;
Alliances With FMCGs To Meet ESG Goals;
Social Entrepreneurship;
Environmental Sustainability;
Strategy;
Value Creation;
Goals and Objectives;
Business Model;
Consumer Products Industry;
Latin America;
South America;
Chile
- August 2020 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
PayPal: The Next Chapter
By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb
Can a social purpose and stakeholder capitalism confer a powerful competitive advantage in the age of COVID-19? For PayPal, the answer is yes. After spinning off from eBay in a 2015 IPO, the company declared its purpose as "democratizing financial services" by ensuring...
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- August 2020
- Supplement
Mary Guerrero and the Advancement of Latinx Talent: Developing an Employee Resource Group at a Top Tier Bank (B)
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Amy Hernandez Turcios
Mary Guerrero decided to pursue the challenging road and kicked off Hispanic/Latinx Advancement and Career Engagement (HACE) at her Bulge Bracket Bank (BBB). For Mary, her larger purpose was to advance Latinx talent in the U.S. because she believed it was important for...
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- July 2020
- Article
Higher Economic Inequality Intensifies the Financial Hardship of People Living in Poverty by Fraying the Community Buffer
By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Barnabas Szaszi, Marcel Lukas, David Smerdon, Jaideep Prabhu and Elke U. Weber
The current research investigates whether higher economic inequality disproportionately intensifies the financial hardship of low-income individuals. We propose that higher economic inequality increases financial hardship for low-income individuals by reducing their...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets
By: Alberto Cavallo
The COVID-19 Pandemic has led to changes in expenditure patterns that can introduce significant bias in the measurement of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation. I use publicly-available data on credit and debit card transactions to update the official CPI weights and...
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- May 2020
- Article
Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Inter-Generational Investment
By: Nava Ashraf, Natalie Bau, Corinne Low and Kathleen McGinn
Using a randomized control trial, we examine whether offering adolescent girls nonmaterial resources—specifically, negotiation skills—can improve educational outcomes in a low-income country. In so doing, we provide the first evidence on the effects of an intervention...
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- 2020
- Working Paper
Did Technology Contribute to the Housing Boom? Evidence from MERS
By: Emily Williams and Stefan Lewellen
We examine the effects of the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, on mortgage origination volumes and foreclosure rates prior to the Great Recession. MERS was introduced in the late 1990s and significantly reduced the cost and time associated with...
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- September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
- Case
Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding
This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its...
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Keywords:
Keroche;
Alcohol;
Wine;
Manufacturing;
Informal Market;
Regulation;
Illicit;
Illegal;
Shutdown;
Factory;
Low-income Consumers;
Multinational;
Local;
Government;
Allegations;
Accusations;
Negative Press;
EABL;
Tusker;
Beer;
SAB;
Chang'aa;
Naivasha;
Rift Valley;
East Africa;
Lawsuit;
Legal Battle;
Business Ventures;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Startups;
Production;
Safety;
Quality;
Distribution;
Small Business;
Family Business;
Crime and Corruption;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decisions;
Income;
Demographics;
Geographic Scope;
Geographic Location;
Goods and Commodities;
Government Legislation;
Growth and Development;
Business History;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Laws and Statutes;
Lawfulness;
Goals and Objectives;
Consumer Behavior;
Market Entry and Exit;
Problems and Challenges;
Social Issues;
Poverty;
Strategy;
Competition;
Entrepreneurship;
Manufacturing Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Kenya;
Nairobi;
Africa
- September 2019
- Supplement
Keroche (B): Considering Entry into the Kenyan Beer Market
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding
This case discusses the situation of the Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche in July 2004, when co-founder Tabitha Karanja was debating whether to enter the Kenyan beer market. Doing so would mean direct competition with the multinational EABL in an industry and...
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Keywords:
Keroche;
Alcohol;
Alcoholic Drinks;
Alcoholic Beverages;
Beverages;
Drinks;
Wine Industry;
Wine;
Fortified Wine;
Viena;
Beer;
Beer Market;
Manufacturing;
Production Capacity;
Capacity;
Growth;
Regulated;
Unregulated;
Informal;
Informal Market;
Regulation;
Illicit;
Illegal;
Substandard;
Dangerous;
Shutdown;
Factory;
Safe;
Affordable;
Low-income Consumers;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Startups;
Production;
Investment;
Safety;
Quality;
Small Business;
Family Business;
Crime and Corruption;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decisions;
Income;
Demographics;
Geographic Scope;
Geographic Location;
Goods and Commodities;
Government Legislation;
Growth and Development;
Business History;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Laws and Statutes;
Lawfulness;
Goals and Objectives;
Consumer Behavior;
Market Entry and Exit;
Problems and Challenges;
Social Issues;
Poverty;
Strategy;
Competition;
Entrepreneurship;
Marketing;
Manufacturing Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Kenya;
Nairobi;
Africa
- September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
- Supplement
Keroche (C): The Excise Tax Increase
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding
This case discusses the Kenyan government’s decision to increase excise taxes on wines in 2007. The tax increase would cause an average increase in price of 367% on Keroche’s fortified wines. Meanwhile, Keroche’s competitor EABL had effectively lobbied the government...
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Keywords:
Keroche;
Alcohol;
Alcoholic Drinks;
Alcoholic Beverages;
Beverages;
Drinks;
Wine Industry;
Wine;
Fortified Wine;
Business Ventures;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Startups;
Small Business;
Family Business;
Crime and Corruption;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decisions;
Income;
Demographics;
Geographic Scope;
Geographic Location;
Goods and Commodities;
Government Legislation;
Growth and Development;
Business History;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Laws and Statutes;
Lawfulness;
Goals and Objectives;
Consumer Behavior;
Market Entry and Exit;
Problems and Challenges;
Safety;
Social Issues;
Poverty;
Strategy;
Competition;
Entrepreneurship;
Manufacturing Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Kenya;
Nairobi;
Africa
- March 2018 (Revised June 2018)
- Case
City Year at 30: Toward Long-Term Impact
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and James Weber
In 2018, City Year was a 30-year-old nonprofit that recruited and organized teams of young-adult “volunteers” (corps teams) to provide a year of citizen service. It had 3,100 corps members serving in 327 schools located in 28 U.S. cities. In its early decades, City...
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Keywords:
Education;
Service Operations;
Nonprofit Organizations;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Performance Efficiency;
Resource Allocation;
Change Management;
Social Entrepreneurship;
Middle School Education;
Secondary Education;
Philanthropy and Charitable Giving;
Human Capital;
Growth Management;
Service Delivery;
Organizational Design;
Social Enterprise;
Poverty;
United States
- July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
- Case
Propel
By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra
In 2014, Jimmy Chen, a former product manager at Facebook, founded the start-up Propel to build software for low-income Americans. After conducting in-depth behavioral research, Chen and his small team in New York City began to develop technology to address the...
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Keywords:
Public Entrepreneurship;
Govtech;
Food Stamps;
EBT;
Mobile App;
User Research;
Financial Services Referrals;
Grocery Marketing;
Customer Discovery;
Social Entrepreneurship;
Entrepreneurship;
Public Sector;
Business Model;
Research;
Social Enterprise;
Poverty;
Welfare;
Mobile Technology;
Software;
Technology Industry;
United States
- June 2017
- Case
Guillermo Jaime—An Endeavor Entrepreneur
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia
Guillermo Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a for-profit company providing affordable housing to low-income Mexicans living at the base of the pyramid (BOP). This case tells the story of Jaime and Endeavor, a nonprofit dedicated to...
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- June 2017
- Case
MIA: Profit at the Base of the Pyramid
By: Lynda M. Applegate, José Antonio Dávila Castilla, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia
In January 2016, Guillermo Jaime had just returned home to Mexico City after attending a Harvard Business School executive education program. Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a company providing affordable housing to low-income...
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- Summer 2017
- Article
Measuring Consumer Preferences for Video Content Provision via Cord-Cutting Behavior
By: Jeffrey Prince and Shane Greenstein
The television industry is undergoing a generational shift in structure; however, many demand-side determinants are still not well understood. We model how consumers choose video content provision among over-the-air (OTA), paid subscription to cable or satellite, and...
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