Business, Government & the International Economy
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- September 2024
- Case
Burn the Gondolas? Venice, the Ghetto, and the Seasons of Capitalism
By: Sophus A. Reinert, Charlotte Robertson and Robert Fredona- September 2024
- Case
Burn the Gondolas? Venice, the Ghetto, and the Seasons of Capitalism
By: Sophus A. Reinert, Charlotte Robertson and Robert Fredona -
- 2024
- Working Paper
Markups and Cost Pass-through Along the Supply Chain
By: Santiago E. Alvarez, Alberto Cavallo, Alexander MacKay and Paolo MenganoWe study markups and pricing strategies along the supply chain. Our unique dataset combines detailed price and cost information from a large global manufacturer with matched retail prices collected online for the period July 2018 through June 2023. We show that total markups—reflecting the difference between retail prices and production costs—are stable over time, despite the inflationary period at the end of the sample. Along the supply chain, manufacturer and retail markups are negatively correlated. For the most part, we find similar patterns across countries, though there is substantial heterogeneity in the split of markups between the manufacturer and retailers. Our analysis also reveals divergent pricing behaviors in response to cost shocks. The manufacturer adjusts prices more quickly than retailers and appears to more fully incorporate idiosyncratic cost shocks to specific products. Both types of firms respond more quickly to expected costs than to unexpected costs.
- 2024
- Working Paper
Markups and Cost Pass-through Along the Supply Chain
By: Santiago E. Alvarez, Alberto Cavallo, Alexander MacKay and Paolo MenganoWe study markups and pricing strategies along the supply chain. Our unique dataset combines detailed price and cost information from a large global manufacturer with matched retail prices collected online for the period July 2018 through June 2023. We show that total markups—reflecting the difference between retail prices and production costs—are...
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- 2024
- Working Paper
Voting Rules, Turnout, and Economic Policies
By: Enrico Cantoni, Vincent Pons and Jérôme SchäferIn recent years, voter ID laws and convenience voting have generated heated partisan debates. To shed light on these policy issues, we survey the recent evidence on the institutional determinants and effects of voter turnout and broaden the perspective beyond the most debated rules. We begin by discussing the importance of electoral participation both for its consequences on policy choices and for democratic legitimacy. Building on a simple cost-benefit model of voting, we then review (quasi)-experimental work studying the effects of voting procedures and of other election rules. Voting procedures (which determine how people vote) primarily affect the cost of participation. The obstacles they create matter more when they occur ahead of the election, when the stakes are not salient (e.g., voter registration requirements), and less when parties mobilize voters against them and when alternative ways to vote exist (e.g., when people can choose whether to vote by mail or in person). Election rules upstream from the election (such as campaign finance laws) and downstream (such as the use of proportional representation vs. plurality rule to map vote choices into a set of election winners) mostly operate through benefits, for instance by affecting electoral competitiveness and the number of candidates. We conclude by highlighting questions for future research.
- 2024
- Working Paper
Voting Rules, Turnout, and Economic Policies
By: Enrico Cantoni, Vincent Pons and Jérôme SchäferIn recent years, voter ID laws and convenience voting have generated heated partisan debates. To shed light on these policy issues, we survey the recent evidence on the institutional determinants and effects of voter turnout and broaden the perspective beyond the most debated rules. We begin by discussing the importance of electoral participation...
About the Unit
The BGIE Unit conducts research on, and teaches about, the economic, political, social, and legal environment in which business operates. The Unit includes scholars trained in economics, political science, and history; in its work, it draws on perspectives from all three of these disciplines.
The following demonstrates one way of classifying the approaches the Unit takes to learning and teaching.
- The Unit examines the “rules” and policies established by government and other non-business institutions that affect business in the United States.
- The Unit turns to history to understand the origins of today’s business environment as well as some of the alternatives that have emerged from time to time.
- The Unit examines other countries’ business environments and their historical development.
- The BGIE group is deeply interested in the impact of globalization and the way rules are emerging to govern international economic transactions as globalization proceeds.
Recent Publications
Burn the Gondolas? Venice, the Ghetto, and the Seasons of Capitalism
- September 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Markups and Cost Pass-through Along the Supply Chain
- 2024 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
Carlsberg: Creating a Buzz in Uzbekistan
- September 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Voting Rules, Turnout, and Economic Policies
- 2024 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
Iceland: "A Model to the World"
- September 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Political Elite Cues and Attitude Formation in Post-Conflict Contexts
- September 2024 |
- Article |
- Journal of Peace Research
Balancing Act: Nvidia's Strategy in the US-China Semiconductor Standoff
- August 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Sudan: Land of the Kandakas
- August 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Harvard Business Publishing
Seminars & Conferences
There are no upcoming events.