Faculty & Research

Facilitating faculty research and case development on an international scale

Our unprecedented network of research centers and regional offices in key areas of the world enable faculty to work with leaders, industry, government, and academia worldwide, and to learn from business challenges and innovations wherever they occur. Through sustained work in the field, faculty are provided the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture and values – as well as intricacies and nuances – that lead to truly meaningful and insightful global research.

Research Centers & Offices

More than half the faculty are actively involved in international research, developing high-impact cases and course materials on relevant global issues and innovations.

New Research

2020
Working Paper

Changing In-group Boundaries: The Role of New Immigrant Waves in the U.S.

By: Vasiliki Fouka, Shom Mazumder and Marco Tabellini

How do social group boundaries evolve? Does the appearance of a new out-group change the in-group’s perceptions of other out-groups? We introduce a conceptual framework of context-dependent categorization, in which exposure to one minority leads to recategorization of other minorities when the former is perceived as more distant than the latter. We test this framework by studying how Mexican immigration to the US affected whites’ attitudes and behaviors towards African Americans. We combine survey and crime data with a difference-in-differences design and an instrumental variables strategy. Consistent with the theory, Mexican immigration improves whites’ attitudes towards blacks, increases support for pro-black government policies and lowers anti-black hate crimes, while simultaneously increasing prejudice against Hispanics. Immigration of groups perceived as less distant than blacks does not have similar effects. Our findings imply that changes in the size of one group can affect the entire web of inter-group relations in diverse societies.

2020
Working Paper

Elusive Safety: The New Geography of Capital Flows and Risk

By: Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Ruth Judson and Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr

Using a unique confidential dataset with industry-level dis-aggregation of official U.S. securities claims and liabilities, we uncover the following facts. Dollar-denominated securities are largely intermediated through tax havens-financial centers (THFC) and by less-regulated funds. These securities are risky and respond to tax rates and prudential regulations, suggesting tax avoidance motives and regulatory arbitrage. Issuers are mostly multi-nationals, investing in intangible assets, hence easily movable across borders, but with high uncertain collateral values. Investors require high Sharpe ratio, a clear indication of search-for yield. In contrast, safe Treasuries are mainly held by the foreign official sector and increased at the time of the quantitative easing policies. We rationalize these facts with a model in which multi-nationals, heterogeneous in the default probabilities, enter THFC to shift profits and access funding through offshore intermediaries. An increase in global savings, by reducing debt costs, raises firms' profits. This in turn reduces funds' monitoring incentives. Debt spreads appear elusively low as the ex-post default probability is now higher.

2020
Article
Research Policy

Immigrant Entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the Survey of Business Owners 2007 & 2012

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

We study immigrant entrepreneurship in 2007 and 2012 using the Survey of Business Owners. First-generation immigrants create about 25% of new firms in America, but this share exceeds 40% in some states. Immigrant-owned firms tend to create fewer jobs than native-owned firms, have comparable pay levels, offer fewer benefits, and engage more in international activities. Immigrant-founded firms in high-tech sectors more closely resemble native-founded firms than in low-tech sectors. Prominent tech clusters display quite pronounced shares of immigrant entrepreneurs, with stronger high-tech immigrant entrepreneurs being especially present. Second-generation immigrants tend to show intermediate firm traits indicative of business assimilation.

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Global Colloquium for participant-centered learning

For senior faculty at top business schools in emerging economies who want to be trained in interactive methods of teaching and learning. GloColl comprises a seven-day session held on the HBS campus, followed by a three-day session held in two cities in Asia, Europe, or Latin America each year.

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In the News

- 02 Apr 2020
- US News & World Report
Countries Face an Online Education Learning Curve

Re: Patrick Mullane
- 31 Mar 2020
- Fortune
Coronavirus fight could prove fatal for another global challenge: Addressing climate change

Re: Rebecca Henderson
- 27 Mar 2020
- Harvard Business Review
Lessons from Italy’s Response to Coronavirus

By: Gary Pisano & Raffaella Sadun

02 Apr 2020
US News & World Report

Countries Face an Online Education Learning Curve

Re: Patrick Mullane

31 Mar 2020
Fortune

Coronavirus fight could prove fatal for another global challenge: Addressing climate change

Re: Rebecca Henderson

27 Mar 2020
Harvard Business Review

Lessons from Italy’s Response to Coronavirus

By: Gary Pisano & Raffaella Sadun

→More News