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    Risk and UncertaintyRemove Risk and Uncertainty →

    New research on risk and uncertainty from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including risk assessment and management, economic uncertainty, and disaster preparedness.
    Page 1 of 30 Results →
    • 15 Dec 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Designing, Not Checking, for Policy Robustness: An Example with Optimal Taxation

    by Benjami Lockwood, Afras Y. Sial, and Matthew C. Weinzierl

    The approach used by most economists to check academic research results is flawed for policymaking and evaluation. The authors propose an alternative method for designing economic policy analyses that might be applied to a wide range of economic policies.

    • 22 Sep 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Older People Are Less Pessimistic about the Health Risks of COVID-19

    by Pedro Bordalo, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer

    The pandemic presents a unique opportunity to investigate formation of beliefs about an unprecedented, widespread, and life-threatening event. One finding: COVID-19 makes the prospect of disease and death particularly salient for the young.

    • 31 Aug 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    The Pass-Through of Uncertainty Shocks to Households

    by Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani, Rodney Ramcharan, Vincent Yao, and Edison Yu

    A firm’s stock price volatility during times of uncertainty can significantly reduce workers’ consumption and savings decisions. This paper sheds light on the economic effects of uncertainty, and in particular, how firms provide insurance to their workers during periods of turmoil.

    • 02 Apr 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Strategic Foresight as Dynamic Capability: A New Lens on Knightian Uncertainty

    by J. Peter Scoblic

    Creating strategy under conditions of uncertainty is not easy, so many managers rely on a single analogy to past experience to guide their decisions. This paper argues, by contrast, that imagining multiple possible futures can be a more useful guide to uncertainty, improving judgment and adaptability in the face of change.

    • 02 Apr 2020
    • What Do You Think?

    What Are Lessons for Leaders from This Black Swan Crisis?

    by James Heskett

    SUMMING UP: Readers of this month's James Heskett post disagree on whether COVID-19 is a Black Swan event, but most argue that organizations must be better prepared for inevitable downturns. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 27 Mar 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Novel Risks

    by Robert S. Kaplan, Dutch Leonard, and Anette Mikes

    Companies can manage known risks by reducing their likelihood and impact. But such routine risk management often prevents them from recognizing and responding rapidly to novel risks, those not envisioned or seen before. Setting up teams, processes, and capabilities in advance for dealing with unexpected circumstances can protect against their severe consequences.

    • 16 Sep 2019
    • Research & Ideas

    Crowdsourcing Is Helping Hollywood Reduce the Risk of Movie-Making

    by Michael Blanding

    Hollywood insiders have created "The Black List," which helps surface good but often overlooked scripts. Does the wisdom of the crowd work at the box office? Research by Hong Luo. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 21 May 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    rTSR: When Do Relative Performance Metrics Capture Relative Performance?

    by Paul Ma, Jee-Eun Shin, and Charles C. Y. Wang

    Managers are increasingly evaluated based on relative performance metrics, particularly relative total shareholder returns (rTSR). This paper finds that the majority of firms that tie CEO performance-based contracts to rTSR do a remarkable job of filtering out the systematic risk in TSR. However, a significant portion of firms make relatively poor choices in the design and selection of rTSR, a result of weak governance and an overreliance on compensation consultants.

    • 01 May 2019
    • What Do You Think?

    What Should the Leadership of YouTube Do?

    by James Heskett

    SUMMING UP Readers comment on how YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki should solve its “sustainability” versus "respectability" problem. What should YouTube do? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 20 Feb 2019
    • Research & Ideas

    Rocket-tunity: Can Private Firms Turn a Profit in Space?

    by Scott Wallask

    Private rocket companies are competing to be the first to send paying tourists into space, perhaps even this year. Matthew Weinzierl lays out the strategic roadmap to the stars. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 04 Feb 2019
    • Book

    Green Businesses Are Incredibly Difficult to Make Profitable. Try It Anyway

    by Dina Gerdeman

    Making a business successful is a challenge in itself, but making a green business profitable is an even harder journey. For society's sake, entrepreneurs must be prepared to make that journey, says Geoffrey Jones. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 07 Jan 2019
    • Research & Ideas

    The Better Way to Forecast the Future

    by Roberta Holland

    We can forecast hurricane paths with great certainty, yet many businesses can't predict a supply chain snafu just around the corner. Yael Grushka-Cockayne says crowdsourcing can help. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 30 Nov 2018
    • What Do You Think?

    What’s the Best Administrative Approach to Climate Change?

    by James Heskett

    SUMMING UP: James Heskett's readers point to examples of complex environmental problems conquered through multinational cooperation. Can those serve as roadmaps for overcoming global warming? Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 18 Jun 2018
    • Working Paper Summaries

    A Measure of Risk Appetite for the Macroeconomy

    by Carolin E. Pflueger, Emil Siriwardane, and Adi Sunderam

    This paper sheds new light on connections between financial markets and the macroeconomy. It shows that investors’ appetite for risk—revealed by common movements in the pricing of volatile securities—helps determine economic outcomes and real interest rates.

    • 21 May 2018
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Business, Governments, and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America Since 1970

    by Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

    This study shows how perceptions of political risk by business leaders in emerging markets have differed between regions. For Latin Americans, macroeconomic and policy turbulence were the biggest sources of risk. For South Asians, excessive bureaucracy was the biggest source of risk. The study is based on a unique Harvard Business School oral history database.

    • 16 May 2018
    • Research & Ideas

    How Companies Managed Risk (and Even Benefitted) in World War Internment Camps

    by Julia Hanna

    Foreign businesses located in at-war countries are often victims of expropriation. Historian Valeria Giacomin explores how German businesses in the United Kingdom and India mitigated risk and even benefitted when their employees were placed in internment camps during the World Wars. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 15 Feb 2018
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Can Financial Innovation Solve Household Reluctance to Take Risk?

    by Laurent Calvet, Claire Celerier, Paolo Sodini, and Boris Vallée

    Structured products are an innovative class of retail financial products with option-like features. This paper provides empirical evidence suggesting that innovative financial products like these can help alleviate loss aversion and thus the low participation of households in risky asset markets.

    • 14 Dec 2017
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature

    by Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr, and Tina Xu

    This paper brings together recent findings in the academic literature on the prevalence of various personality traits among entrepreneurs and their impact on venture performance. It focuses on three themes: (1) personality traits of entrepreneurs and how they compare to other groups; (2) attitudes towards risk that entrepreneurs display; and (3) overall goals and aspirations that entrepreneurs bring to their pursuits.

    • 14 Feb 2017
    • Research & Ideas

    A Strategy For Steady Leadership in an Unsteady World

    by Bill George

    Management is tough enough in normal times. But what are leaders to do when their companies are buffeted by global uncertainty? Bill George explains charting a course True North. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 30 Nov 2016
    • Working Paper Summaries

    The Stock Market and Bank Risk-Taking

    by Antonio Falato and David Scharfstein

    It is clear that risk-taking by financial institutions is one of the main causes of financial crises and severe recessions. Yet we know relatively little about what gives rise to such risk-taking in the first place. This paper presents evidence that a focus on short-term stock prices induces publicly-traded banks to increase risk relative to privately-held banks. The findings provide support for the view that compensation schemes should require management to hold stock for longer periods to mitigate their incentives to pump up short-term earnings and the short-term stock price.

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