Area: Strategy

Close-up of energy meters Research Brief / Energy

Household Energy Efficiency: Not All Upgrades Are Created Equal

Behavior, other factors influence which improvements are effective

Hospital building Research Brief / Mergers and Acquisitions

How Antitrust Thinking on Hospital Mergers Has Been Forced to Evolve

Matt Schmitt’s research shows hospital prices rise after acquisitions, even where local competition is unchanged

Cartoon of large watering can watering workers like plants Research Brief / Operations

How Diversified Companies Can Redeploy Workers to Enable Growth

Experienced hands help new business lines find their way

Workers peer over a coworker's cubicle Research Brief / Competition

How Established Firms Get Disrupted by Allies

Suppliers, distributers, product extenders go from helper to competitor

Male nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair Research Brief / Health Care

How Nursing Homes Selectively Admit Patients for Optimal Profits

When beds are limited, turning away the sickest and poorest boosts margins

Image of a researcher working with equipment in a medical lab Research Brief / Health Care

How Publicly Funded Research Leads to Cancer Drug Trials

Pharmaceutical companies are better able to identify promising new applications for existing drugs

Illustration of a man pushing a shopping cart Research Brief / Corporate Investment

How to Spur Capital Spending: Plan for Failure

Companies might invest more in new ventures if they could see in advance how to redeploy the assets if things don’t pan out

A color image of a sugar cane factory in the background with sugar cane in the foreground. Research Brief / Labor

In a Boom, Incumbent Firms Can Redeploy Workers to Rapidly Expand

Startups lack bench strength, a disadvantage in tight labor markets

Stack of college textbooks on a shelf Research Brief / Education

Is Anyone Happy about the College Textbook Market?

Buyers find the tomes heavy, costly and too frequently revised, while sellers might like to kill the used book market entirely

An industrial chimney emitting smoke Research Brief / Health Care

Like Checking the Weather: Air-Quality App Charts Local Pollution

Information helps users decide when, and whether, to venture outside or exercise

A male medical professional and a female nedical professional examine test results. Research Brief / Health Care

Mandated Disclosure of Clinical Trials Ignored — Especially for Competitive Drugs

Pharma companies less likely to disclose critical drug information than public institutions

Two man fist bumping as they sit in front of a computer at a desk Research Brief / Behavioral Decision Making

Matching Incentives with the Right Relationship

The kind of reward matters less than the type of connection between giver and recipient

Nursing home at night - looking through multiple windows Feature / COVID-19

Medicare Ratings Didn’t Predict Nursing Homes’ Initial COVID-19 Vulnerability

Rate of spread in the surrounding community was a bigger indicator of risk

A couple watching TV Research Brief / Compensation

New Technology Lifted Pay, Especially for the Bosses

Top executives saw much larger gains after broadband adoption than the workers below them

Illustration of a man chasing money floating away while chained to a ball Feature / Compensation

Noncompete Agreements Reduce Worker Pay — and Overall Economic Activity

Researchers refute earlier claims

Vacuum cleaner sucking money on white background. Research Brief / Health Care

Nursing Home Industry Profits Obscured by Related-Party Transactions

Management and real estate deals to owners’ firms siphon off most profits