Marianne Bertrand

The shareholder-primacy view of the corporation — which gives little voice to the workers, customers and communities that are impacted by corporate decisions — has been the modus operandi of United States capitalism. Why did this view become so dominant? One rationale was a practical one. Rather than being asked to balance multiple, often conflicting, interests among stakeholders, the manager is given a simple objective … [ Read more ]

Can Women Have It All? Using the Data to Find Out

In the contentious and at-times maddening public discussion about American women and their happiness, anecdotal evidence is abundant, particularly from and about superwomen who have had children and achieved high levels of professional success. But one thing is often missing: data. Marianne Bertrand has set out to correct this, replacing anecdotes with numbers, helping make possible a more data-driven, evidence-based discussion.

Cash Flow and Outcomes

As a firm’s cash flow increases, it is expected that its investment in potential revenue-generating opportunities will also increase. However, recent research examining the auctions of oil and gas leases shows that greater cash flow does not lead to investment in a greater number of tracts, a larger amount of acreage, or more productive, revenue-generating tracts. Instead, greater cash flow leads to paying more for … [ Read more ]

Racial Bias in Hiring

Are Emily and Brendan More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?

Though racial inequality in the U.S. labor market is understood as a persistent problem even today, it has been difficult to measure how such discrimination works. Do employers actively discriminate against African-American job applicants? Can such discrimination be proven? What is the effect of improved credentials for African-Americans? A new study offers the answers.