A note from the Directors
With the onset of 2022, the world continues to adjust to the huge shifts created by the global pandemic. In the United States, we are grappling with rising rates of inflation that we have not seen in a generation. The central economic challenge ahead for the U.S. will be achieving a gradual soft landing from the Federal Reserve’s reduction in quantitative easing and potential interest rate increases. At the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, our faculty and affiliates are working diligently to address many of the challenges we face: public health, fiscal and monetary policy, climate change and growing inequality both at home and abroad, growing political and economic tensions between the U.S. and China, and shifts in the global economy more generally. There is also ongoing work defining the role of businesses in helping address these issues. We are proud of this fine work at this important time and we are delighted to share some highlights of that work with you here. We are grateful for your partnership and engagement which enables this important scholarship.
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Senior fellow applications due 3/1
M-RCBG is currently seeking applicants for its Senior Fellow Program from those who can contribute to understanding the rapidly evolving relationship between business and government. Individuals should have at least 20 years of professional experience and will undertake independent research projects that culminate in a working paper, journal article or book. Senior fellows also offer study groups for Harvard students, and their role strengthens the connection between theory and practice, offering both faculty and students insights into the nature of social problems and their most practical solutions. For additional information, visit our
Senior Fellows Program
page.
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Linda Bilmes publishes review of UN peacekeeping operations audits
The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), established in in the aftermath of World War II, play a crucial role in conflict resolution throughout the world. M-RCBG faculty affiliate Linda Bilmes' co-written paper reviews and analyzes 288 audits of UN peacekeeping missions over a five-year period. It discusses key operational and managerial weaknesses identified across multiple deployments in conflict zones around the world. The paper recommends specific administrative and operational changes that could materially improve the cost-effectiveness and overall impact of future peacekeeping missions. Click to read
Strengthening Management of UN Peacekeeping Operations: A Review of UN Peacekeeping Operations Audits
in its entirety. Linda Bilmes is the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at HKS.
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Healthcare and racial inequity, according to Amitabh Chandra
George Floyd’s murder [in 2020] forced many people to recognize the systemic racism that pervades American institutions, from law enforcement to health care. Even so, identifying those inequities is different than fixing them. “I don’t believe we advance the debate much by writing yet another paper documenting the disparities we’ve known about for 20 or 30 years,” says [M-RCBG faculty affiliate] Amitabh Chandra. “One more research paper that finds that minority health care is separate and unequal may be important but is substantially less important than research that proposes solutions for these long-standing disparities.”
For the past 20 years, Chandra has been examining differences in health outcomes between white and Black Americans, searching for solutions to shrink the gap. In a recent working paper published through the National Bureau of Economic Research, he proposes one such solution: helping Black patients choose better-performing hospitals. “This is something we could change tomorrow,” says Chandra. “Simply because the source of these disparities is structural, does not mean that we should have to wait 20 or 50 years to reduce them.”
Read
the article
, or the full paper
Hospital Allocation and Racial Disparities in Health Care
.
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Soroush Saghafian on the impact of healthcare analytics on diversity, equity and inclusion
"Unfortunately, there are severe disparities in healthcare, not only among patients but also among hospitals. A particular piece of research that we did (now published in Operations Research) aimed at studying ways to make healthcare more transparent," says Soroush Saghafian in a
recent interview with INFORMS
. "For instance, when you are shopping for a car you can go to various websites and you can compare the quality of different cars. What we have found is that public reporting can help in terms of equity, but it can also hurt various other social outcomes if it is done incorrectly. So, what we recommend is the information should not be only publicly available but should also be publicly understandable so that an average person can digest it and make better choices." Soroush Saghafian is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at HKS.
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Jane Nelson appointed to the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality
Last September, Jane Nelson was appointed as a
Commissioner on the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality
. Hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Commission is co-chaired by the President of WBCSD and the Chairs or CEOs of Unilever, Solvay, Olam, ITC and Inclusive Capital Partners, and consists of other corporate CEOs, trade union and human rights leaders, and international business organizations. Working groups have been established to address topics such as the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, diversity, equity and inclusion, preparing people for the future of work, and enhancing access to essential products and services. Over the course of 2022, the Commission will publish a series of policy briefs, case studies, interviews, and a flagship report.
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Harvard Project Conducts Research Workshop on China's National Emissions Trading System
The Harvard Project on Climate Agreements conducted a joint research workshop [this past fall] titled “ETS and the power sector in China and other Asian countries: interactions, design, and operation.” The Center for Energy Economics and Strategy Studies at Fudan University and the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) co-organized the workshop, which was conducted virtually over Zoom.
China’s national emissions trading system (ETS) started operation this year, covering over 2,200 entities in the power sector and immediately becoming the world’s largest ETS. The power sector is one of the most important to cover in any ETS, due to the scale and abatement potential of GHG emissions in that sector. However, there are some critical challenges to overcome before an ETS can fulfil its emission-reduction potential by driving fuel switching away from coal and towards renewables and low-carbon fuels. This meeting addressed some of these challenges and provided comparisons with other Asian countries.
Click for full coverage of the event.
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Daniel Schrag publishes on climate change and China
Climate change is a key problem of the 21st century. China, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has committed to stabilize its current emissions and dramatically increase the share of electricity production from non-fossil fuels by 2030. However, this is only a first step: in the longer term, China needs to aggressively strive to reach a goal of zero-emissions. Through detailed discussions of electricity pricing, electric vehicle policies, nuclear energy policies, and renewable energy policies,
Foundations for a Low-Carbon Energy System in China
, co-written by M-RCBG faculty affiliate Daniel Schrag, reviews how near-term climate and energy policies can affect long-term decarbonization pathways beyond 2030, building the foundations for decarbonization in advance of its realization. Focusing primarily on the electricity sector in China – the main battleground for decarbonization over the next century – it provides a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers, as well as energy and climate experts.
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