All Insights Articles

Research by Professor Nathan Novemsky and Yale SOM doctoral student Ernest Baskin helps to explain why we give bad gifts.

As patents on the blockbuster drugs of the 1990s expire, the pharmaceutical industry is facing—not for the first time—questions about the sustainability of its economic model. Clive Meanwell, CEO of The Medicines Company, says that the industry can help patients and make money by changing the nature of its relationship to the healthcare system.

Hedge funds are risky. But getting beyond that bromide and evaluating the prospects of a particular fund means understanding everything from internal operations to investors’ incentives to counterparty and market conditions. David Belmont ’92, chief risk officer of Commonfund, gives a tour of the inner workings of hedge fund risk.

Social enterprises, ventures that seek to address significant societal problems while also achieving financial sustainability, have become a bigger part of the business world. Chuck Slaughter ’90, founder of Living Goods, discusses what it will take for the field to produce a breakout star.

The degree of physical contact that a celebrity has with a piece of memorabilia affects how much collectors are willing to pay for it at auction, according to a study co-authored by Professor George Newman.

Sky-high valuations of tech companies and the return of the IPO has an old debate raging again. Is a bubble brewing? Or is this time really different? Sasson Darwish ’94, managing partner at DS Advisory Group, talks with Yale Insights about IPOs, innovation, and the business models for today’s tech companies.

The alluring promise of big data is to make sense of the innumerable messy and complex decisions made by the world's consumers and provide clear guidance for improved operations, marketing, and performance. How close that promise is to reality varies greatly from industry to industry. A panel at the Yale School of Management considered the challenges and opportunities in using big data to improve healthcare.

In a New York Times op-ed, Professor Robert J. Shiller writes that Bitcoin is a speculative bubble with a doubtful future, but its legacy should be that we move toward a system of stable economic units of measurement backed by sophisticated forms of electronic payment.

Business is a social act. The relationships among a network of stakeholders define an organization and account for a great deal of the success or failure of a global brand. John Pepper discusses how personal relationships and organizational ties defined a career that included serving as CEO and chairman of P&G and chair of Disney’s board of directors.

In a New York Times op-ed, Professors Victoria Brescoll and Jeffrey Sonnenfeld write about the gender bias and discrimination that persist for powerful women in corporate America.