Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 38-40). / This paper examines the relationship between classified boards and managerial entrenchment by applying a panel regression discontinuity design to shareholder proposals on board declassification. We focus on shareholder proposals that pass or fail by a small margin of votes in order to provide a causal estimate of the impact of board declassification. We find that shareholder proposal approval leads to a reduction in CEO compensation, an increase in the likelihood of CEO replacement, a positive but insignificant impact on pay-performance elasticity, and an increase in firm value. The reduction in CEO compensation is strongest among firms who possess weaker levels of corporate governance. These findings suggest that classified boards protect top management and lead to higher levels of managerial entrenchment. / by Fernando Miguel Pinto Martins. / S.M. in Management Research

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-47). / by Renu Agawal. / M.S.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Thesis. 1973. M.S. / MICROFICHE COPY ALSO AVAILABLE IN DEWEY LIBRARY. / Bibliography: leaves 160-163. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / Scientific research frequently generates tremendous economic value. Yet, this value tends to be elusive and public and private organizations often struggle to obtain returns from their investment in science. This dissertation, composed of three essays, examines persistent challenges to the production and commercialization of new scientific knowledge. The first essay of the dissertation describes simultaneous discoveries and their potential as a research tool for social science. It also introduces the first systematic and automated method to generate a list of such events. The resulting dataset of 578 recent simultaneous discoveries can be used to investigate a number of questions, including the impact of the discovery environment, by using them to conduct the first "twin studies" of new knowledge. As an example, the second essay investigates the relative impact of universities and firms on science-based invention by examining 39 discoveries made simultaneously in academia and in industry. As compared to universities, the results indicate that firms amplify the technological impact of new scientific knowledge. The third essay of the dissertation, coauthored with Fiona Murray and Joshua Gans, explores tradeoffs associated with collaboration in the production of new scientific knowledge. Specifically, we find that collaboration is not only associated with higher-quality output, it is also associated with lower individual productivity as well as challenges surrounding the allocation of credit. Taken together, the three essays examine important challenges associated with the production and commercialization of new scientific knowledge-thus providing insights about the drivers of economic value from public and private investment in science. / by Michaël. Bikard. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-130). / by Terence M. Lim. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 46-48). / After entering the smartphone era, Samsung has recorded enormous growth in sales and profits. It developed state of the art hardware technology and introduced innovative features with its flagship models, the Galaxy S series. While it emphasized high-end product development to compete with global vendors such as Apple, Samsung expanded its product portfolio to the affordable segment. In the early stages, this strategy succeeded in increasing revenues and market share. However, as Chinese vendors emerge in the global mobile device market, Samsung has struggled to keep its market share in the low-end device markets. Relatively cheap Chinese devices have attacked Samsung's affordable segment. Samsung's strategy of utilizing economies of scale and the halo effect from flagship models was not effective to compete against the price competitiveness of Chinese. Since the dynamic aspects of competition and the importance of platform are increasing, Samsung needs to build a new sustainable portfolio strategy integrating its platform service and hardware portfolio. / by Soo Jin Go. / S.M. in Management Research

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-149). / by Michel X. Goemans. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-184). / In this thesis I explore the connections between changes to the formal procedures by which American labor unions enroll new members and the subsequent meanings and purposes that potential members and third parties attribute to unions. In the first essay I use a new, multi-stage model of union organizing to demonstrate that previous research has underestimated the difficulties that unions face in enrolling new members, particularly when charges of employer illegality are involved. In the second essay I theorize that this alteration of the union-formation process, by focusing members' attention on the necessary first step of becoming organized rather than on contract negotiations, has contributed to the erosion of the unions' long-established and once robust system of exclusive jurisdictions. I argue that union voters' shift toward diversified unions is an example of how categories are used in the process of social valuation and how changes in valuation can help organizational sociologists understand why category systems can suddenly change. In the third essay (co-authored with Thomas A. Kochan and Lucio Baccaro) I discuss other historical episodes where changes to the laws governing union organizing have been associated with changes in the definition of a legitimate union member and draw several implications for the prospects that current labor-law reform being debated in Congress will have a large effect on union membership. / by John-Paul Ferguson. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M. in Management Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 36-38). / We show that the dramatically increasing share of income going to top earners can be explained by the rise of the "power law economy" and argue this reflects increased digitization and networks. Specifically, tax data (1960-2008) show that a bigger share of individual incomes are drawn from a power law, as opposed to the long-established log-normal distribution. We present a simple theoretical model to argue that the increased role of power laws is consistent with the growth of information technology, because digitization and networks facilitate winner-take-most markets. We generate four testable hypotheses, and find they match the data. (1) Our model, incorporating power laws, fits the data better than any purely log-normal distribution, (2) the increase in the variance of the log-normal portion of the distribution has slowed, suggesting a slowing of skill-biased technical change, (3) more individuals now select into the power law economy, (4) there is more skewness within that economy. / by Guillaume B. Saint-Jacques. / S.M. in Management Research

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-86). / by Kalyan T. Talluri. / Ph.D.