Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia

Publication Date: August 01, 2014

In July 2012, three freshly-minted Harvard Kennedy School graduates bought one-way tickets to Medellin, Colombia, to launch a nonprofit startup they called Instiglio. Their idea: to bring Social Impact Bonds, still experimental even in affluent...

In the Crossfire: Guns, Legislative Leadership and Recall Politics in Colorado

Publication Date: June 18, 2014

In 2013, democratic Colorado state senators John Morse and Angela Giron were recalled from office in the wake of a successful recall campaign launched by grassroots groups angered by the senators' support for newly-enacted gun control...

Negotiating from the Margins: The Santa Clara Pueblo Seeks Key Ancestral Lands (Video Supplements)

Publication Date: May 22, 2014

These video supplements accompany HKS Case# 2021, "Negotiating from the Margins: The Santa Clara Pueblo Seeks Key Ancestral Lands." This negotiations case describes the approach, over time, of Santa Clara, a small Pueblo Indian tribe in New...

Negotiating from the Margins: The Santa Clara Pueblo Seeks Key Ancestral Lands (Sequel)

Publication Date: May 22, 2014

This negotiations case describes the approach, over time, of Santa Clara, a small Pueblo Indian tribe in New Mexico, to recover a piece of land tribal leaders viewed as integral to their ancestral homeland. Unlike many negotiations cases, which...

Negotiating from the Margins: The Santa Clara Pueblo Seeks Key Ancestral Lands

Publication Date: May 22, 2014

This negotiations case describes the approach, over time, of Santa Clara, a small Pueblo Indian tribe in New Mexico, to recover a piece of land tribal leaders viewed as integral to their ancestral homeland. Unlike many negotiations cases, which...

Expanding Health Insurance to Millions: Learning from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment

Publication Date: May 22, 2014

In 2008, the state of Oregon had the budget to enroll 10,000 individuals into Medicaid. But officials knew that demand for Medicaid would be far greater. To give all poor, uninsured Oregonians a fair chance at receiving health insurance, the...

Hero or Traitor? Edward Snowden and the NSA Spying Program

Publication Date: April 30, 2014

On June 5, 2013, a London newspaper reported that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the telephone records of millions of Verizon customers in the U.S. The story was the first of many top secret revelations about the...

Primary Education in Pakistan: Show Me the Evidence

Publication Date: April 30, 2014

This case has two parts, a text-based case and a supplemental PowerPoint presentation. The case traces the evolution of an evidence-based research study on the education sector in Pakistan. In 2003, Atish (fictionalized character), a...

Role Responsibility, Official Disobedience, and the Supreme Court's Ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act

Publication Date: April 30, 2014

In June, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the federal Defense of Marriage Act violated the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment protection of equal liberty, effectively overturning the law. Pennsylvania, however, banned same-sex...

Providing Pensions for the Poor: Targeting Cash Transfers for the Elderly in Mexico

Publication Date: March 05, 2014

When the Mexican Congress approved the country's 2007 budget, it included an appropriation of 8.5 billion pesos allocated to provide non-contributive pensions to senior citizens. President Felipe Calderon wanted to introduce eligibility criteria...

Target of Opportunity: South Africa's Western Cape Seeks a Role in the African Oil Boom

Publication Date: March 05, 2014

This strategy case describes an initiative in the Western Cape province of South Africa to capitalize on an oil boom off the western coast of Africa by cultivating an industrial cluster of complementary businesses with the capacity to service,...

Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (B)

Publication Date: December 04, 2013

Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade (Part B), is the second of a two part case but may also be taught on its own. In May 2013, European Union Trade Commissioner, Karel De Gucht faced a...