SPRING SEMESTER 2010 - (Note: Our events schedule is evolving. Please check periodically for regular updates.)
January 28 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"Climate Change Policy After Copenhagen"
Robert Stavins
Robert N. Stavins is Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Director of Graduate Studies for the Doctoral Programs in Public Policy and in Political Economy and Government, Cochair of the MPP/MBA and MPA/ID/MBA Joint Degree Programs, and Director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a University Fellow of Resources for the Future, former Chair of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Environmental Economics Advisory Board, and a member of the editorial councils of scholarly periodicals. His research has examined diverse areas of environmental economics and policy and has appeared in a variety of economics, law, and policy journals, as well as several books. Stavins directed Project 88, a bipartisan effort cochaired by former Senator Timothy Wirth and the late Senator John Heinz to develop innovative approaches to environmental problems. He has been a consultant to government agencies, international organizations, corporations, and advocacy groups. He holds a BA in philosophy from Northwestern University, an MS in agricultural economics from Cornell, and a PhD in economics from Harvard.
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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February 4 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"Corporate Governance and Accountability: The Six Essential Tasks"
This presentation will discuss the six essential tasks which boards of directors and senior executives must discharge to create sustainable value for the contemporary corporation in a time of economic turmoil. These tasks must balance risk-taking with risk-management and must fuse high performance with high integrity. Only by discharging these tasks with focused energy can corporations regain trust, answer critics of company leadership and set the standards for corporate accountability, now that maximization of short-term shareholder value has been discredited as the proper measure for holding companies to account.
Ben Heineman
Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Program on the Legal Profession at the Harvard Law Schoo
Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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February 11 | Business & Government Seminar Series
TBD
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February 16 | CSRI Visiting Practitioner Series
Unleashing Technology to Advance Social and Economic Development
Technology can be an amazing tool for social and economic development. It can help people get a better education, learn new skills to earn a living wage, or start a business. It also can enable organizations to meet community needs by broadening access to healthcare, education, micro-banking and other essential services. One of the most significant advances in information technology (IT) today is the growing connectivity among smart devices—computers, mobile phones and even televisions. With the widespread penetration of mobile phones and other handheld devices that connect to the Web, nearly 4 billion people worldwide now have some level of access to computing. The increasing convergence of device connectivity, software innovation and “cloud connectivity,” has created a new computing paradigm to support an improved and integrated user experience. This new paradigm offers great potential to improve how we all work, but holds an even more significant promise for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to manage their operations more effectively, deliver a broader array of services and achieve a greater impact in the communities they serve. Microsoft’s Akhtar Badshah will speak on current developments in technology that are not only working to increase productivity, but are helping NGOs across the globe to improve and expand service delivery to more effectively achieve their missions and facilitate economic and social development.
PAPER AVAILABLE HERE
is the senior director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft Corporation, where he administers the company’s global community investment and employee programs. Since 1983, Microsoft and its employees have provided over $3.4 billion in cash, services and software to nonprofits around the world through localized, company-sponsored giving and volunteer campaigns. Among his responsibilities, Badshah manages the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills Program (CTSP), a global initiative that is designed to help narrow the technology skills gap; aid global work-force development; and create social and economic opportunity by providing technology training through community technology centers. CTSP offers a comprehensive approach to broadening digital inclusion by bringing together critical components, including training grants, software donations, community learning curricula and a global support network. Microsoft is working to broaden digital inclusion and to bring the benefits of technology to the next billion people by 2015. Badshah also oversees programs aimed at helping nonprofit organizations improve their effectiveness through increased technology capacity. This includes Microsoft’s signature partnerships with organizations such as NPower, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, telecentre.org, TechSoup and NetHope. He is an architect by training, a doctoral graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the former president of the Lambda Alpha International, New Jersey Chapter.
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
5:00 - 6:30 PM
Please RSVP to CSRI@hks.harvard.edu
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February 18 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"Lobbying’s Impact on Policy Making: Myths, Realities and the Future"
Healthcare reform, executive compensation, financial regulation, and climate change policies are just a few of the key issues being debated in Washington and in capitals around the globe. Lobbyists are playing a major role in the shaping of policy responses. Some argue lobbyists provide vital information to insure informed outcomes. Others say they are simply buying positions and votes. Come join a discussion with Senior Fellow Mark Fagan as he explores the myths and realities of lobbying and considers the role of lobbyists on policy making in the future.
Mark Fagan
Mr. Fagan is a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School. The focus of his research is on the role of regulation in competitive markets. He has written about the impact of regulation in network industries from transportation to electric utilities and in the financial sector. He is the co-author of Law and the Financial System: Securitization and Asset Backed Securities. He co-teaches Operations Management at HKS and Securitization at Boston University School of Law. He is a founding partner in the management consulting firm Norbridge.
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
11:30 - 1:00PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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February 26 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"Too Big to Save? How to Fix the U.S. Financial System"
Mortgage defaults, together with excessive debt and weak regulation, ultimately led to the financial crisis in the United States. But how did a steep drop in U.S. housing prices result in a severe financial crisis throughout the world? What did the U.S. government do right and what did it do wrong in responding to the crisis? And perhaps most importantly, what actions should be taken in the future to resolve the financial crisis and help prevent others from happening? Come hear Robert Pozen discuss his new book, "Too Big to Save?", in which he discusses his answers to these key questions and presents his vision for reparing the U.S. financial system.
Robert Pozen
Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Fainsod Room, Littauer 324
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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March 4 | Business & Government Seminar Series
Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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March 11 | Business & Government Seminar Series
Jeff Frankel, James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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March 25 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"In Praise of Primitive Finance"
Amar Bhide
Visiting Scholar, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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April 1 | Business & Government Seminar Series
Richard Zeckhauser, Frank Plumpton Ramsey Professor of Political Economy
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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April 8 | Business & Government Seminar Series
TBD
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April 15 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"Regulation of Drugs from Overseas"
Dr. Janet Woodcock, M.D.
Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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April 22 | Business & Government Seminar Series
TBD
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April 29 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"What Can Regulators Know?"
Harvey Goldschmid
Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia University
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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May 6 | Business & Government Seminar Series
"Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: The Next Decade"
Philip Armstrong
Head of the Global Corporate Governance Forum of the World Bank
Bell Hall, 5th Floor Belfer Building
12:00 - 1:30PM
Please RSVP to MRCBG@ksg.harvard.edu
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