Dennis A. Yao

Dennis Yao is the Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration and Chair of the Doctoral Programs at Harvard Business School. He joined the faculty in 2004 after having been at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. From 1991-1994 he served as Commissioner, U.S. Federal Trade Commission where he and his four colleagues had decision responsibility for antitrust and consumer protection matters in prosecutorial, judicial, and policy roles. Professor Yao has a BSE in civil engineering from Princeton, an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD from the Graduate School of Business (economics group) at Stanford. Before beginning his doctoral studies he was a car product planner at Ford Motor Company. He also has served on the National Advertising Review Board.

Professor Yao's research involves the application of microeconomics and game theory to incentive and information problems affecting firms. His recent work has focused on decision making within organizations and understanding contracting and knowledge flow issues in markets for ideas and inventions. Earlier he worked on problems involving procurement and on technology-forcing regulation. Professor Yao also writes extensively in the areas of non-market strategies, competitive strategies, and law and public policy. His work has been published in top economics, strategy, political science, and public policy journals. Professor Yao has held a number of editorial positions with strategy, economics, and public policy journals.

Journal Articles

• Hou, Young, and Dennis Yao. "Pushed into a Crowd: Repositioning Costs, Resources, and Competition in the RTE Cereal Industry." Strategic Management Journal 43, no. 1 (January 2022): 3–29. View Details
• Greene, Hillary, and Dennis Yao. "Informing Dissent." Law, Culture and the Humanities 16, no. 2 (June 2020): 200–212. View Details
• Fleming, Lee, Hillary Greene, Guan-Cheng Li, Matt Marx, and Dennis Yao. "Government-Funded Research Increasingly Fuels Innovation." Science 364, no. 6646 (June 21, 2019): 1139–1141. View Details
• Greene, Hillary, and Dennis Yao. "Antitrust as Speech Control." William & Mary Law Review 60, no. 4 (March 2019): 1215–1267. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis Yao. "Integrated Strategy: Residual Market and Exchange Imperfections as the Foundation of Sustainable Competitive Advantage." Special Issue on Strategy and the Institutional Environment edited by Gautam Ahuja, Laurence Capron, Michael Lenox, and Dennis A. Yao. Strategy Science 3, no. 2 (June 2018): 463–480. View Details
• Ahuja, Gautam, Laurence Capron, Michael Lenox, and Dennis Yao. "Strategy and the Institutional Envelope." Special Issue on Strategy and the Institutional Environment edited by Gautam Ahuja, Laurence Capron, Michael Lenox, and Dennis A. Yao. Strategy Science 3, no. 2 (June 2018): ii–x. View Details
• Menon, Anoop R., and Dennis Yao. "Elevating Repositioning Costs: Strategy Dynamics and Competitive Interactions." Strategic Management Journal 38, no. 10 (October 2017): 1953–1963. View Details
• Greene, Hillary, and Dennis Yao. "Navigating Natural Monopolies: Market Strategy and Nonmarket Challenges in Radio and Television Audience Measurement Markets." In Strategy Beyond Markets. Vol. 34, edited by John de Figueiredo, Michael Lenox, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, and Rick Vanden Bergh, 367–411. Advances in Strategic Management. Emerald Group Publishing, 2016. View Details
• Greene, Hillary, and Dennis Yao. "The Influences of Strategic Management on Antitrust Discourse." Special Issue on Antitrust as a Multidisciplinary Field edited by Gregory T. Gundlach. Antitrust Bulletin 59, no. 4 (Winter 2014): 789–826. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis A. Yao. "Antitrust—What Role for Strategic Management Expertise?" Boston University Law Review 90, no. 4 (August 2010): 1457–1478. View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Attracting Skeptical Buyers: Negotiating for Intellectual Property Rights." International Economic Review 49, no. 1 (February 2008): 319–348. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Finding Lost Profits: An Equilibrium Analysis of Patent Infringement Damages." Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 23, no. 1 (April 2007): 186–207. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis Yao. "Strategy Frameworks and Teaching Antitrust to Business Students." Antitrust (American Bar Association) 21, no. 1 (Fall 2006): 13–15. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., Hillary Greene, and Dennis Yao. "Policy Implications of Weak Patent Rights." Innovation Policy and the Economy 6 (2006): 1–26. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Markets for Partially-Contractible Knowledge: Bootstrapping Versus Bundling." Journal of the European Economic Association 3, nos. 2-3 (April–May 2005): 745–754. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Little Patents and Big Secrets: Managing Intellectual Property." RAND Journal of Economics 35, no. 1 (Spring 2004): 1–22. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Patents, Invalidity, and the Strategic Transmission of Enabling Information." Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 12, no. 2 (summer 2003): 151–178. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "The Sale of Ideas: Strategic Disclosure, Property Rights, and Contracting." Review of Economic Studies 69, no. 3 (July 2002): 513–531. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Demski, Joel, Tracy Lewis, Dennis Yao, and Huseyin Yildirim. "Practices for Managing Information Flows Within Organizations." Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 15, no. 1 (March 1999): 107–131. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Standard Setting Consortia, Antitrust, and High-Technology Industries." Antitrust Law Journal 64, no. 1 (fall 1995): 247–265. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis Yao. "Start-ups, Spin-offs, and Internal Projects." Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 11, no. 2 (October 1995): 362–378. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Lewis, Tracy R., and Dennis A. Yao. "Some Reflections on the Antitrust Treatment of Intellectual Property." Antitrust Law Journal 63, no. 2 (1995): 603–619. (Abridged version in The Financial Times, The Complete MBA Companion, 1997, pp.577-582. Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, J., and Dennis Yao. "Expropriation and Inventions: Appropriable Rents in the Absence of Property Rights." American Economic Review 84, no. 1 (March 1994): 190–209. (reprinted in Z. Acs, ed., The Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship, Elgar, 2010). Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis, and Susan DeSanti. "Game Theory and the Legal Analysis of Tacit Collusion." Antitrust Bulletin 38, no. 1 (Spring 1993): 113–141. View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis Yao. "Coordination in Split-Award Auctions." Quarterly Journal of Economics 107, no. 2 (May 1992): 681–707. (Reprinted in P. Klemperer, ed., The Economic Theory of Auctions, Elgar, 2000.) Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Ingberman, Daniel E., and Dennis Yao. "Presidential Commitment and the Veto." American Journal of Political Science 35, no. 2 (May 1991): 357–389. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Measuring the Effectiveness of Competition in Defense Procurement: A Survey of the Empirical Literature." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 9, no. 1 (Winter 1990): 60–79. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Faulhaber, Gerald R., and Dennis A. Yao. "Fly-by-Night Firms and the Market for Product Reviews." Journal of Industrial Economics 38, no. 1 (September 1989): 65–77. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Split-Awards Procurement and Innovation." RAND Journal of Economics 20, no. 4 (winter 1989): 538–552. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis. "Strategic Responses to Automobile Emissions Control: A Game-Theoretic Analysis." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 15 (December 1988): 419–438. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis. "Beyond the Reach of the Invisible Hand: Impediments to Economic Activity, Market Failures, and Profitability." Strategic Management Journal 9 (Summer 1988): 59–70. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Second-Sourcing and the Experience Curve: Price Competition in Defense Procurement." RAND Journal of Economics 18, no. 1 (spring 1987): 57–76. (Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details
• Bresnahan, Timothy F., and Dennis Yao. "The Nonpecuniary Costs of Automobile Emissions Standards." RAND Journal of Economics 16, no. 4 (winter 1985): 437–455. ((reprinted in W. Harrington and V. McConnell (eds.) Controlling Automobile Air Pollution, 2007) Harvard users click here for full text.) View Details

Book Chapters

• Anton, James, Hillary Greene, and Dennis Yao. "Policy Implications of Weak Property Rights." In Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 6, edited by Adam B. Jaffe, Josh Lerner, and Scott Stern, 1–26. MIT Press, 2006. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis Yao. "Market Imperfections and Sustainable Competitive Advantage." Chap. 12 in Oxford Handbook of Managerial Economics, by Christopher R. Thomas and William F. Shughart II, 262–277. Oxford University Press, 2013. View Details
• Yao, Dennis. "Non-market Strategies and Regulation in the U.S." In The Global Internet Economy, edited by B. Kogut, 407–435. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003. View Details
• Yao, Dennis. "Antitrust Constraints to Competitive Strategy." In Wharton on Dynamic Competitive Strategy, edited by G. Day and D. Reibstein, 313–377. John Wiley & Sons, 1997. View Details

Working Papers

• Anton, James J., Alan Jaske, and Dennis Yao. "Leadership and the Value of Persistence." Working Paper, January 2023. View Details
• Menon, Anoop R., and Dennis Yao. "Rationalizing Outcomes: Mental-Model-Guided Learning in Competitive Markets." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-095, May 2017. View Details
• Anton, James J., and Dennis A. Yao. "Delay as Agenda Setting." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-082, February 2011. (Revised January 2016.) View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials

• Yao, Dennis, and Alpana Thapar. "Fueling a Cleaner Future: ACWA Power and Green Hydrogen." Harvard Business School Case 722-381, January 2022. View Details
• Yao, Dennis. "Beyond Strategic Intuition: Course Introduction." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 722-410, January 2022. View Details
• Van den Steen, Eric, and Dennis Yao. "Short Note on Game Theory." Harvard Business School Background Note 718-509, March 2018. (Revised September 2020.) View Details
• Van den Steen, Eric, and Dennis Yao. "Short Note on Relative Cost Analysis." Harvard Business School Technical Note 718-485, January 2018. (Revised July 2020.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis, and Hillary Greene. "The Art of the Merger: The Museum of Modern Art and PS1." Harvard Business School Case 720-412, March 2020. (Revised May 2022.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis. "Sweet Deal—Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising to Children." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 714-501, March 2014. View Details
• Yao, Dennis, and Britta Kelley. "Hyperion Power Module: Downsizing the Nuclear Renaissance?" Harvard Business School Case 712-457, February 2012. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, and Lizzie Gomez. "Sweet Deal—Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising to Children." Harvard Business School Case 712-463, February 2012. (Revised March 2014.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "A Note on Antitrust and Competitive Tactics." Harvard Business School Background Note 703-493, March 2003. (Revised March 2011.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A., Francisco Pizarro Beleza Rodrigues Queiro, and Julia Rozovsky. "CBS and Online Video." Harvard Business School Case 709-447, November 2008. (Revised February 2010.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Introduction to Competitive Dynamics: Strategy and Tactics." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 707-475, November 2006. (Revised November 2009.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A., and Julia Rozovsky. "Supersonic Business Jets." Harvard Business School Case 709-425, January 2009. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Responding to Imitation: Intel vs. AMD in 1991." Harvard Business School Case 709-450, December 2008. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Dennis A. Yao, Libby Cantrill, and Patricia Wu. "Lobbying for Love? Southwest Airlines and the Wright Amendment." Harvard Business School Case 707-470, January 2007. (Revised August 2007.) View Details
• Anand, Bharat N., Rafael M. Di Tella, and Dennis A. Yao. "CNN and the Cable News Wars." Harvard Business School Case 707-491, November 2006. (Revised July 2007.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A., and Mary L. Shelman. "Kroger Union Negotiations 2005." Harvard Business School Case 708-433, July 2007. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. Technical Game Theory Note #3: The Relationship Between Bimatrix and Extensive-Form Games and the Meaning of "Strategy". Harvard Business School Background Note 707-478, November 2006. (Revised June 2007.) View Details
• Reinhardt, Forest L., and Dennis A. Yao. "Toyota Motor Corporation: Launching Prius (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 707-558, May 2007. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Dennis A. Yao, Patricia Wu, and Libby Cantrill. "Free the Grapes--Direct-to-Consumer Shipping in the Wine Industry." Harvard Business School Case 707-472, May 2007. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis A. Yao. "Game Theory and Business Strategy." Harvard Business School Background Note 705-471, January 2005. (Revised March 2007.) View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis A. Yao. "Strategies Beyond the Market--Course Note for Instructors." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 707-508, March 2007.​ View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis Yao. "Goodyear and the Threat of Government Tire Grading (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 707-537, March 2007. (Revised April 2013.) View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Dennis A. Yao, and Elizabeth Raabe. "Goodyear and the Threat of Government Tire Grading." Harvard Business School Case 707-494, November 2006. (Revised March 2007.) View Details
• Rukstad, Michael G., Dennis A. Yao, and Cate Reavis. Toys "R" Us (A). Harvard Business School Case 703-445, February 2003. (Revised December 2006.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Midway's Entry into Milwaukee: An Interactive Game." Harvard Business School Background Note 705-470, January 2005. (Revised December 2006.) View Details
• Reinhardt, Forest L., Dennis A. Yao, and Masako Egawa. "Toyota Motor Corporation: Launching Prius." Harvard Business School Case 706-458, January 2006. (Revised December 2006.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Technical Game Theory Note #4: Contracting and Strategic Alliances." Harvard Business School Background Note 707-480, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Technical Game Theory Note #5: Private Information and Signaling Models." Harvard Business School Background Note 707-481, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Technical Game Theory Note #6: Multiple-Round Games and Reputations." Harvard Business School Background Note 707-488, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Competitive Headaches (A): The Analgesic Wars." Harvard Business School Case 707-489, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Competitive Headaches (B): OTC Entry of Ibuprofen." Harvard Business School Supplement 707-490, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Kroger Union Negotiations." Harvard Business School Case 707-503, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Technical Game Theory Note #1: Solving Bi-matrix Games." Harvard Business School Background Note 707-476, November 2006. View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Introducing Frequent Flyer Programs." Harvard Business School Case 707-479, November 2006. View Details
• Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis A. Yao. "Amgen Inc.'s Epogen--Commercializing the First Biotech Blockbuster Drug." Harvard Business School Case 706-454, December 2005. (Revised August 2006.) View Details
• Rukstad, Michael G., Dennis A. Yao, and Cate Reavis. Toys "R" Us (B). Harvard Business School Supplement 703-446, February 2003. (Revised September 2003.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A., and Michael G. Rukstad. Toys "R" Us (A) and (B) (TN). Harvard Business School Teaching Note 704-428, August 2003. View Details

Other Publications and Materials

• Menon, Anoop, and Dennis Yao. "Product Market Strategy." In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Continuously updated edition, edited by Mie Augier and David J. Teece. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. Electronic. (Pre-published, October 2013.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of the Southwest: 118 FTC 452." January 1994. (for the majority.) View Details
• Yao, Dennis A. "Trans Union Corp. 118 FTC 821." January 1994. (for the majority.) View Details
• Owen, Deborah, and Dennis A. Yao. "Adventist Health System/West, et. al. (Concurring Opinion): 117 FTC 224, 297." January 1994. View Details

Research Summary

Working Papers

 

Lewis, Tracy R. and Dennis A. Yao. (2001, revised 2006). "Innovation, Knowledge Flow, and Worker Mobility."

• Abstract: In knowledge-driven industrial markets employee turnover is often quite high despite each firm’s interest in restricting knowledge flow resulting from employee departures. We present a dynamic contracting and matching model of the employment relationship between a firm and a worker (engineer) that provides an equilibrium explanation for high turnover. Incompleteness of the contracting relationship makes it optimal for firms to adopt open R&D environments as a recruitment inducement when labor is in relatively short supply. Such environments facilitate turnover. We examine how openness of R&D environments varies according to labor market conditions, expected quality of initial firm-employee match, legal protection of IP, and the longevity of the product cycle. These results are useful for understanding why geographic clusters often foster innovation.

Working Papers

 

Anton, James J. and Dennis A. Yao (2011).  "Delay as Agenda Setting." 

• Abstract: In this paper we examine a class of dynamic decision-making processes that involve endogenous commitment.  Our analysis is relevant to group decision making settings as well as to hierarchical decision making settings in which, for example, subordinates attempt to influence their superiors.  An inability to commit leads to the possibility of strategic delay by decision participants who differ in their preferences and are limited by the resources they can allocate to influencing decisions.  We focus on sources of delay caused by the strategic interaction of decision makers over time and find that the opportunity to delay decisions leads the participants to sometimes act against their short-run interests.  Two classes of activity of this type emerge which we refer to as focusing and pinning.  We also explore how strategic delay alters the benefits from agenda setting.

Additional Information

• Dennis Yao in Working Knowledge
• Dennis Yao CV

Areas of Interest

• competitive strategy
• economics
• government and business
• intellectual property
• strategy
Additional Topics
• agency theory
• alliances
• contracts
• game theory
• incentives
• industry structure
• innovation
• invention
• knowledge management
• mergers and acquisitions
• nonprofit
• political economy
• procurement
• strategy formulation
• technology strategy
Industries
• automotive
• defense
• federal government
• high technology

In The News

In The News

• • 24 May 2010

  Doctoral Awards for Excellence in Mentoring