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Research and faculty in MBA programs to be aware of the "compiler phenom- enon." Faculty could then educate students about team dynamics and encourage them to assume different roles. The authors also recommend that students working in small teams define necessary roles and rotate responsibilities, so that all members have opportunities to lead. "In the workplace," the authors write, "individuals must be wary of getting stuck in certain roles that are perceived to be less valuable or critical to overall success, and seek out mentorship and leadership devel- opment opportunities to improve promotability." The students completed the proj- ect as part of the 2010 Gender in the Workplace Research Competition sponsored by GU's Women's Leader- ship Initiative. An executive summary of the paper is available at guwli. georgetown.edu/research/. Risk Recognizes No Border Many people misperceive state boundaries as physical barriers that can block or mitigate disaster, according to Arul Mishra and Himanshu Mishra of the University of Utah Eccles School of Business in Salt Lake City. Correct- ing this "border bias," as the profes- sors call it, might save lives and pro- tect property threatened by natural and environmental disasters. The researchers tested people's perceptions of disaster risk in three experiments. In all three situations, participants viewed a disaster in neighboring states as less threaten- ing than one in their own—even when the distance between both disasters and the participants' homes was identical. With a better understanding of 64 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 border bias, organizations responsible for responding to disasters could emphasize geographi- cal distance, not location, when warning a population of an imminent risk. This approach might moti- vate victims to evacuate more promptly and prevent the need for expensive, and often unsuccessful, rescues. Insurance agencies could also better educate their clients about their proximity to risks and help them make better choices when purchasing insurance. "Border Bias: The Belief that Hanna Halaburda Mikolaj Jan Piskorski State Borders Can Prevent Against Disasters" is forthcoming in Psycho- logical Science. More Choice Isn't Always Better Matchmakers may want to keep their clients' options to a minimum, say Hanna Halaburda and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, professors in the strategy unit at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. For agents in "two-sided matching markets" like online dating services, headhunting firms, and real estate brokerages, it's often neither necessary—nor opti- mal—to present all available options. Past studies suggest that in com- petitive markets, platforms that offer clients the most choice will domi- nate those that offer limited choices. This argument often is based on the prevalence of "network effects," which hold that the more people use a product, the more valuable that product becomes. But Halaburda and Piskorski argue that models that limit choice can be just as successful. Halaburda and Piskorski point to two popular online dating services: Match.com and eHarmony.com. Match.com provides members with unlimited access to its database, while eHarmony.com's members can access only seven new dating candidates at a time. Even though it offers less choice, eHarmony.com charges 25 percent more than Match.com. Headhunting firms and real estate brokers also charge more than platforms offering clients access to all available options. Choice-limiting agents also are more likely to make the matches stick—even if the match isn't perfect. The reason? People who choose lim- ited-choice platforms often want the search to be over and are willing to accept a less-than-optimal match. Halaburda and Piskorski note that their findings could be significant to managers in industries most subject to network effects. Their intuition may tempt them to offer customers the most choices possible. But the researchers say their model suggests that "restricted choice platforms may prove superior." "Platforms and Limits to Network Effects" is available at www.hbs.edu/ research/pdf/10-098.pdf. HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL EVGENIA ELISEEVA