Publications

September 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Accounting for Pensions and Employee Benefits at Ford and Toyota

Uses Ford's and Toyota's financial statements to familiarize students with the information provided in pension footnotes. Allows students to combine that information with other financial statement information to create a greater understanding of the costs of each... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Compensation and Benefits; Auto Industry

12 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Investors Often Lose When They Sue Their Financial Adviser

research about malfeasance among financial advisers and the impact on investors. The degree to which a panel favors the defending company accounts for 24 percent of the variation in arbitration awards to... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

April 2024
Article

Model-based Financial Regulations Impair the Transition to Net-zero Carbon Emissions

By: Matteo Gasparini, Matthew C. Ives, Ben Carr, Sophie Fry and Eric Beinhocker

Investments via the financial system are essential for fostering the green transition. However, the role of existing financial regulations in influencing investment decisions is understudied. Here we analyse data from the European Banking Authority to show that... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Sources

December 2011
Article

Prices or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?

By: Shawn A. Cole, Thomas Sampson and Bilal Zia

Financial development is critical for growth, but its micro-determinants are not well understood. We test leading theories of low demand for financial services in emerging markets, combining novel survey evidence from Indonesia and India with a field experiment. We... View Details

Keywords: Price; Knowledge; Demand and Consumers; Emerging Markets; Banks and Banking; Education; Finance; Behavior; Service Operations; Financial Services Industry; India; Indonesia

July 2015
Article

Executives' 'Off-the-Job' Behaviors and Financial Reporting Risk

By: Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey and Abbie Smith

We examine how executives' behavior outside the workplace, as measured by their ownership of luxury goods (low “frugality”) and prior legal infractions, is related to financial reporting risk. We predict and find that chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Financial Reporting; Organizational Culture

2020
Chapter

Building Emergency Savings Through Employer-Sponsored Rainy-Day Savings Accounts

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, J. Mark Iwry, David C. John, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

Roughly half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. When financial shocks occur during their working life, many of these households tap into their retirement savings accounts. We explore the practical considerations and challenges associated with helping households... View Details

Keywords: Savings; Household; Saving

April 2009
Case

The First Global Financial Crisis of the 21st Century

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

The global economy was expected to suffer from negative growth for the full year in 2009, a phenomenon not seen since World War II. While the U.S. subprime mortgage disaster was blamed as the original instigator, it was noted that the "global imbalances" of the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; International Relations; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution

May 2024
Article

Financial Innovation in the 21st Century: Evidence from U.S. Patents

By: Josh Lerner, Amit Seru, Nick Short and Yuan Sun

We develop a unique dataset of 24 thousand U.S. finance patents granted over the last two decades to explore the evolution and production of financial innovation. We use machine learning to identify the financial patents and extensively audit the results to ensure... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Investment Banks; Information Technology; Regulation; Patents; Innovation and Invention; Trends

2011
Working Paper

Top Executive Background and Financial Reporting Choice

By: Francois Brochet and Kyle Travis Welch

We study the role of executive functional background in explaining management discretion in financial reporting. Taking goodwill impairment as our reporting setting, we focus on top executives (CEOs and CFOs) whose employment history includes experience in investment... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Goodwill Accounting; Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Managerial Roles; Agency Theory

1990
Other Unpublished Work

Using and Interpreting Financial Statements

By: Marc L Bertoneche

Keywords: Financial Statements

December 2014
Article

Market Competition, Earnings Management, and Persistence in Accounting Profitability Around the World

By: Paul M. Healy, George Serafeim, Suraj Srinivasan and Gwen Yu

We examine how cross-country differences in product, capital, and labor market competition, and earnings management affect mean reversion in accounting return on assets. Using a sample of 48,465 unique firms from 49 countries, we find that accounting returns mean... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Performance; Valuation; Equity Valuation; Persistence; Competitive Advantage; Institutions; Earnings Management; Labor Market; Capital Markets; Competition; Profit; Performance; Supply and Industry; Financial Statements; Government and Politics; Globalized Markets and Industries

SSRN

December 1995
Article

Primer on New Stock Option Accounting Alternatives

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Stocks; Accounting

July 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Policy Management Systems Corp.: The Financial Reporting Crisis

Tim Williams, the new CFO of a publicly-traded enterprise software company, attempts to rebuild his company's reputation for reliable financial reporting following a highly visible financial reporting crisis. The crisis begins with an earnings shortfall warning, which... View Details

Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Capital Markets; Policy; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits; Technology Industry

01 Sep 2016
Cold Call Podcast

Behind Apple's Tax Situation, an Unprecedented Financial Policy

Keywords: Re: Mihir A. Desai; Technology; Consumer Products

15 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Money or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?

Keywords: by Shawn Cole, Thomas Sampson & Bilal Zia; Financial Services

12 Sep 2023
Research & Ideas

How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

growth opportunities came from education planning and account aggregation, or helping clients collect household financial data in one place. “Actively going after clients by offering information sessions,... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Financial Services

April 2012
Article

Bouncing Out of the Banking System: An Empirical Analysis of Involuntary Bank Account Closures

By: Dennis Campbell, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez and Peter Tufano

Using a new database, we document the factors that relate to the extent of involuntary consumer bank account closure resulting from excessive overdraft activity. Consumers who have accounts involuntarily closed for overdraft activity may have limited or no access to... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Customers; Social Issues; Outcome or Result; Budgets and Budgeting; Forecasting and Prediction; Competition; Banks and Banking; Policy; Personal Characteristics; Credit; Employment; United States

February 1997
Article

Mexico Going Highly Inflationary for FAS 52 Accounting

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Accounting; Standards; Mexico

May 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Depreciation at Delta Air Lines: The "Fresh Start"

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In estimating depreciation for accounting purposes, Delta Air Lines has changed its assumptions about aircraft lifespan and residual values four times in the last thirty years or so. In the most recent changes, Delta adopted fair value accounting as part of its fresh... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Policies; Accounting Procedures; Depreciation; Bankruptcy; Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Policy; Air Transportation Industry