Publications

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

December 1987
Case

John Hancock Financial Services: Sports Sponsorship

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Senior corporate communications executives of a major financial services firm are reviewing the company's sports sponsorship program and are considering expanding it. Hancock already is the corporate sponsor of the Boston Marathon and has the opportunity to sponsor the... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation

Winter 2013
Article

Mandatory IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Comparability

By: Francois Brochet, Alan Jagolinzer and Edward J. Riedl

This study examines whether mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) leads to capital market benefits through enhanced financial statement comparability. UK domestic standards are considered very similar to IFRS (Bae et al., 2008),... View Details

Keywords: IFRS; Comparability; Private Information; Insider Trading; Ethics; Standards; Financial Statements

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Data-Driven Denim: Financial Forecasting at Levi Strauss

By: Mark Egan

The case examines Levi Strauss’ journey in implementing machine learning and AI into its financial forecasting process. The apparel company partnered with the IT company Wipro in 2017 to develop a machine learning algorithm that could help Levi Strauss forecast its... View Details

Keywords: Investor Relations; Forecasting; Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence; Apparel; Corporate Finance; Forecasting and Prediction; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

July 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Technical Note

Note on Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry

By: Clayton S. Rose, Scott Waggoner and Sally Canter Ganzfried

This note was created to supplement classroom discussion in the EC course "Managing the Financial Firm" and provides background for exploring issues general managers in financial firms face in considering appropriate capital levels. View Details

Keywords: Capital; Financial Institutions; Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services

By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas

Cityside Financial Services, a disguised consumer bank, serves both a largely African-American urban community and a more affluent, predominantly white clientele. To match the gender and racial makeup of its staff to that of its customers, Cityside's sales division... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Situation or Environment; Race; Employees; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

Research Summary

Financial reporting quality and its consequences

Does reporting quality have real economic consequences? Professor Yu addresses this question in her research, which examines the channels through which reporting quality affects the behavior of economic agents, namely managers and investors. Her particular focus is... View Details

Web

Admissions & Financial Aid - MBA

MBA/MPP & MBA/MPA-ID Harvard Kennedy School Admissions & Financial Aid Admissions Students interested in the MBA/MPP or MBA/MPA-ID joint degree programs apply to HBS and HKS separately and are selected independently within the same... View Details

12 Aug 2020
News

Why Investors Often Lose When They Sue Their Financial Adviser

16 Oct 2019
News

Amazon Under Attack, and Household Financial Stress

21 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Debate Financial Reform Legislation

research on financial markets and regulation and who, in many cases, have held leadership positions in the financial sector, think about the bill and its intended (and unintended) consequences? Below, HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

October 1994 (Revised January 1996)
Case

Roosevelt Financial Group, Inc. (B)

By: Mary E. Barth and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry

2015
Working Paper

Mobile Money Services—Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

By: Rajiv Lal and Ishan Sachdev

Mobile money services are being deployed rapidly across emerging markets as a key tool to further the goal of financial inclusion. Financial inclusion, the development of novel methods to enable individuals at the base of the pyramid to access formal financial services... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Poverty; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Economic Growth; Financial Services Industry

September 2016
Supplement

Financial Services at Falabella (B)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Agustin M. Hurtado

Supplements the (A) case and provides an update describing choices Falabella made. View Details

Keywords: Consumer Credit; Financial Management; Corporate Strategy; Credit; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

Web

Admissions & Financial Aid - MBA

MD/MBA Harvard Medical School Admissions & Financial Aid Admissions Applicants interested in the MD/MBA Program apply to HBS and HMS separately and are selected independently. There are two application options: Applicants may choose to... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Corporate Financial Policies in Misvalued Credit Markets

By: Jarrad Harford, Marc Martos-Vila and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

We theoretically and empirically investigate the repercussions of credit market misvaluation for a firm's borrowing and investment decisions. Using an ex-post measure of the accuracy of credit ratings to capture debt market misvaluation, we find evidence that firms... View Details

June 2009
Article

Level Playing Fields in International Financial Regulation

By: Lucy White and Alan Morrison

We analyze the desirability of level playing fields in international financial regulation. In general, level playing fields impose the standards of the weakest regulator upon the best-regulated economies. However, they may be desirable when capital is mobile because... View Details

Keywords: Economy; International Finance; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Standards; Banking Industry

April 2019
Article

Private Equity and Financial Fragility during the Crisis

By: Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner and Filippo Mezzanotti

Do private equity firms contribute to financial fragility during economic crises? We find that during the 2008 financial crisis, PE-backed companies increased investments relative to their peers, while also experiencing greater equity and debt inflows. The effects are... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Financial Crisis; Performance; Financial Condition