Publications

March 2009 (Revised February 2011)
Background Note

Note: Fair Value Accounting for Investments in Debt Securities

By: William E. Fruhan

The note describes how fair value accounting applies to debt securities that are classified by financial institutions as (1) "trading" securities, (2) "available for sale" securities, or (3) "hold to maturity" securities. It explains the hierarchy for inputs used in... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; Assets; Debt Securities; Investment

09 Nov 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Securities Litigation Risk for Foreign Companies Listed in the US

Keywords: by Beiting Cheng, Suraj Srinivasan & Gwen Yu

January 2000
Case

Selecting a New Name for Security Capital Pacific Trust

A methodology for selecting a new corporate brand name is explored, highlighting different types of names, criteria and hurdles in securing new names, and legal implications. Brand identity consultancy Lippincott & Margulies guided a real estate investment trust... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Financial Services Industry

2009
Chapter

Securing Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West

By: Benjamin Edelman

Read the news of recent computer security guffaws, and it's striking how many problems stem from online advertising. Advertising is the bedrock of web sites that are provided without charge to end users, so advertising is everywhere. But advertising security gaps... View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Digital Marketing; Crime and Corruption; Ethics

August 2017
Article

Catering to Investors Through Security Design: Headline Rate and Complexity

By: Claire Célérier and Boris Vallée

This paper investigates the rationale for issuing complex securities to retail investors. We focus on a large market of investment products targeted exclusively at households: retail-structured products in Europe. We hypothesize that banks strategically use product... View Details

Keywords: Financial Complexity; Catering; Shrouding; Reaching For Yield; Investment

2008
Working Paper

Securing Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West

By: Benjamin Edelman

Read the news of recent computer security guffaws, and it's striking how many problems stem from online advertising. Advertising is the bedrock of web sites that are provided without charge to end users, so advertising is everywhere. But advertising security gaps... View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Ethics

April 2010
Background Note

Securities Trading: Front-, Middle- and Back Office

By: Francois Brochet and Rakeen Mabud

This note explains the basic structure of the trading floor in a typical financial institution and how the front, middle and back offices interact to ensure a functioning trading system. View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry

24 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Working to Keep Pirates At-Bay: My Summer in Cyber Security

fascinated by Cyber Security and, therefore, as the summer approached, I started to look at opportunities in this area. Thanks to the HBS network and the Rock Fellowship support, I was able to find a summer position at At-Bay, a series A... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

January 2000 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding

A real estate operations and investment trust is considering whether it should pursue branding as a strategic investment. Through interpretation of case data and video from focus groups, students deduce the consumer (cognitive, psychological, and economic),... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Brands and Branding

November 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Infarm: Betting the (Indoor) Farm on Food Security

By: Elie Ofek

In the summer of 2023, the co-founders of Infarm, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company, were contemplating a major pivot going forward. While Infarm had successfully shown it could grow over 75 products—mainly herbs, leafy greens and mushrooms—in modular... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Transition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; North America; Toronto; Northeastern United States

15 Apr 2009
News

Harvard University Secures New Source of Funding for International Graduate and Professional Students

03 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Homeland Security: A Ready-made Market

government are mysterious, he added—the making of laws and sausages are two activities better left behind closed doors. The CIA can talk to the INS, but there are policy issues that affect the speed of adopting new systems.— Mark Hogan, BEA Government Systems The View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Service

Fall 2022
Article

China's Political Economy and International Backlash: From Interdependence to Security Dilemma Dynamics

By: Margaret Pearson, Meg Rithmire and Kellee Tsai

Contrary to expectations that economic interdependence might lessen security conflict between China and the U.S. and its allies, much of the contestation between China and several OECD countries has focused on firms and economic links. This paper explains the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; Information Technology; China

Research Summary

What Makes the Bonding Stick? A Natural Experiment Testing the Legal Bonding Hypothesis

On March 29, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court signaled its intention to geographically limit the reach of the U.S. securities antifraud regime and thus differentially exclude U.S.-listed foreign firms from the ambit of formal U.S. antifraud enforcement. We use this legal... View Details

Keywords: Securities Litigation; Corporate Governance

26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

face added pressure to secure high-quality data and insights. I recommend that CMOs take the following seven steps to minimize the impact of reduced spending. Stay focused. Savvy marketers focus their... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

07 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Securing Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman; Advertising

2015
Mimeo

Market Power in Mortgage Lending and the Transmission of Monetary Policy

By: David S. Scharfstein and Adi Sunderam

We present evidence that high concentration in mortgage lending reduces the sensitivity of mortgage rates and refinancing activity to mortgage-backed security (MBS) yields. We isolate the direct effect of concentration and rule out alternative explanations in two ways.... View Details

Keywords: Mortgage Lending; Market Power; Monetary Policy Transmission; Mortgages; Banking Industry; United States

June 2021
Article

Symmetric Ignorance: The Cost of Anonymous Lemons

By: Amar Bhidé

Rules that restrict information required in negotiated private transactions have spurred a vast increase in the scope of anonymous financial markets, particularly in the United States. The subtle costs of the information‐restricting rules raise questions about the... View Details

Keywords: Information Asymmetry; Liquidity; Regulation; Securities Markets; Securitization; Information; Financial Liquidity; Financial Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

February 1997
Background Note

Savings and Loans and the Mortgage Markets

By: Robert C. Merton and Alberto Moel

Provides a brief overview of the history of the savings and loans, the savings and loans crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, and the creation of the mortgage markets in the United States. Also explains briefly the most common types of mortgage-backed securities available. View Details

Keywords: History; Debt Securities; Markets; Mortgages; United States