Publications

April 2023
Article

The Subjective Expected Utility Approach and a Framework for Defining Project Risk in Terms of Novelty and Feasibility—A Response to Franzoni and Stephan (2023), ‘Uncertainty and Risk-Taking in Science’

By: Jacqueline N. Lane

In their Discussion Paper, Franzoni and Stephan (F&S, 2023) discuss the shortcomings of existing peer review models in shaping the funding of risky science. Their discussion offers a conceptual framework for incorporating risk into peer review models of research... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Research; Resource Allocation; Perception

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Article

Agile Product Development: Managing Development Flexibility in Uncertain Environments

By: S. Thomke and D. Reinersten

Keywords: Research and Development; Product; Management; Risk and Uncertainty

Article

Excusing Selfishness in Charitable Giving: The Role of Risk

By: Christine L. Exley

Decisions involving charitable giving often occur under the shadow of risk. A common finding is that potential donors give less when there is greater risk that their donation will have less impact. While this behavior could be fully rationalized by standard economic... View Details

Keywords: Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Risk Preferences; Risk and Uncertainty; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior

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September 2012
Teaching Note

Kaesong Industrial Complex (A) and (B) (TN)

By: Eric Werker and Dante Roscini

Keywords: Foreign Investment; Country Risk; Bilateral Trade; Special Economic Zones; Risk and Uncertainty; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment

January 2005 (Revised March 2005)
Case

WorldCom, Inc.: Two Views

By: David F. Hawkins

Financial analysis is one way to detect WorldCom's fraudulent accounting. This case presents two perspectives of WorldCom: the company as viewed by security analysts and the inside view of the accounting fraud. Also looks at the company's acquisition accounting to... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Crime and Corruption; Accounting

Educators

April 2003
Article

2002 10-Ks: Equity Financial Risk Focus

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Reports; Equity; Finance; Risk and Uncertainty

08 Dec 2015
Research Event

Research Trends Discussed at India and South Asia Conference

Initiative's Creating Emerging Markets project, in which business leaders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America discuss their experiences growing businesses amid the opportunities and uncertainties of developing markets throughout recent... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

Profile

Raja Bobbili

this dominant idea that business leaders make important decisions with imperfect information. As an investor, that is exactly what I have to do – exercise sound judgment in the context of significant uncertainty and complexity. How did... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management / Hedge Fund

12 PM – 1:30 PM EDT, 28 Apr 2020
Career Events

New Paths Forward & How to Get There

Is there anything holding you back from taking that next step? Are you at an impasse? This session is designed to help to you honestly assess where you are now in your life. From there, we will craft potential new paths and create action plans to guide your immediate... View Details

29 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 29, 2006

patent holder are zero, and an "aggressive" form where they are strictly positive. Even though the patentee's profits are protected with the lost profits damage measure, innovation incentives are reduced relative to a regime where infringement is deterred.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Cheap, Fast, and In Control: How Tech Aids Innovation

assessing which management practices and processes in an organization could benefit from experimentation? It is important to understand that experimentation matters to managing change and uncertainty. A: It is important to understand that experimentation matters to... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild

January 1982
Article

The Returns and Risk of Alternative Put Option Portfolio Investment Strategies

By: Robert C. Merton, Myron S. Scholes and Matthew L. Gladstein

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Investment; Strategy

Article

Beyond Statistics: The Economic Content of Risk Scores

By: Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, Raymond Kluender and Paul Schrimpf

"Big data" and statistical techniques to score potential transactions have transformed insurance and credit markets. In this paper, we observe that these widely-used statistical scores summarize a much richer heterogeneity, and may be endogenous to the context in which... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Risk and Uncertainty; Insurance Industry

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December 2020
Article

Sovereign Debt Portfolios, Bond Risks, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy

By: Wenxin Du, Carolin Pflueger and Jesse Schreger

We document that governments whose local currency debt provides them with greater hedging benefits actually borrow more in foreign currency. We introduce two features into a government's debt portfolio choice problem to explain this finding: risk-averse lenders and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Currency; Policy; Risk and Uncertainty

August 2020
Article

Financial Market Risk Perceptions and the Macroeconomy

By: Carolin E. Pflueger, Emil Siriwardane and Adi Sunderam

We propose a novel measure of risk perceptions: the price of volatile stocks (PVS), defined as the book-to-market ratio of low-volatility stocks minus the book-to-market ratio of high-volatility stocks. PVS is high when perceived risk directly measured from surveys and... View Details

Keywords: Risk-centric Business Cycles; Cross-section Of Equities; Real Risk-free Rate; Real Investment; Financial Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Perception; Investment

November 2001
Case

Lakeside

By: Michael A. Wheeler

This case presents an ethical choice: How should a prospective buyer respond when a homeowner quotes a price that the buyer knows is significantly below market value? The case describes a private transaction in which the prospective seller is fully competent mentally... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Price; Negotiation Process; Property; Risk and Uncertainty; Real Estate Industry

Educators

June 1997 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Sky Air, Inc.

By: Paul A. Gompers

Concerns a fictitious airline company and examines the moral hazard situation that results within a firm. Provides an opportunity to discuss corporate governance and contracting under uncertainty. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Corporate Governance; Contracts; Risk and Uncertainty; Air Transportation Industry

Educators

Editorial

Risk Is a Choice Rather Than a Fate

By: Andre F. Perold

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Choices and Conditions