Publications

February 2007 (Revised February 2007)
Module Note

The International Financial Architecture

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

The International Financial Architecture is one of the core modules of Managing International Trade and Investment, an elective course at Harvard Business School. Provides instructors with an overview of the module, the cases and readings, and the teaching notes. View Details

Keywords: International Finance

November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation

By: Robert S. Kaplan

First Commonwealth Financial Corp., a financial institution in central and southwestern Pennsylvania, implemented the Balanced Scorecard for describing and implementing its new customer-focused strategy. Its founder and chairman decided that the Balanced Scorecard also... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Corporate Strategy; Customers; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Customer Relationship Management; Executive Compensation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Pennsylvania

January 2009
Article

FDI, Productivity, and Financial Development

By: Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Selin Sayek

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on growth by focusing on the complementarities between FDI inflows and financial markets. In our earlier work, we found that FDI is beneficial for growth only if the host country has well-developed... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Income; Performance Productivity; Financial Markets; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Institutions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

Read Now

September 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Microsoft's Financial Reporting Strategy

Explores Microsoft's overall financial reporting strategy by examining the company's treatment of two accounting issues--software capitalization and revenue recognition. For both issues, the company selects accounting methods that are relatively conservative. Also... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Information Technology Industry

14 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Veteran Financial Aid Outlook

$2,550 $2,550 Dependent Health Care, Rent, Living Expenses* $30,700 $51,058 $66,672 $73,840 Total $111,818 $132,176 $147,790 $154,958 *For a full breakdown of where these numbers came from please visit the HBS Financial Aid website. For... View Details

September 1985 (Revised March 1987)
Case

Winthrop Financial Associates

By: William A. Sahlman and William J. Poorvu

TeachingInterests

Creating the Modern Financial System

By: David A. Moss

Creating the Modern Financial System offers a vital perspective on finance and the financial system by exploring the historical development of key financial instruments and institutions worldwide. The premise of the course is that students will gain a richer and... View Details

Video

Financial Aid Resources at HBS

Managing Human Assets

The time has come for American managers to rethink the traditional relationship between management and workers. The personnel practices of the past are an obstacle today, blocking the higher productivity and quality levels your firm will need to succeed in the... View Details

October 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

ATR KimEng Financial Corporation

By: Li Jin, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Dawn Lau

ATR KimEng is a Philippino asset management business. It is making an important decision on its own strategy going forward: should it stay independent, or be taken over by a large bank in the region. Through this case, we discuss the financial service industry in South... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Philippines

June 2019
Article

Financial Development and Technology Diffusion

By: Diego Comin and Ramana Nanda

We examine the extent to which financial market development impacts the diffusion of 16 major technologies, looking across 17 countries, from 1870 to 2000. We find that greater depth in financial markets leads to faster technology diffusion for more capital-intensive... View Details

Keywords: Technology Diffusion; Technology Adoption; Commercialization; Financial Markets

Register to Read

March 1986 (Revised July 1986)
Case

Applications for Financial Futures

Consists of a series of four brief descriptions of the use of financial futures as hedging vehicles: a savings and loan hedging the rollover of three-month money market certificates with T-bill futures, a corporate debt issuer hedging the cost of a future debt issue... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments

November 2022
Article

The Sharp Spikes of Poverty: Financial Scarcity Is Related to Higher Levels of Distress Intensity in Daily Life

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Erin L. Frey, Sandra C. Matz, Bertus F. Jeronimus and Adam D. Galinsky

Although income is an important predictor of life satisfaction, the precise forces that drive this relationship remain unclear. We propose that financial resources afford individuals a path to reducing the distressing impact of everyday hassles, in turn increasing... View Details

Keywords: Distress; Affect; Control; Financial Scarcity; Life Satisfaction; Income; Poverty; Well-being

Read Now

June 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Argentina's Financial System Fenced In

By: Huw Pill, Claudia Onoforio and Romina Abal

Provides an opportunity to analyze the Argentine financial crisis of 2001/2002, which culminated in the abandonment of the convertibility plan introduced by Domingo Cavallo in 1991. Focusses on the role of the financial system. View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Financial Crisis; Currency; Crisis Management; Property; Argentina

Article

Financial Innovation and Endogenous Growth

By: Luc Laeven, Ross Levine and Stelios Michalopoulos

Is financial innovation necessary for sustaining economic growth? To address this question, we build a Schumpeterian model in which entrepreneurs earn profits by inventing better goods, and profit-maximizing financiers arise to screen entrepreneurs. The model has two... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Economic Growth

Read Now

June 2017
Case

AT&T Versus Verizon: A Financial Comparison

By: V.G. Narayanan and Joel L. Heilprin

This case asks students to prepare a report comparing the financial and operating performance of AT&T and Verizon. Taking the perspective of a communications industry analyst, they must also consider the differences between and implications of the companies' business... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Operations; Analysis; Business Model; Accounting; Performance Effectiveness; Telecommunications Industry

March 2016
Case

M-Pesa: Financial Inclusion in Kenya

By: Rajiv Lal, Lisa Cox and Sarah McAra

M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service launched in 2007 in Kenya by telecommunications company Safaricom, allowed people to send money via mobile messaging to contacts, such as friends and family, or even to pay for goods and services, such as groceries or a taxi... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Money Transfer; Market Transactions; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Kenya