Publications

08 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

March 2001
Background Note

Valuing the Option Component of Debt and Its Relevance to DCF-Based Valuation Methods

The flows-to-equity or equity cash flows valuation method is a discounted cash flow method used to estimate the equity portion of the capital structure. It is closely related to the venture capital/buyout valuation method, which estimates the IRR of the stream of cash... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Valuation; Equity

Educators

Web

Option Pricing in Theory & Practice: The Nobel Prize Research of Robert C. Merton

HBS Quick Links HBS Home MBA Executive Education Doctoral Programs Faculty and Research Alumni Publishing Site Index HBS Home Contact Us Map/Directions Option Pricing in Theory & Practice: The Nobel Prize Research of Robert C. Merton View... View Details

2007
Working Paper

The Impact of Shareholder Activism on Financial Reporting and Compensation: The Case of Employee Stock Options Expensing

By: Fabrizio Ferri and Tatiana Sandino

In this paper we examine the economic consequences of over 150 shareholder proposals to expense employee stock options (ESO) submitted during the proxy seasons of 2003 and 2004–the first case where the SEC has allowed an accounting matter to be subject to an advisory... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Financial Reporting; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations

November 2013
Supplement

Larry Steffen: Valuing Stock Options in a Compensation Package, Spreadsheet for Students (Brief Case)

By: William E. Fruhan and Craig Stephenson

2001
Working Paper

Restoring the Link Between Pay and Performance: Evaluating the Costs of Relative-Performance-Based (Indexed) Options

November 2013
Supplement

Larry Steffen: Valuing Stock Options in a Compensation Package, Spreadsheet for Instructors (Brief Case)

By: William E. Fruhan and Craig Stephenson

May 1976
Article

The Impact on Option Pricing of Specification Error in the Underlying Stock Price Returns

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Price; Stocks

Find at Harvard

We examine how reducing search frictions in secondary markets affects the value appropriated by firms in primary markets. We characterize two effects on primary-market firms caused by intermediaries entering secondary markets: the “cannibalization” and “option value”... View Details

2008
Chapter

The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States

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

This paper summarizes the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement savings outcomes. After outlining the salient features of the various sources of retirement income in the U.S., the paper presents the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Financial Condition; Retirement; Investment Funds; Microeconomics; Outcome or Result; Government and Politics; Financial Institutions; Macroeconomics; United States

2001
Working Paper

The Efficiency of Equity-Linked Compensation: Understanding the Full Cost of Awarding Executive Stock Options

June 2018
Article

Cost of Experimentation and the Evolution of Venture Capital

By: Michael Ewens, Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

We study how technological shocks to the cost of starting new businesses have led the venture capital model to adapt in fundamental ways over the prior decade. We both document and provide a framework to understand the changes in the investment strategy of VCs in... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Investing; Abandonment Option; Technological Innovation; Venture Capital; Investment

2017
Working Paper

Cost of Experimentation and the Evolution of Venture Capital

By: Michael Ewens, Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

We study how technological shocks to the cost of starting new businesses have led the venture capital model to adapt in fundamental ways over the prior decade. We both document and provide a framework to understand the changes in the investment strategy of VCs in... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Investing; Abandonment Option; Technological Innovation; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Investment

SSRN

April 2013
Teaching Note

Konys, Inc. (TN)

By: Deishin Lee and Tunay Tunca

This case describes the sourcing policy for a consumer electronics company. The company must decide how to structure contracts with their supplier—using a purchase contract, an option contract, or combination of the two. The company can also buy from the spot market.... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Option Contract; Uncertainty; Sourcing; Supplier Relationship; Supply Chain

09 Sep 2021
News

Remote Work Made Life Easier for Employees with Disabilities. Advocates Say the Option Should Stay

November 2012 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Konys, Inc.

By: Deishin Lee and Tunay I. Tunca

This case describes the sourcing policy for a consumer electronics company. The company must decide how to structure contracts with their supplier—using a purchase contract, an option contract, or combination of the two. The company can also buy from the spot market.... View Details

Keywords: Option Contract; Uncertainty; Sourcing; Supplier Relationship; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Supply Chain; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

Educators

July/August 2004
Article

How No-deal Options Can Drive Great Deals: When Actions away from the Table Eclipse Face-to-face Negotiation

By: David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius

Keywords: Negotiation

Find at Harvard

2001
Working Paper

Do Underwater Executive Stock Options Still Align Incentives? The Effect of Stock Price Movements on Managerial Incentive-Alignment