Publications
Publications
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(2,291)
- Faculty Publications (212)
- February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
- Case
Accel Partners' European Launch
By: G. Felda Hardymon and Josh Lerner
In spring 2001, with the venture market crashing all around, the London office of Accel Partners, a major west coast venture capital firm, needs to make a decision about investing in an Irish software company. As the first investment of the new European operation, the... View Details
- April 2002 (Revised February 2003)
- Background Note
An Economic Framework for Assessing Development Impact
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Frank J. Lysy and Carrie Ferman
Discusses the differences between private and social returns and describes an economic framework for assessing a project's social return [known as the economic rate of return (ERR)]. The framework begins by analyzing the impact of a new project on private financiers... View Details
- 2001
- Working Paper
When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity Dependent Firms
By: Malcolm Baker, Jeremy Stein and Jeffrey Wurgler
We use a simple model of corporate investment to determine when investment will be sensitive to non-fundamental movements in stock prices. The key cross-sectional prediction of the model is that stock prices will have a stronger impact on the investment of firms that... View Details
- March 2001 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
Merrill Lynch HOLDRS
By: Andre F. Perold and Simon E. Brown
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and HOLDRS (Holding Company Depositary Receipts) represent recent and highly successful capital market innovations. HOLDRS closely approximates a buy-and-hold strategy, and Merrill Lynch believes the product has significantly lower taxes... View Details
- February 2001
- Case
California PERS (B)
By: Jay O. Light, Jay W. Lorsch, James O. Sailer and Katharina Pick
The largest state pension fund continues the evolution of its approach to corporate governance contemplating "relationship investing" and other new approaches. View Details
- November 2000 (Revised March 2001)
- Case
Yale University Investments Office: July 2000
By: Josh Lerner
David Swensen, chief investment officer at Yale University, reviews the $10 billion endowment strategy, that places an unusually heavy emphasis on private equity and other illiquid securities. Changing market conditions in July 2000 cause him to rethink historically... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised April 2001)
- Case
Cost of Capital at Ameritrade
By: Mark L. Mitchell and Erik Stafford
Ameritrade Holding Corp. is planning large marketing and technology investments to improve the company's competitive position in deep-discount brokerage by taking advantage of emerging economies of scale. In order to evaluate whether the strategy would generate... View Details
- September 1998
- Case
Vanguard Group, Inc. (1998), The
By: Andre F. Perold
Since the beginning of 1997, Vanguard's assets under management have increased more than 60% from $240 billion to almost $400 billion, making it second in market share only to Fidelity. Vanguard views this success as another vindication of its low-cost strategy of... View Details
- December 1997 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Yale University Investments Office: November 1997
By: Josh Lerner
David Swensen, chief investment officer at Yale University, reviews the $6 billion endowment strategy, which places an unusually heavy emphasis on private equity and other illiquid securities. Changing market conditions in November 1997 cause him to rethink... View Details
- September 1997 (Revised October 1997)
- Case
French Pension System, The: On the Verge of Retirement?
By: David A. Moss, Anne Dias and Bertrand O. Stephann
Surveys the French pension system, its particular institutional characteristics, and some of the critical challenges and opportunities facing French reformers. Like almost every other industrialized country, France has a large pay-as-you-go public pension system that... View Details
- February 1997 (Revised March 1998)
- Case
Smith Breeden Associates: The Equity Plus Fund (A)
By: Robert C. Merton and Alberto Moel
In early 1997, Smith Breeden Associates, a money management and consulting firm, was pondering the future of the Equity Plus Fund. The Equity Plus Fund was an S&P enhanced-index fund that tried to outperform the S&P Index by replicating the index using low-cost... View Details
- February 1997 (Revised April 1997)
- Case
Harrington Financial Group
By: Robert C. Merton and Alberto Moel
In early 1997, Harrington Bank, a small Indiana savings and loan (thrift) wondered what its next move should be. Harrington was acquired in 1988 by the principals of Smith Breeden Associates, a money-management and consulting firm specializing in the application of... View Details
- October 1995 (Revised June 1996)
- Case
ABN-AMRO Holding N.V. and Smit Transformatoren N.V. (A)
By: Peter Tufano
ABN-AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands, must decide whether to take any action in regard to the poor performance of Smit Transformatoren, a Dutch transformer manufacturer. ABN-AMRO acted as lead underwriter for the IPO of Smit, and also released a favorable... View Details
- October 1995 (Revised July 1996)
- Case
Aspen Technology, Inc.: Currency Hedging Review
By: Peter Tufano
The chief financial officer of a rapidly growing U.S.-based software firm that sells its process-control software to industrial users around the globe must review the goals, strategies, and policies of the firm's currency hedging program. This review is prompted by... View Details
- April 1993
- Case
Sumiko Ito
By: David A. Thomas
Describes the life and career of the first Japanese female investment banker at Nomura Securities, Sumiko Ito, who later became a partner at Alex Brown, a U.S. investment bank. Organized around the major life events and career transitions Ms. Ito experienced. Set in... View Details
- July 1992 (Revised January 1995)
- Case
An Investment Linked to Commodity Futures
By: Kenneth A. Froot, Jay O. Light and Nancy Donohue
Describes a new investment which is linked to an index of commmodity futures prices. Explores how the index is constructed, how commodity futures (as opposed to other futures and spot prices) behave, and what the portfolio impacts of such an investment might be. View Details
- March 1992 (Revised December 1992)
- Case
Salomon and the Treasury Securities Auction
By: Dwight B. Crane
Set in June 1991, two months prior to Salomon Brothers' announcement that the firm had violated the Treasury Department's rules governing the auctions of new Treasury securities. Salomon Vice Chairman John Meriwether must decide how to address problems that continue to... View Details
- February 1992 (Revised April 1993)
- Case
Acid Rain: The Southern Co. (A)
The Southern Co., an electric utility, is planning its compliance with the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. The Act established a system of tradeable permits for sulfur dioxide emissions. The company must decide whether to install pollution control equipment and... View Details
- July 1991 (Revised August 1991)
- Case
Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (B)
Looks at the company's plans for a new debt offering under the Rule 415 shelf underwriting provision--in this instance from the vantage point of the lead investment banker for the deal. The decision-maker must assess the risks of the issuer, the tone of the market, the... View Details
- June 1991 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Lithonia Lighting
By: Nitin Nohria
In early 1991, Lithonia, the U.S.'s largest manufacturer of lighting fixtures, faced a major slump in the construction business that threatened to cause its first decline in revenues after over a decade of strong growth. With financial pressures from its parent company... View Details