Publications

Educators

October 1992 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Allied-Signal: Managing the Hazardous Waste Liability Risk

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Edward Prewitt

Allied-Signal, Inc., one of the world's oldest chemical companies and today a diversified conglomerate, is liable for clean-up costs of old hazardous waste sites. These costs are substantial: reserves grew to nearly $500 million in 1991. Attempting to avoid further... View Details

Keywords: Wastes and Waste Processing; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Cost Management; Policy; Government Legislation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Governance Compliance; Legal Liability; Chemical Industry; United States; Europe

Educators

2008
Working Paper

New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Central Banking; Risk Management

Read Now

2010
Chapter

Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability: A New Framework

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Economy; Financial Condition; Central Banking; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; System Shocks

2017
Book

The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return

By: Mihir Desai

The Wisdom of Finance takes well-known financial concepts and applies them to our most pressing life issues. The book is philosophical in its approach, but Desai's thesis is peppered with real-life examples of how financial types can and should see the world... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Institutions; Ethics; Values and Beliefs

spring 1990
Article

Earnings and Risk Changes Surrounding Primary Stock Offers

By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Earnings; Change; Stocks

September 2010 (Revised October 2014)
Teaching Note

Enterprise Risk Management at Hydro One - Multimedia

By: Anette Mikes

Teaching Note for 110-707 View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Climate Change; Adoption; Perspective; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Goals and Objectives; Strategic Planning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Renewable Energy; Capital Budgeting; Managerial Roles; Problems and Challenges; Energy Industry

2004
Working Paper

Contract Rights and Risk Aversion: Foreign Banks and the Mexican Economy, 1997-2004

By: Stephen Haber and Aldo Musacchio

In 1997 Mexico allowed foreign banks unrestricted entry to the market. What impact did foreign mergers and acquisitions have on Mexico's banks? We find that all banks in Mexico have become increasingly risk averse, and that foreign banks are even more so. Foreign banks... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Market Entry and Exit; Globalization; Microeconomics; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Mexico

15 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India

Keywords: by Shawn Cole, Xavier Giné, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia Topalova, Robert Townsend & James Vickery

Web

Banking System - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

Income from trading activities was strongly negative in several years during the financial crisis. Source: Bank Holding Company Y9C Data Accounting Measures of Risk The ratio of risk-weighted assets to assets decreased after the financial... View Details

16 Jun 2015
News

Huge growth in China’s money funds poses risk

Web

In The Classroom - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

Carmen Reinhart HKS ITF-270 The Financial System and the Central Bank By: Jeremy C. Stein Harvard University Econ 1759 Behavioral Finance By: Jeremy C. Stein & Andrei Shleifer Harvard University Econ 2728, PhD Corporate View Details

23 Dec 2019
Blog Post

Taking the Risk to Start a Company at Business School

“For me, attending HBS was about choosing a time to take a risk on myself. It sets you up to take a chance and start a company,” says Julie Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO Armored Things, HBS 2017. When Julie Johnson applied to Harvard... View Details

1972
Chapter

Risk and the Discount Rate for Public Investment

By: Michael C. Jensen and Martin J. Bailey

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Investment; Public Sector

SSRN

12 Mar 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Inflation Bets or Deflation Hedges? The Changing Risks of Nominal Bonds

Keywords: by John Y. Campbell, Adi Sunderam & Luis M. Viceira

March 2016
Article

The Role of Investor Gut Feel in Managing Complexity and Extreme Risk

By: Laura Huang

Securing financial resources from investors is a key challenge for many early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Given the inherent uncertainty surrounding a decision to invest in these ventures, prior research has found that experienced investors rely heavily on their... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Gut Feel; Intuition; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Complexity; Decision Making

News

Earnings Misses Mean Big Career Risks for CFOs

04 Jun 2020
News

ESG investors get their heads around social risks

Article

Scenario Generation for Long Run Interest Rate Risk Assessment

By: Robert F. Engle, Guillaume Roussellet and Emil N. Siriwardane

We propose a statistical model of the term structure of U.S. treasury yields tailored for long-term probability-based scenario generation and forecasts. Our model is easy to estimate and is able to simultaneously reproduce the positivity, persistence, and factor... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Stress Testing; Interest Rates; Forecasting and Prediction; Risk Management; United States