Publications

March 2006
Module Note

Exchange Rates and Firms

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Describes a core module in the International Finance course at Harvard Business School. The module focuses on how firms identify, measure, and manage currency exposures. The cases first introduce students to foreign exchange exposures and the tools used to manage... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Currency Exchange Rate; Corporate Finance

2009
Working Paper

Management and the Financial Crisis (We have met the enemy and he is us...)

By: William A. Sahlman

The financial crisis of 2008-9 has revealed that our broad model of corporate governance is broken, independent of the shortcomings in the regulatory system. Managers and boards of directors in scores of systemically important firms failed to protect employees,... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Corporate Governance; Financial Crisis

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November 2014 (Revised March 2016)
Background Note

Mental Health and the American Workplace

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Mental illness has been described as an epidemic affecting nearly a quarter of all Americans in their lifetimes, often during their most productive working years. Managers who can design organizations that maximize mental health can minimize these risks and boost... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Productivity; Competitiveness; Stress Management; Depression; Absenteeism; Presenteeism; Work Culture; Business or Company Management; Work-Life Balance; Performance Productivity; Organizational Culture; Medical Specialties; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

December 2010
Article

Management and the Financial Crisis (We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us...)

By: William A. Sahlman

The financial crisis of 2008-2009 has revealed that our broad model of corporate governance is broken, independent of the shortcomings in the regulatory system. Managers and boards of directors in scores of systemically important firms failed to protect employees,... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Human Capital; Ethics; Policy; Corporate Governance; Financial Crisis; Finance; Business and Shareholder Relations

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22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

your policy is too expensive, that's the insurance industry telling you, ‘Sorry, you shouldn't be there,’” said Albertini, whose firm specializes in insurance-linked securities. Climate risk factors that... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

David E. Bell

David E. Bell is a Baker Foundation Professor at HBS. He has taught marketing many times in the MBA program including as course head.

During his career at HBS, David has taught a variety of other courses to both MBAs and executives, including risk... View Details

Keywords: insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry

01 Jan 2007
News

Lifetime Achievement Award, Aspen Institute's Business & Society Program

21 Oct 2013
News

Negotiation Strategies for Doctors — and Hospitals

24 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

What’s Government’s Role in Regulating Home Purchase Financing?

Freddie Mac, with about 50 percent of all mortgage credit going through these firms. They were able to take extraordinary risks with their implicit government backing and failed spectacularly in September 2008 just before Lehman went... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

15 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 15

explained by their role. Risks and Rewards of Celebrity Endorsements Author:Anita Elberse Publication:CNN, December 16, 2009 An abstract is unavailable at this time. Read the Article:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2001
Technical Note

Technical Note on Consideration: Floors, Caps, and Collars

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

As equity-linked consideration has become more popular in acquisition and alliances, so has the use of the "price-protection" mechanisms, known variously as floors, caps, and collars. In general, these are contractual agreements that provide insurance to the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Price; Acquisition

September 2015
Article

Banks as Patient Fixed-Income Investors

By: Samuel G. Hanson, Andrei Shleifer, Jeremy C. Stein and Robert W. Vishny

We examine the business model of traditional commercial banks when they compete with shadow banks. While both types of intermediaries create safe "money-like" claims, they go about this in different ways. Traditional banks create money-like claims by holding illiquid... View Details

Keywords: Shadow Banking; Safe Money-like Claims; Commercial Banking

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04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

belief that one can talk about errors without risk of punishment—and problem-solving efficacy—the belief that the organization will support employees' system improvement efforts—were positively correlated with frontline system improvement... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2006
Article

Capital Budgeting: The Role of Cost Allocations

By: Ian D. Gow and Stefan Reichelstein

A common issue for firms is how to allocate capital resources to various investment alternatives. An extensive and long-standing literature in finance has examined various aspects of capital budgeting, including capital constraints, the determination of discount rates,... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Resource Allocation; Performance Evaluation; Cost Management; Research; Investment; Cash Flow; Risk Management; Performance Capacity

March 2011 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey - Managing in the Shadow of Health Care Reform

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Raffaella Sadun and Richard G. Hamermesh

Per the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which President Obama signed in 2010, states would be required to create state-wide health insurance marketplaces - the Health Benefit Exchanges (HBEs) - in which individuals and small employers could choose... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Insurance Industry; Insurance Industry; New Jersey

Spring 2024
Article

The Evolution of Banking in the 21st Century: Evidence and Regulatory Implications

By: Samuel Gregory Hanson, Victoria Ivashina, Laura Nicolae, Jeremy C. Stein, Adi Sunderam and Daniel K. Tarullo

As revealed by the failures of three regional banks in the spring of 2023, bank runs are not a thing of the past. To inform the ongoing discussion of the appropriate regulatory response, we examine trends in the banking industry over the last twenty-five years. On the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Financial Crisis; Assets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Condition; Banking Industry

2023
Working Paper

The Market for Sharing Interest Rate Risk: Quantities and Asset Prices

By: Ishita Sen, Umang Khetan, Jane Li and Ioana Neamtu

We study the extent of interest rate risk sharing across the financial system using granular positions and transactions data in interest rate swaps. We show that pension and insurance (PF&I) sector emerges as a natural counterparty to banks and corporations: overall,... View Details

Keywords: Interest Rates; Investment Funds; Banks and Banking; Insurance; Investment Banking; Risk and Uncertainty

SSRN

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2016
Blog

Building A Culture of Health - John A. Quelch: Creating A Culture of Health

By: John A. Quelch

All American companies are in the health business whether they like it or not. The private sector directly pays for one-fifth of the whopping 17.5% of GDP spent on healthcare in the United States. Rather than viewing health merely as an insurance expense to be... View Details