Publications

1994
Chapter

International Experiences with Securities Transaction Taxes

By: K. A. Froot and J. Campbell

Keywords: Corporation Taxation; Interest Deductibility; Cost Of Capital; Corporate Finance; Accounting; Borrowing and Debt; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates

June 1990
Supplement

Komatsu in 1986

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the impact of a rising Yen on Komatsu's pricing strategy. Komatsu management seems to be signalling the need for price increases. Asks what Cat's new CEO, George Schaefer, should do in response. View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Leadership; Management; Strategy

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December 1995 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Student Educational Loan Fund, Inc.

By: Peter Tufano

Rick Melnick oversees the Student Educational Loan Fund (SELF), which provides loans to Harvard Business School students. SELF is changing the terms of student loans from variable-rate with semiannual payments to fixed-rate loans with equal monthly payments. Melnick... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Financial Services Industry

1990
Chapter

The Free Lunch in Currency Hedging: Implications for Investment Policy and Performance Standards

By: André Perold and Evan C. Schulman

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; International Finance; Investment; Performance

January 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Fixed Income Arbitrage in a Financial Crisis (A): US Treasuries in November 2008

Investment manager James Franey confronts an apparent arbitrage opportunity during the global financial crisis of 2008 when he notices a wide yield spread between two U.S. Treasury bonds that mature on the same date. Franey must decide if there is an opportunity, how... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Valuation; Interest Rates; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

1994
Other Unpublished Work

Losing Interest: Interest Allocation Rules and the Cost of Debt Finance

By: K. A. Froot and J. Hines

Keywords: Accounting; Corporation Taxation; Interest Deductibility; Cost Of Capital; Corporate Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates

March–April 2015
Article

The Almighty Ruble

By: Debora L. Spar

At 1 AM Moscow time on December 16, Russia's central bank announced a massive hike in the country's interest rate, from 10.5% to 17%. It's not clear how Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his colleagues could realistically have expected to achieve anything by hiking the... View Details

Keywords: Monetary Policy; Economy; Policy; Currency; Interest Rates; Sovereign Finance; Russia

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2010
Case

Groupe Ariel, S.A.: Parity Conditions and Cross-Border Valuation: Brief Case No. 4195 (TN).

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and James Quinn

Keywords: Valuation; Currency Exchange Rate; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

May 2018
Article

U.S. Treasury Premium

By: Wenxin Du, Joanne Im and Jesse Schreger

We quantify the difference in the convenience yield of U.S. Treasuries and government bonds of other developed countries by measuring the deviation from covered interest parity between government bond yields. We call this wedge the “U.S. Treasury Premium.” We document... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Investment Return; Interest Rates; Financial Crisis

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01 Dec 2009
News

An Action Plan for Economic Recovery

confidence in credit rating agencies? The first thing Congress did in 2006 was to boost competition. We now have nine approved rating agencies instead of three. However, if you are a bond issuer and you... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

23 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

New Challenges for Long-Term Investors

spending needs as well as economic factors such as rising interest rates that affect different assets in different ways. Viceira's research analyzes asset allocation strategies for personal and institutional investors. He teaches... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

January 1993 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Laurinburg Precision Engineering

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A small manufacturer needs additional financing for expansion and production improvements. A bond issue would provide needed funds, and a zero-coupon bond would delay payments until funds provided by operations were available. Present value tables are included. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Bonds; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Manufacturing Industry

January 2011
Supplement

Fixed Income Arbitrage in a Financial Crisis (D): TED Spread and Swap Spread in May 2009

The D case briefly recounts the action that investment manager Albert Mills takes in the matter of an unusually low U.S. dollar fixed-floating swap spread. He must decide what to do next. View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Interest Rates; Financial Crisis

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

staple. And the Japanese, buoyed by a strong economy and low interest rates at home, swept in to buy up trophy properties at almost any asking price. "The total effect of all that money and lack of focus on the intrinsic economics of... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

03 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Forget About Making College Affordable; Make it a Good Investment

Donald Trump has not issued an official platform on student debt, although he has referenced reducing college costs and lowering interest rates on student loans. Hillary Clinton has offered a variety of proposals. Echoing Bernie Sanders,... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Education

01 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

How Many U.S. Jobs Are ‘Offshorable’?

to a particular job, rating the importance of each. After considering this information, the learning team created an "offshorability rating" between 0 and 100 for each of its assigned occupations, with a View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

17 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Beyond Pajamas: Sizing Up the Pandemic Shopper

their loyalty patterns by looking at the repeat purchase rate of these new customers compared with those of existing users. To do that, we calculated the portion of consumers who bought again within 60 days of their first purchase. We... View Details

Keywords: by Ayelet Israeli, Eva Ascarza, and Laura Castrillo; Retail

December 2000 (Revised December 2016)
Technical Note

Valuing Companies in Corporate Restructurings: Technical Note

By: Stuart C. Gilson

This case provides a technical overview of different valuation techniques for use in valuing companies in corporate restructuring. Techniques covered include adjusted present value, WACC, capital cash flow, and discounted cash flow valuation. Specific numerical... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital; Cash Flow; Interest Rates; Valuation