Publications

October 1973
Article

Variable and Self-Service Costs in Reciprocal Allocation Models

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Keywords: Cost

winter 1993
Article

Scale and Scope Effects on Advertising Agency Costs

By: A. J. Silk and E. Berndt

Keywords: Advertising; Cost

March 1997
Article

Transactions Costs and Capital Structure Choice: Evidence from Financially Distressed Firms

By: S. C. Gilson

This study provides evidence that transactions costs discourage debt reductions by financially distressed firms when they restructure their debt out of court. As a result, these firms remain highly leveraged and one-in-three subsequently experience financial distress.... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Capital Structure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information; Finance; Business Ventures

July 2021
Teaching Note

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 221-006 and 221-070. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

August 2017
Article

Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement: Experimental Evidence from France

By: Céline Braconnier, Jean-Yves Dormagen and Vincent Pons

A large-scale randomized experiment conducted during the 2012 French presidential and parliamentary elections shows that voter registration requirements have significant effects on turnout, resulting in unequal participation. We assigned 20,500 apartments to one... View Details

Keywords: Elections; Politics; Voting; Political Elections; Behavior; France

May 2024
Article

True Costs of Uterine Artery Embolization: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing in Interventional Radiology Over a 3-Year Period

By: Julia C. Bulman, Nicole H. Kim, Robert S. Kaplan, Sarah Schroeppel DeBacker, Olga R. Brook and Ammar Sarwar

The study used time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) to estimate the costs to perform uterine artery embolization (UAE). Utilization times for patients undergoing outpatient UAE for fibroids or adenomyosis were captured from electronic health record timestamps and... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

2020
Working Paper

The Cost of Anonymous Lemons

By: Amar Bhidé

Rules that restrict information required in negotiated private transactions have spurred a vast increase in the scope of anonymous financial markets, particularly in the US. The subtle costs of the information restricting rules raise questions about the social value of... View Details

Keywords: Information Asymmetry; Securities; Securitization; Regulation; Liquidity; Information; Financial Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Liquidity

February 2021
Article

The Department of Justice as a Gatekeeper in Whistleblower-Initiated Corporate Fraud Enforcement: Drivers and Consequences

By: Jonas Heese, Ranjani Krishnan and Hari Ramasubramanian

We examine drivers and consequences of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) oversight of whistleblower cases of corporate fraud against the government. We find that the DOJ is more likely to intervene in and conduct longer investigations of cases that have a higher chance... View Details

Keywords: Whistleblowing; Department Of Justice; DOJ Enforcement; Performance Measures; False Claims Act; Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement

SSRN

25 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

The Economic Cost of Physician Burnout

or leave their jobs due to burnout. They then correlated those numbers with the percentage of burnout experienced by doctors in different age groups and medical disciplines in order to estimate the overall effects of burnout on staffing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

Article

Best Practices in Estimating the Cost of Capital: Survey and Synthesis

By: Robert Bruner, Kenneth M. Eades, Robert S. Harris and Robert F. Higgins

This paper presents the results of a cost-of-capital survey of 27 highly regarded corporations, ten leading financial advisers, and seven best selling textbooks and trade books. The results show close alignment among all these groups on the use of common theoretical... View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital

Research Summary

Antecedents and Consequences of Trust in Interorganizational Relations: An International Comparison

The objective of this research project is to build from the conceptual development described above and test the sources and effects of trust in a different empirical setting. The level of analysis is also interorganizational but narrowed to the level of a specific... View Details

September 1992 (Revised May 2004)
Background Note

Activity Accounting--Another Way to Measure Costs

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Explains the principal differences between traditional cost accounting systems and activity-based costing systems. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting

05 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

The Work-Around Culture: Unintended Consequences of Organizational Heroes

"Work-around cultures" are pervasive in health care. Employees tend to work around obstacles, often feeling like a hero in the process, without solving the underlying problems. The reasons for these cultures are manifold, but they are costly in financial... View Details

Keywords: by Anita Tucker; Health

April 1989 (Revised January 1990)
Case

Texas Instruments: Cost of Quality (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A division questions whether to retain, modify, or abandon its cost of quality system now that more direct measures of quality have been adopted. Discusses the role of quality cost measurement in a mature quality management system. View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Quality

June 2009
Case

Midland Energy Resources, Inc.: Cost of Capital

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

The senior vice president of project finance for a global oil and gas company must determine the weighted average cost of capital for the company as a whole and each of its divisions as part of the annual capital budgeting process. The case uses comparable companies to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Assessment; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Cost of Capital; Cash Flow; Capital Structure; Valuation; Capital Budgeting; Energy Industry

March 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Komatsu Ltd. (A): Target Costing System

Komatsu, a leading manufacturer of construction equipment, seeks to expand aggressively through the 1990s. Key to its competitiveness is a strict adherence to target costs throughout the product development process. Komatsu conducts several design-for-manufacturability... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Machinery and Machining; Expansion; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry

16 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Cost of Friendship

Keywords: by Paul Gompers, Vladimir Mukharlyamov & Yuhai Xuan

May 1997
Case

Toyota Motor Corporation: Target Costing System

Explores Toyota's target costing system, considered to be the most advanced such system of any major Japanese manufacturer. Specifically, describes Toyota's process of setting rigorous cost-reduction goals and the steps taken to achieve them. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

March 1989 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Marriott Corporation: The Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Richard S. Ruback

Gives students the opportunity to explore how a company uses the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to compute the cost of capital for each of its divisions. The use of Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) formula and the mechanics of applying it are stressed. View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Mathematical Methods