Publications

Jonathan Wallen is an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Finance Unit and teaches Finance 1 to MBA students.

Professor Wallen’s research centers on financial intermediation and its intersection with asset pricing, currency markets,... View Details

August 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Batson International, S.A. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Management seeking to make up a shortfall in interim period earnings is seeking an accounting solution to close the gap. View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Financial Management; Standards; United States

Research Summary

Mark Bradshaw examines how sell-side financial analysts incorporate accounting information in their earnings forecasts, common stock valuations, and investment recommendations. In addition, he analyzes management reporting of modified GAAP earnings figures to... View Details

Article

Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK

By: Joanne Horton and George Serafeim

We investigate the market reaction to, and the value-relevance of, information contained in the mandatory transitional documents required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 1 (2005). We find significant negative abnormal returns for firms reporting... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Markets; Information; International Finance; Earnings Management; Stock Shares; Taxation; Goodwill Accounting; Price; Financial Reporting; Standards; Corporate Disclosure; United Kingdom

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Samantha is a behavioral scientist, earning her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior (Micro) at Harvard Business School. Her research examines employees' strategic decisions under competition. Her work also examines how to harness diverse talent effectively, driving... View Details

September 2004 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Chardonnay Shortage at Mondavi Winery, The

Mondavi Winery is facing a shortage of its Chardonnay wine. This shortage will disrupt its positioning in wine outlets and impact earnings. Allows students to discuss how to communicate such temporary--but financially important--shocks to the capital markets and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Earnings; Production; System Shocks; Capital Markets; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

November 1999 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Circuits, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

To allow students to compute and explain quarterly and annual earnings per share figures by using financial accounting standards No. 128. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings

Ben Roth is the Purnima Puri and Richard Barrera Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. He is a development economist that employs both economic theory and field experimentation to pursue questions in two overlapping... View Details

October 1993 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Champion International

By: David F. Hawkins

Management must decide which first quarter's earnings numbers to report. The company is classified by its securities market as a "growth" company. The corporate controller prefers a quarterly earnings figure that represents a decline in earnings. View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Financial Reporting; Judgments; Leadership; Management Teams; Corporate Disclosure

August 2010
Supplement

Batson International, S.A. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

A surprise internal audit of a division's accounting practices reveals a number of possible earnings management and accounting irregularities. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Standards; United States

Anke Becker is an Assistant Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School.

Anke’s areas of research include economic development, political economy, economics of gender, and behavioral economics. Her recent work examines culture... View Details

Samuel B. Antill

Samuel Antill is an assistant professor of business administration in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches the Finance II course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Antill’s research interests are in corporate... View Details

Shunyuan Zhang

Shunyuan Zhang is an associate professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches the first-year Marketing course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Zhang studies the sharing economy and the marketing problems that... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; high technology; retailing

Forthcoming
Article

Passive Ownership and Price Informativeness

By: Marco Sammon

I show that passive ownership negatively affects the degree to which stock prices anticipate earnings announcements. Estimates across several research designs imply that the rise in passive ownership over the last 30 years has caused the amount of information... View Details

Keywords: Passive Ownership; ETFs; Market Efficiency; Price; Investment Funds; Stocks; Communication

November 1994 (Revised April 2012)
Case

National Electric Corporation

By: David F. Hawkins and Norman Bartczak

A company meets financial analysis year-end earnings per share estimates, which have been progressively lowered during the year. View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Quality; Business Earnings; Stock Shares; Analysis

November 2019
Case

Gillette: Cutting Prices to Regain Share

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After losing market share to low-priced competitors such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club for several years, Gillette decided to fight back by launching new products and increasing advertising. When these efforts failed to stem the losses, Gillette decided to cut the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competition; Price; Public Equity; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Research Summary

Analyst Disagreement, Forecast Bias and Stock Returns

We present evidence of inefficient information processing in equity markets by documenting that biases in analysts' earnings forecasts are reflected in stock prices. In particular, investors fail to account for analysts' tendency to withhold negative views and to issue... View Details

Ebehi Iyoha

Ebehi Iyoha is an Assistant Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research interests lie at the intersection of industrial organization and international trade. Using a combination of structural and reduced-form methods,... View Details

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Genzyme Center (B)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Aldo Sesia

Genzyme Corporation is in the midst of planning its new corporate headquarters, which incorporates many innovative green building features. After learning that the building as planned would likely earn a LEED Silver rating, an intermediate score in the LEED green... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; Cost vs Benefits; Biotechnology Industry; Construction Industry; Real Estate Industry; Green Technology Industry