Publications

January 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Necessity and Invention: Monetary Policy Innovation and the Subprime Crisis

By: Aldo Musacchio and Dante Roscini

This case describes the efforts of Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, to improve liquidity in money markets during the subprime crisis. The case explains the four main new tools for monetary policy (or quantitative easing) the Federal Reserve has used... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Money; Financial Liquidity; Central Banking; Policy; Business and Government Relations

August 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Apple Pay

By: Sunil Gupta, Shelle Santana and Margaret L. Rodriguez

On September 9, 2014, in front of a packed audience in Cupertino, CA, Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple, announced the much anticipated launch of Apple Pay. "Our vision is to replace this [wallet] and we are going to start with payments." Cook then invited... View Details

20 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 20, 2018

that adjustments grow more stringent and accurate in the months leading up to default and better predict lender default recovery rates. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52018 Peer Influence on Trade View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

26 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 26

evolution of multinational banks over time and suggest a conceptual framework in which this development can be understood. In-depth analyses of the multinational banking strategies of selected countries and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 1980 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Savannah West

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Allison Porter, a loan officer for Chemical Bank, must decide whether to make a construction loan on a 216-unit apartment building to be built in Savannah, Georgia. In teaching this case, one begins by looking at the economics, marketing data, etc., of the proposed... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Property; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Housing; Risk Management; Valuation; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Georgia (state, US)

September 2024
Case

InfraCredit and the Project Inception Facility

By: John Macomber, Namrata Arora and Maagatha Kalavadakken

Around the world, large infrastructure projects are frequently stymied by the high cost and high uncertainty of the project inception phase: the research and engineering and planning prior to financial close and start of construction. Could there be a new kind of... View Details

10 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 10

Brands The case explores the collateralization of intellectual property in a loan agreement between a highly leveraged apparel company and a large U.S. bank. Leveraging intangibles in the credit market is a new practice that has... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Accelerating the Accelerator: Raja Al Mazrouei at DIFC Fintech Hive

By: Linda A. Hill, Emily Tedards and Lydia Begag

In January 2023, Raja Al Mazrouei became the Managing Director and Acting CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) in Dubai, UAE. In her previous role as the Executive Vice President of the DIFC Fintech Hive, she successfully built and led an accelerator program for... View Details

28 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Do Display Ads Influence Search? Attribution and Dynamics in Online Advertising

Keywords: by Pavel Kireyev, Koen Pauwels & Sunil Gupta; Advertising

24 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

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

proposals, which would include the wind down of two government sponsored enterprises—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Between them they generated more than half of all US mortgage credit before failing in September 2008. According to a new... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

11 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Shrinking the Racial Wealth Gap, One Mortgage at a Time

the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Erik J. Mayer and Ruidi Huang of Southern Methodist University. Closing the gap between white and minority loan officers may help change that pattern, the researchers find. That has big implications... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

February 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Jaypee Infratech and the Indian Bankruptcy Code

By: Kristin Mugford, William Vrattos and Radhika Kak

In 2016, India passed a new bankruptcy law (IBC) to counter a brewing bank crisis and increased corporate distress. Homebuilder Jaypee Infratech, one of India largest distressed companies (the “dirty dozen”) began restructuring under the IBC in 2017. Two years later,... View Details

23 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 23

deals but do not exhibit better performance. The parent-financing advantage in loan terms is concentrated during credit market peaks when banks tend to syndicate more of the loans to external loan investors... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 23

credit because they have been taught that access to credit is welfare promoting. This perception emerged from a historical coalition between commercial banks and NGOs that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2012
Article

How to Make Finance Work

By: Robin Greenwood and David S. Scharfstein

Once a sleepy old boys' club, the U.S. financial sector is now a dynamic and growing business that attracts the best and the brightest. It is tempting to declare the industry a roaring success. But its purpose is to serve the needs of U.S. households and firms, and by... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Value; Competitive Advantage; Investment; Performance Evaluation; Household; Financial Crisis; Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

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08 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The Federal Reserve’s Abandonment of Its 1923 Principles

Keywords: by Julio J. Rotemberg; Banking; Banking

January 1993 (Revised November 1997)
Case

BayBank Boston

In 1992, the Federal Reserve released a study of mortgage lending patterns in Boston. It concluded that even when credit factors were taken into account, black and Hispanic applicants experienced higher rejection rates. Richard Pollard, chairman of BayBank Boston, had... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Ethics; Race; Mortgages; Banking Industry; Boston

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February 2025
Case

Hyperscaling Dreams: Ualá's Path from Startup to Fintech Champion

By: Juan Alcácer and Manuel Franck

Ualá, a fintech startup founded in Argentina in 2017 by Pierpaolo Barbieri, aimed to increase financial inclusion in Latin America through a digital platform linked to a prepaid card. After rapid success in Argentina, it expanded into Mexico and Colombia, acquiring... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Leadership; Venture Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Strategy; Credit; Business Startups; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Banking Industry; Argentina; Mexico; Colombia; Latin America