Publications

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25 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

To Pay or Not to Pay: Argentina and the International Debt Market

to collect on defaulted debt. In truth, most countries repay their debts, and sovereign default is far from the norm. At stake in the Argentina case is the idea that one should use foreign institutions and foreign courts to help View Details

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro

Charles C.Y. Wang

Charles C.Y. Wang is the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and an associate editor of Management Science and Journal of Accounting Research,... View Details

August 1985 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Paul Volcker and the Federal Reserve: 1979-1982

Describes three years of the Volcker monetary policy experiment. The Federal Reserve changed the focus by its operating procedure from an interest rate instrument to a reserve instrument and it reaffirmed its commitment to hitting its preannounced monetary growth... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Financial Institutions; United States

January 2003 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Boston Automation Systems, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

Daniel Fisher, the CFO of Boston Automation Systems, must review a number of revenue transaction accounting policies following the issuance of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Staff Accounting Bulletin 101, "Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements."... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Policy; Financial Statements

25 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

life and make people happier impacts not only the poor, but also more affluent Americans living at the edge of their means in a bumpy economy. Indeed, in 2019, one in every four Americans faced financial scarcity, according to the Board... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Thumbs-Up Video, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A start-up video rental business is described to provide a basis for a bookkeeping and financial reporting exercise for an accounting course. Both start-up and operating transactions are included along with situations requiring judgments about depreciation policies and... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Financial Statements; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Financial Reporting; Accounting Industry

16 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Government Debt Management at the Zero Lower Bound

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, Joshua S. Rudolph & Lawrence H. Summers

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

What Happens When Banks Ditch Coal: The Impact Is 'More Than Anyone Thought'

Consumers who are eager to mitigate climate change can take many actions, such as reducing the number of airline flights they take or installing solar panels on their homes. But the planet is in a race against time, and individual action alone won’t help most countries... View Details

Keywords: by Barbara DeLollis; Financial Services; Mining

February 18, 2022
Article

Transparency as a Solution for COVID-19 Related Hospital Capacity Issues

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer

In the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. hospitals could not provide an adequate supply of beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of hospital bed capacity is of great importance in the “new normal,” which requires recognizing that SARS-CoV-2 is but... View Details

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Care; Health Care Demand; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Industry; Health Care Operations; Health Care Policy; Transparency; Hospital; Hospital Management; Hospitals; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Operations; Performance Capacity; Policy; Health Industry

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June 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Note on Pension Guarantee Funds

By: Robert C. Pozen and Patricia Bissett Higgins

The United States and the United Kingdom both had quasi-government agencies that provided back-up insurance for individuals participating in defined benefit ("DB") pension plans. This note compares and contrasts the United Kingdom's Pension Protection Fund ("PPF") with... View Details

Keywords: Pensions; Pension Guarantee Funds; Pension Protection Fund; Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; Employee Retirement Income Security Act; PBGC; ERISA; MAP-21; Legislation; Insurance; Saving; Retirement; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Employees; Insurance Industry; United States; United Kingdom

Research Summary

Professor Pill's current research has two dimensions. On the one hand, he is investigating the formulation and conduct of monetary policy in advanced economies, with a focus on the implementation of the single monetary policy in the euro area. On the other hand, he is... View Details

February 1992 (Revised October 1996)
Case

CUC International, Inc. (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Paul M. Healy

The case series examines the role of financial reporting and corporate finance policies as vehicles for communication between managers and outside investors. This case describes management's concern that the company's stock is undervalued because analysts viewed the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Stocks; Financial Management; Decisions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Style; Management Practices and Processes; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Financial Services Industry

11 Apr 2011
News

Brighton grad puts economic crisis into perspective

August 2000 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Sears, Roebuck and Co. vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

This case is designed to familiarize students with the use of financial ratios. Two retailers, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., have a very similar value for return on equity (ROE) in the 1997 fiscal year. Students use the information in the case and... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Financial Statements; Retail Industry; United States

Victoria Ivashina is the Lovett-Learned Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. She also serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

10 Dec 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Vulnerable Banks

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood, Augustin Landier & David Thesmar; Financial Services; Financial Services

May 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Global Economy (A)

By: Alberto Cavallo and Christian Godwin

In April 2020, the world struggled to contain the exponential escalation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dozens of countries had imposed restrictions on travel, work, and social gatherings. A large share of the global population was under lockdowns and... View Details