Publications

Richard S. Ruback is a Baker Foundation Professor and the Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He is currently focusing his research in applied corporate finance, especially... View Details

September 2019
Article

Trading Networks with Frictions

By: Tamás Fleiner, Ravi Jagadeesan, Zsuzsanna Jankó and Alexander Teytelboym

We show how frictions and continuous transfers jointly affect equilibria in a model of matching in trading networks. Our model incorporates distortionary frictions such as transaction taxes and commissions. When contracts are fully substitutable for firms, competitive... View Details

Keywords: Trading Networks; Frictions; Competitive Equilibrium; Matching With Contracts; Stability; Trail Stability

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29 Jul 2018
News

The dynamic effects of computerised VAT invoices on Chinese manufacturing firms

April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions

By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty

Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transition; Valuation; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Integration; Organizational Culture; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

06 Dec 2017
News

Uber Really Wants You to Use Its Credit Card

Spring 2015
Article

Bitcoin: Economics, Technology, and Governance

By: Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman and Tyler Moore

Bitcoin is an online communication protocol that facilitates virtual currency including electronic payments. Since its inception in 2009 by an anonymous group of developers, Bitcoin has served tens of millions of transactions with total dollar value in the billions.... View Details

Keywords: Market Platforms; Online Technology; Currency

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Article

Are Self-service Customers Satisfied or Stuck?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of self-service technology (SST) usage on customer satisfaction and retention. Specifically, we disentangle the distinct effects of satisfaction and switching costs as drivers of retention among self-service customers. Our empirical... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Competition; Cost; Banks and Banking; Behavior; Market Transactions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

January 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Blackstone at Age 30

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

Since its IPO in 2007 and following the global financial crisis, Blackstone largely outpaced its alternative investment firm peers in assets under management, new business launches, profitability, and market capitalization. Under the leadership of Stephen A.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Asset Management; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

November 2007
Background Note

Event Arbitrage

By: Joshua D. Coval and Erik Stafford

The event arbitrage module includes two simulation sessions. The first simulation focuses on analyzing and evaluating individual merger transactions, while the second simulation emphasizes managing a portfolio of individual positions and the limitations of arbitrage... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Financial Management; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management

November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Bolsa de Valores de Guayaquil (BVG): Reaching Worldwide Investors Through the Internet

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre, Dusya Vera and Karen Barone

The Guayaquil Stock Exchange developed a Web site to provide information about the market in Ecuador. Though the system provided some dynamic information for potential investors and allowed for some transactions to occur via the Internet, it had not at the time of the... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Foreign Direct Investment; Emerging Markets; Internet; Technology Industry; Ecuador

16 Aug 2012
News

Focus on your results, not your hours

04 Dec 2016
News

If US companies bring back billions from overseas, who profits?

2024
Article

Technological Adoption and Taxation: The Case of China's Golden Tax Reform

By: Haichao Fan, Yu Liu, Nancy Qian and Jaya Y. Wen

This paper investigates the effect of Phase 2 of the Golden Tax Project on VAT in China. The reform introduced computer-generated invoices and electronic transaction linking. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we show that the reform increased VAT by reducing... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Economic Growth; China

May 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Enron Odyssey (A), The: The Special Purpose of "SPEs"

The board has asked Ron Tolbert, an employee in the Risk Assessment and Control Group, to analyze three SPE transactions executed by Enron executives: the Destec, Rhythms, and Fishtail/Bacchus transactions, which were prominently featured in the Examiner's Report in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Instruments; Analysis; Accounting; Financial Strategy; Energy Industry

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A4): Sun Peak: Helen Yang and Mark Walden on "Running Sun on Sun"

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

SunPeak was the largest project Sun Microsystems, Inc. had ever undertaken: shifting Sun's entire business transaction system from a mainframe-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to a Sun-based system. Making the shift would be complicated and financially... View Details

Keywords: Projects; Transformation; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Complexity; Risk and Uncertainty; Success; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

November 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Merrill Lynch's Acquisition of Mercury Asset Management

By: Andre F. Perold, Imran Ahmed and Randolph B Altschuler

In the Spring of 1998, Merrill Lynch faced an array of challenges and opportunities related to its global asset management business. The firm had recently completed its $5.3 billion cash acquisition of U.K.-based Mercury Asset Management, a transaction that made it one... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Asset Management; Currency; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retirement; Japan; Europe; United Kingdom

06 Apr 2022
News

In Uncertain Times, Big Companies Need to Take Care of Their Suppliers

29 May 2019
News

A Study of More Than 250 Platforms Reveals Why Most Fail

2008
Working Paper

Unraveling Yields Inefficient Matchings: Evidence from Post-season College Football Bowls

By: Guillaume R. Frechette, Alvin E. Roth and M. Utku Unver

Many markets have "unraveled" and experienced inefficient, early, dispersed transactions, and subsequently developed institutions to delay transaction timing. However, it has previously proved difficult to measure and identify the resulting efficiency gains. Prior to... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Television Entertainment; Market Timing; Market Transactions; Marketplace Matching; Sports Industry