Publications

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February 2020
Case

Highfields Capital and McDonald's

By: Mark Egan and Robin Greenwood

McDonald’s reported its fifth consecutive quarter of declining same-store sales growth in early 2015. Despite McDonald’s recent poor performance, Jonathon S. Jacobson, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Boston-based Highfields Capital Management, had initiated... View Details

Keywords: McDonald's; Stocks; Performance Improvement; Operations; Finance; Restructuring; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

2014
Article

Bond Supply and Excess Bond Returns

By: Robin Greenwood and Dimitri Vayanos

We examine empirically how the maturity structure of government debt affects bond yields and excess returns. Our analysis is based on a theoretical model of preferred habitat in which clienteles with strong preferences for specific maturities trade with arbitrageurs.... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Investment Return

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March 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Gold in 2011: Bubble or Safe Haven Asset?

By: Robin Greenwood and Benjamin Steiner

Case explores the pricing of gold in 2011. Is the pricing justified or are we in a speculative bubble? What data are useful in determining a view on this question? View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Money; Asset Management; Investment; Price Bubble; Policy; Risk Management

September 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Citigroup's Exchange Offer (C)

By: Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Citigroup faced considerable distress in early 2009. In late 2008, the bank had accepted $45 billion in preferred equity from the United States government via the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Yet, the stock had continued to slide in early 2009. In late... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry

July 2009 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Citigroup's Exchange Offer

By: Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Citigroup faced considerable distress in early 2009. In late 2008, the bank had accepted $45 billion in preferred equity from the United States government via the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Yet, the stock had continued to slide in early 2009. In late... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Stocks; Price; Globalized Markets and Industries; Financial Services Industry

November 2006 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Kerr-McGee

By: Robin Greenwood and André Perold

Activist investors Carl Icahn and Barry Rosenstein acquire a stake in Oklahoma-based company Kerr-McGee. They demand two board seats and ask the company to make several operational and financial changes, including the repurchase of equity and divestiture of their... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Restructuring; Equity; Investment; Management; Governance Controls; Corporate Strategy; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; United States

February 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Background Note

Introduction to Valuation Multiples

By: Robin Greenwood and Lucy White

Outlines the definition and applicability of financial multiples and their relationship to discounted cash flow analysis. View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Valuation

September 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Citigroup's Exchange Offer (B)

By: Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Citigroup faced considerable distress in early 2009. In late 2008, the bank had accepted $45 billion in preferred equity from the United States government via the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Yet, the stock had continued to slide in early 2009. In late... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry

April 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Livedoor

By: Robin Greenwood and Michael Schor

The president of Fuji Television must decide how to respond to a competing bid for the shares of Nippon Broadcasting Systems (NBS). Livedoor, the other bidder, is a highly valued Internet company that has been accused of financial wizardry to keep its stock price high. View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Television Entertainment; Behavioral Finance; Corporate Finance; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Japan

December 2004 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Decision Trees

By: Robin Greenwood and Lucy White

This case introduces decision analysis. Using a simple example, it illustrates the use of probability trees and decision trees as tools for solving business problems. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making

March 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Teaching Note

NEC Electronics (TN)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Robin Greenwood

Teaching Note for [209001]. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology Industry

October 2005 (Revised February 2010)
Background Note

Calculating Free Cash Flows

By: Robin Greenwood and David S. Scharfstein

Outlines the mechanics of calculating free cash flows from historical and proforma financial statements. Focuses on the mechanical process of transforming numbers from financial forecasts into cash flows. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Forecasting and Prediction; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods

25 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 25

grow and become successful, they are often marked by the negative stigma associated with size and power, which elicits anticorporate sentiment from consumers. An underdog brand biography can be strategically wielded to prevent or offset... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 20, 2008

Stock Returns: Evidence from Cross-sectional Variation in Nikkei 225 Weights Author:Robin Greenwood Periodical:Review of Financial Studies (forthcoming) Abstract Relative to their weights in a value-weighted index, a number of stocks in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2018
Case

The Proxy Fight at ADP

By: Robin Greenwood and E. Scott Mayfield

In July 2017, shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) surged 12% following a report that the activist investor Bill Ackman had acquired a sizable stake in the company and planned to nominate his own slate of directors at the company’s annual meeting in... View Details