Publications

21 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 21, 2006

high tax costs when repatriating earnings. Estimates indicate that a one standard deviation increase in the tax burden from repatriating foreign income is associated with a 7.9% increase in the ratio of cash to net assets. In addition, certain firms, specifically those... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 6, 2007

Chuck" advertising campaign. This campaign aims to differentiate Schwab in the cluttered financial services marketplace. Test market results facilitate discussion of advertising objectives, message strategy, media selection, and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2023
Article

Do Rating Agencies Behave Defensively for Higher Risk Issuers?

By: Samuel B. Bonsall IV, Kevin Koharki, Pepa Kraft, Karl A. Muller III and Anywhere Sikochi

We examine whether rating agencies act defensively toward issuers with a higher likelihood of default. We find that agencies' qualitative soft rating adjustments are more accurate as issuers' default risk grows, as evidenced by the adjustments leading to lower Type I... View Details

Keywords: Credit Rating Agencies; Soft Rating Adjustments; Default; Credit; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Financial Institutions; Risk Management

February 2002 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Battery Ventures

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon, Nitin Gupta and Sameer Bharadwaj

Todd Dagres, general partner of Battery Ventures, reflects on his firm's organization and its effectiveness in one particular deal. One of the perennial challenges of venture capital is the scaling of the firm. Usually regarded as a craft industry, venture firms tend... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Structure; Financial Services Industry

22 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Online Banks Fill Funding Needs for Small Business

always been alternative forms of loan capital available, including credit unions, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), merchant cash advances, equipment leasing and factoring products. “Alternative players have the... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Financial Services; Financial Services

November 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

BonneSante S.A.

By: David F. Hawkins

IASB and FASB propose new lease accounting rules and the owner of a French chain of fast food outlets is concerned about the impact on his company's balance sheets. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Policy; Standards; Leasing; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; France

Find at Harvard

14 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

New Agenda for Corporate Accountability Reporting

How do you measure corporate accountability? And can you do it credibly? Since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, for-profit corporations are facing greater demand to disclose more than revenues and expenses on annual View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Energy; Utilities

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

October 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Subprime Crisis and Fair-Value Accounting

By: Paul M. Healy, Krishna G. Palepu and George Serafeim

This case examines the challenges in implementing fair value accounting for mortgage instruments, the role of accounting in the sub-prime crisis, and proposals for revising accounting standards given the crisis. View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Financial Crisis; Debt Securities; Mortgages; Standards

23 Jul 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Balanced Scorecard in Action

adds a metric that summarizes customer profitability. The ability to measure profitability at the individual customer level allows companies to consider new customer profitability metrics such as "percentage... View Details

Web

How Voluntary Investor Disclosures Can Sharpen Company Priorities | Working Knowledge

tangential to their core operations and zero in on metrics the standards identify as financially relevant. Over time, that shift can create better benchmarks, allowing analysts to compare similar information... View Details

Web

Field Course: Value Creation in Small and Medium Firms - Course Catalog

field to the students”. Course Content and Organization: Selected course sessions: 1. First day speech role play and early actions post acquisition 2. Financial systems, accounting, and metrics 3. Difficult... View Details

February 2011 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Gemini Investors

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Gemini Investors was a private equity firm focused on small and lower middle market businesses. Gemini's target investment size was between $4 million and $6 million and a typical portfolio company had revenue of between $8 million and $30 million. In early 2015,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Investment Funds; Markets; Size; Financial Services Industry; United States

2013
Working Paper

Network Effects in Countries' Adoption of IFRS

By: Karthik Ramanna and Ewa Sletten

If the differences in accounting standards across countries reflect relatively stable institutional differences (e.g., auditing technology, the rule of law, etc.), why did several countries rapidly, albeit in a staggered manner, adopt IFRS over local standards in the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Network Effects; Standards; Adoption; Value

SSRN

07 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 7

of Kansas City) The Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet as a Financial-Stability Tool By: Greenwood, Robin, Samuel Gregory Hanson, and Jeremy C. Stein Abstract—We argue that the Federal Reserve should use its balance sheet to help reduce a key threat to View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jun 2021
Blog Post

Managing Sustainable Advantage with Key ESG Cofounders, Anne-Marie Schoonbeek and Heleen van Poecke

‘cost-out’ to seeing it as a value creation lever. One that most businesses need to learn how to manage just as effectively as, and align with, their financial performance”. van Poecke and Schoonbeek started researching the evolution of... View Details

06 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Consumers Blame Business for Global Health Problems. Can Business Become the Solution?

goals, strategies, operational plans, and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of a culture of health effort. Coordination of the effort at the top can include chief human resources executives, chief medical officers, chief... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Health

April 2006
Background Note

Understanding Corporate-Value-at-Risk through a Comprehensive and Simple Example

By: Marc L. Bertoneche and Frantz Maurer

Using a comprehensive and simple example of a firm exposed to foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk, and commodity price risk, shows how to use corporate-value-at-risk to measure and manage a firm's global exposure to risk. View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Interest Rates; International Finance; Globalization; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; Value

December 2002 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Basel II: Assessing the Default and Loss Characteristics of Project Finance Loans (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

In June 1999, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced plans to revise the capital standards for banks. The Basel Committee believed that project loans were significantly riskier than corporate loans and, therefore, warranted higher capital charges under... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Project Finance; Financing and Loans; Projects; Standards; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry