Publications

2010
Dissertation

Accounting Standards and International Portfolio Holdings: Analysis of Cross-border Holdings Following Mandatory Adoption of IFRS

By: Gwen Yu

Prior literature shows that investors under-invest in foreign firms due to information asymmetry problems. I posit that differences in local accounting standards are a source of the information asymmetry among investors. Using security-level holdings of international... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Standards; Investment Portfolio; Foreign Direct Investment

2011
Article

'Deprival Value' vs. 'Fair Value' Measurement for Contract Liabilities: How to Resolve the 'Revenue Recognition' Conundrum

By: Joanne Horton, Richard H. Macve and George Serafeim

Revenue recognition and measurement principles can conflict with liability recognition and measurement principles. We explore here under different market conditions when the two measurement approaches coincide and when they conflict. We show that where entities expect... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value; Deprival Value; Contract Liabilities; Fair Value Accounting; Measurement and Metrics; Profit; Revenue Recognition; Assets; Performance Evaluation; Contracts

SSRN

2012
Working Paper

The International Politics of IFRS Harmonization

By: Karthik Ramanna

The globalization of accounting standards as seen through the proliferation of IFRS worldwide is one of the most important developments in corporate governance over the last decade. I offer an analysis of some international political dynamics of countries' IFRS... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Standards; Globalization; IASB; IFRS; Politics; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Global Strategy; Corporate Governance; Policy; Government and Politics; Standards; China; India; Canada

SSRN

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

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

30 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Political Polarization: Why We All Just Can't Get Along

on that higher reputation identity, he says. Companies also can boost their employees’ trust with CSR efforts and transparency on the many metrics they have access to these days. Minor cites the example of Sears, which sends a weekly... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Financial Services; Financial Services

September 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Trucost: Valuing Corporate Environmental Impacts

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Trucost provided corporate environmental performance data and analysis to institutional investors and corporate managers, but after operating for a decade had yet to achieve profitability. Trucost was struggling to effectively differentiate its high quality products... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Distribution Channels; Investment; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Information; Value; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry

15 Oct 2019
News

Engaging More Deeply with Business in Africa

visitors. “We are focusing on initiatives targeted to improve the economic prosperity of the people.” The message resonated with the HBS group, who visited 20 companies in Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya; and Lagos, Nigeria, ranging from a View Details

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 financial reports. In response, some are pointing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Energy; Utilities

11 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Building a Better Board

stock price doing OK? "It was a 10-minute conversation, and that was that," Kaufman says. These days, the assessment is usually much more wide-spread, taking into account both quantitative and qualitative metrics other than just... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

May 2008
Article

Excess Comovement of Stock Returns: Evidence from Cross-sectional Variation in Nikkei 225 Weights

By: Robin Greenwood

In the presence of limits to arbitrage, cross-sectional variation in periodic investor demand should be related to the degree of comovement of returns. I exploit the unusual weighting system of the Nikkei 225 index in Japan to identify cross-sectional variation in... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Investment; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Weight; Performance Expectations; Behavior; Japan

December 2004
Teaching Note

Yield Curves and Bond Ratings Tutorial (TN)

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Teaching Note to (9-204-712). View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Education; Debt Securities; Service Operations; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation; Education Industry

July 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Kim Park (A): Long-lived Nonmonetary Assets

By: David F. Hawkins

A series of caselets exploring the accounting for long-lived nonmonetary assets. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Assets; Asset Management; Standards

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

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

20 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 20, 2018

forthcoming Review of Financial Studies Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis By: Bernstein, Shai, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti Abstract—Do private equity firms contribute to View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

regulatory guidelines. Finally, I consider how the regulatory process affects small firms' market entry patterns and find that small firms are less likely to be pioneers in new device markets, a fact consistent with relatively higher costs of doing so for more View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

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

December 1999 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

Earnings Per Share

By: David F. Hawkins

Discusses accounting rules for earnings per share measurement. The U.S. approach is described in detail and non-U.S. practices are briefly covered. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Stock Shares; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Measurement and Metrics; United States