Publications

2008
Book

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

By: Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson traces the historical evolution of the financial system, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls "Planet Finance." In doing so, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history, from the... View Details

Keywords: Financial History; Money; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Investment; Globalization

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

probably seen the beginning of the decline of the actively managed mutual fund," Charles Broming expressed the hope that "money management will become another technical job and compensation will reflect its real added... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2007
Working Paper

Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

Real investors and markets are too complicated to be neatly summarized by a few selected biases and trading frictions. The "top down" approach to behavioral finance focuses on the measurement of reduced form, aggregate sentiment and traces its effects to stock returns.... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Markets; Behavioral Finance; Stocks

January 1999 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Shady Trail

By: Arthur I Segel

Holt Lunsford was intrigued by the packet of papers that lay in front of him. The papers comprised a brochure that Lonestar Bank had put together in an effort to sell the Shady Trail Distribution Center in Dallas, Texas. Shady Hill was a five-year-old,... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Acquisition; Buildings and Facilities; Property; Partners and Partnerships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Texas

05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond

In the family of investment products, a U.S. savings bond might be cast as boring old Uncle Ned, snoozing away in the corner after dinner. There's nothing wrong with that—but HBS professor Peter Tufano envisions a more meaningful role for... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

06 Oct 2023
Book

Yes, You Can Radically Change Your Organization in One Week

real problem Turn what you think is the problem into a question and then ask people who have a direct stake in it what they think. Ask yourself: Might you have a role in creating the problem? “We’ve found that when you dig into the... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

February 2010
Case

Shurgard Self-Storage: Expansion to Europe (Abridged)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Shurgard, a U.S.-based firm that rents storage facilities to consumers and small businesses, is considering financing options for rapid expansion of its European operations. Five years after entering Europe, Shurgard Europe has opened 17 facilities in Belgium, France,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Logistics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Trade; Equity; Corporate Finance; United States; Europe

10 Jan 2005
What Do You Think?

Public Pension Reform: Does Mexico Have the Answer?

government-imposed investment guidelines similar to those in Mexico, whether the money is publicly or privately managed. Several questioned whether the framing of the challenge that the column posed was even correct. In Bittner's words,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

14 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2007

Real Estate Harvard Business School Note 208-041 Demonstrates the accelerating impact of leverage on returns under differing scenarios of property performance. The performance scenarios represent two points in time: the inception of the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Money Isn’t Everything: The Dos and Don’ts of Motivating Employees

because the payout incentives are tied to leading only your company’s sector. “It’s paying for real performance, which is the thing the shareholders want,” Hall says. Do: Remember that cash isn’t always king Non-monetary rewards can be... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

06 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

High Hills, Deep Poverty: Explaining Civil War in Nepal

to prevent them. "The main conclusion from this whole stream of research is that investing in poverty reduction strategies not only has direct economic benefits but also political benefits," says Lakshmi Iyer, a Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

December 1987 (Revised May 1991)
Case

One Leather Street

By: William J. Poorvu and Jeffrey A. Libert

Presents a problem involving rehabilitating a small office building in Boston. Describes an investment decision which is knowingly underfunded. As construction proceeds, the developer realizes that it is not up to building code and faces difficult business and ethical... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Ethics; Investment; Decisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Property; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry; Boston

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

inflation-indexed bond markets in the U.S. and the U.K. It documents a massive decline in long-term real interest rates from the 1990s until 2008, followed by a sudden spike in these rates during the financial crisis of 2008. Breakeven... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Dec 2011
Op-Ed

Greater Fiscal Integration Best Solution for Euro Crisis

that choke the real economy and reinforce a spiral of lower or negative growth. For all the difficulties and risks, there may yet be a positive resolution to this crisis for one simple reason: the stakes are too high in this game of... View Details

Keywords: by Dante Roscini

13 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 13, 2007

A. Desai, and C. Fritz Foley Abstract This paper examines how costly financial contracting and weak investor protection influence the cross-border operational, financing and investment decisions of firms. We develop a model in which... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

2001
Chapter

Publicly Funded Science and the Productivity of the Pharmaceutical Industry

By: Rebecca Henderson and Ian Cockburn

U.S. taxpayers funded $14.8 billion of health related research last year, four times the amount that was spent in 1970 in real terms. In this paper we evaluate the impact of these huge expenditures on the technological performance of the pharmaceutical industry. While... View Details

Keywords: Public Sector; Science-Based Business; Research and Development; Sovereign Finance; Pharmaceutical Industry

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11 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

Traditional investing classifications consider Walmart a consumer staples retailer, but the company owns more than 6,000 retail and distribution properties around the world—the portfolio dwarfs those of many commercial View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Real Estate; Real Estate; Real Estate; Real Estate

March 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Shurgard Self-Storage: Expansion to Europe

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Indra Reinbergs

Shurgard, a U.S.-based firm that rents storage facilities to consumers and small businesses, is considering financing options for rapid expansion of its European operations. Five years after entering Europe, Shurgard Europe has opened 17 facilities in Belgium, France,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Valuation; Business Model; Governing and Advisory Boards; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry; Belgium; France; Sweden; United States; Europe