Publications

25 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

A Macroeconomic View of the Current Economy

going to depreciate tomorrow or next week or even next month. But over time, you expect it to depreciate. So if you're a business manager, you probably want to be fairly well hedged against this possibility, either by making use of certain View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 2017
Case

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor

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

The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Cost of Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

January 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

The Dojima Rice Market and the Origins of Futures Trading

By: David A. Moss and Eugene Kintgen

In 1730, Japanese merchants petitioned shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune to officially authorize trade in rice futures at the Dojima Exchange, the world's first organized (but unsanctioned) futures market. For many years, the Japanese government had prohibited the trade of... View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Food; Business History; Market Transactions; Business and Government Relations; Japan

Web

Case Studies - Social Impact Collaboratory

unlocking ESG value. Key Themes: ESG and activism may in fact be a source of financial and impact alpha; however, the path from theory to implementation is still being tested. Investing in Nature: The Nature Conservancy and NatureVest... View Details

January 2019
Article

Bubbles for Fama

By: Robin Greenwood, Andrei Shleifer and Yang You

We evaluate Eugene Fama's claim that stock prices do not exhibit price bubbles. Based on U.S. industry returns 1926–2014 and international sector returns 1985–2014, we present four findings: (1) Fama is correct in that a sharp price increase of an industry portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Bubble; Market Efficiency; Predictability; Price Bubble; Stocks; Price; Forecasting and Prediction

Find at Harvard

July 2021
Article

Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness

By: Jody Grewal, Clarissa Hauptmann and George Serafeim

As part of the SEC’s revision of Regulation S-K, many investors proposed the mandatory disclosure of sustainability information in the form of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. However, progress is contingent on collecting evidence regarding which... View Details

Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Accounting Standards; Sustainability; Nonfinancial Information; Corporate Social Responsibility; Stock Price Informativeness; Synchronicity; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Accountability; Stocks; Price; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Accounting; Standards

SSRN

Find at Harvard

September 2017
Case

Blackstone's Julia Kahr at the Summit

By: Paul A. Gompers, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

In 2009, Blackstone, the New York-based alternative asset and financial services firm, committed to invest up to $750 million into Summit Materials, a new company in the aggregates sector (i.e., construction materials, such as crushed stone, sand, gravel, cement,... View Details

June 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Optimalen Capital

By: Malcolm Baker, Elisabeth Kempf and Jonathan Wallen

A new client portfolio manager at a quantitative investment management firm must explain why her firm, Optimalen Capital, has rebalanced a client portfolio with a set of trades that seem unintuitive. In particular, Optimalen has added to its position of Walmart (ticker... View Details

Keywords: Investments; CAPM; Capital Asset Pricing Model; Investment Portfolio; Asset Pricing; Stocks

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

Working PapersDon't Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad (revised) Authors:Lynda M. Applegate and Bruce Harreld Abstract Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

component of bid-ask spreads. We empirically examine these predictions for a sample of large U.S. banks, exploiting recent mandatory disclosures of financial instruments designated as fair value levels 1, 2,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS

By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

The American Institute for Foreign Studies (AIFS) organizes study abroad programs and cultural exchanges for American students. The firm's revenues are mainly in U.S. dollars, but most of its costs are in eurodollars and British pounds. The company's controllers review... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Revenue; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Education Industry; North and Central America

September 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Bear to Bull: An Analyst’s Journey with Netflix

By: Aiyesha Dey, Joseph Pacelli, Jennifer G. Lawson and Tom Quinn

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said “hell freezing over” was more likely than him upgrading the “sell” rating he had maintained on movie and television streaming giant Netflix since 2011, despite meteoric subscriber and share price growth. In 2022, however,... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Investment; Stocks; Equity; Analysis; Attitudes; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

26 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 26

from non-experts or not at all. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47824 August 2014 Administrative Science Quarterly The Contaminating Effects of Building Instrumental Ties: How Networking Can Make Us Feel... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Cotting House | About

to the late 1990s, when Cotting House was repurposed for its current use. About the Name Charles E. Cotting (Harvard 1911) Boston investment banker and philanthropist Charles E. Cotting (1889 - 1985) generously contributed his wisdom and View Details

April 2010 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Tremblant Capital Group

By: Robin Greenwood

Brett Barakett, CEO and founder of Tremblant Capital Group, a New York–based hedge fund, must decide what to do with his fund's position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has dropped in value by more than 40% in recent months. Tremblant is a hedge fund that... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Funds; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

Article

The Economics of Structured Finance

By: Joshua D. Coval, Jakub W. Jurek and Erik Stafford

This paper investigates the spectacular rise and fall of structured finance. The essence of structured finance activities is the pooling of economic assets like loans, bonds, and mortgages, and the subsequent issuance of a prioritized capital structure of claims, known... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Asset Management; Debt Securities; Investment; Risk Management; Behavior

Find at Harvard

2018
Working Paper

The Impact of Pensions and Insurance on Global Yield Curves

By: Robin Greenwood and Annette Vissing-Jorgensen

We document a strong effect of pension and insurance company (P&I) assets on the long end of the yield curve. Using data from 26 countries, the yield spread between 30-year and 10-year government bond yields is negatively related to the ratio of pension assets (in... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; Investment Funds; Insurance; Assets; Interest Rates; Bonds

SSRN

July 2010
Case

Monmouth, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Piper and Heide Abelli

The management of Monmouth Inc. is considering whether to acquire the Robertson Tool Company and the value and form that the acquisition should take. Value can be assessed using a variety of approaches including a DCF with WACC analysis, impact on EPS and market... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Bidding; Forecasting; Stock Offerings; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Margins; Stocks; Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Forecasting and Prediction; Bids and Bidding; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

March 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Masterpiece for the Masses: The First Art Exchange ARTEX

By: Lauren Cohen, Anastasiya Siroochenko (Siro) and Sophia Pan

Yassir Benjelloun-Touimi, CEO of ARTEX, aspired to marry the world of art and finance. Hoping to promote transparent, fractionalized ownership of renowned artwork, the founder had spent years contemplating the birth of an art stock market. This exchange would allow... View Details