Publications

July 2020
Case

Mortgage Backed Securities and the Covid-19 Pandemic

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira and Dean Xu

In April 2020, global financial markets were still reeling as the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly across the world. Global equity markets had initially fallen by 30% in response to the pandemic, and high-yield credit markets had dropped by nearly 20%. In contrast,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Mortgage-backed Securities; Health Pandemics; Financial Markets; Assets; Resource Allocation; Financial Instruments; Decision Making

March 2018
Article

Global Business over Time

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article explores how business enterprises have been powerful actors in the spread of global capitalism between 1840 and the present day. It also shows how global firms, emerging out of industrialized Western economies, created and co-created markets and ecosystems... View Details

Keywords: Global; Multinational; Business History; Globalization; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economic Systems

March 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Salomon and the Treasury Securities Auction

By: Dwight B. Crane

Set in June 1991, two months prior to Salomon Brothers' announcement that the firm had violated the Treasury Department's rules governing the auctions of new Treasury securities. Salomon Vice Chairman John Meriwether must decide how to address problems that continue to... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Managerial Roles; Ethics; Market Transactions; Bonds; Investment Banking; Crisis Management; Auctions; Legal Liability; Banking Industry

February 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Align Partners and SM Entertainment: Korean Shareholder Activism Meets K-Pop (A)

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Billy Chan

For years, institutional investors had experienced very limited success in influencing the management of listed companies through shareholder activist campaigns in Korea. The common practice of circular ownership and public resentment toward foreign shareholder... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Public Equity; Stocks; Investment Activism; Music Entertainment; Corporate Governance; Success; Business and Shareholder Relations; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; South Korea

June 2021
Case

Modern Endowment Management: Paula Volent and the Bowdoin Endowment

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Dean Xu

This case examines modern endowment investment management through the lens of a leadership transition between Chief Investment Officers (CIOs). In March 2021, Paula Volent is about to step down as the CIO of the endowment of Bowdoin College after twenty-one years, and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Investment Banking; Growth Management; Investment Return; Capital Markets; Interest Rates; Competition; Cost Management; Risk Management; Financial Liquidity; Performance Evaluation

2014
Article

Corporate Governance and the Financial Crisis in Italy

By: Dante Roscini

The financial crisis hit Italy harder than many other Eurozone countries. In part this was due to the fact that the crisis came upon a system that was weakened by years of sub-par economic growth. One of the several endogenous factors that explain the stagnation of the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Italy; European Union

December 2024
Article

Coordinating the Energy Transition: Electrifying Transportation in California and Germany

By: Nicholas Goedeking and Jonas Meckling

California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Coordination; Technology Adoption; Infrastructure; Transportation; Government and Politics; Energy; Utilities Industry; Germany; California

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2011
Chapter

Innovations in Governance

By: Raymond Fisman and Eric Werker

In this paper we explore the innovations in governance that have promoted investment and growth. Some policymakers have tinkered with their country's institutions, some have undertaken wholesale changes, while others have attempted to influence the rules in other... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Investment; Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government and Politics; Innovation and Invention

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Research Summary

International Competitiveness in High Technology and Science Based Sectors

By: Gary P. Pisano

This research project examines shifts in competitive capabilities of companies and countries in high technology and science based businesses. It is particularly concerned with the potential loss of such capabilities in various industrial sectors in the... View Details

Ray A. Goldberg

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952.

... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness; agriculture; fast food; food; food processing; forest products; grocery; high technology; information; restaurant; retailing; soft drink; textiles; tobacco; transportation; wholesale; wine

August 1993 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Dimensional Fund Advisors: 1993

By: Jay O. Light

A small California-based money manager is now offering specialty products for institutional investors based upon recent financial research findings. View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Investment; Financial Services Industry; California

20 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Risky Business with Structured Finance

In the wake of the financial crisis, many once-esoteric investment terms have become a familiar part of our vocabulary. The role of structured finance securities such as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), for example, and the part... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

13 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Industry Performance

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, Morten Sørensen & Per Strömberg

07 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

How Short-Termism Invites Corruption--And What to Do About It

Keywords: by Malcolm S. Salter

January 2020 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Governing PG&E

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

The five commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) listened intently at a public forum in April 2019 as PG&E Corporation’s out-going chairman Richard Kelly described the company’s proposed new board. PG&E, which provided electricity and natural... View Details

15 Nov 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Do Fire Sales Create Externalities?

Keywords: by Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam; Financial Services; Banking

21 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets

institutional voids—in service of businesses or as stand-alone projects. Microsoft's investments in the development of China's software industry facilitated the development of its own business in the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

PetroChina

By: Alexander Dyck, Yasheng Huang and David Lane

In March 2000, plans for the initial public offering of shares in PetroChina were proceeding on schedule, and institutional investors were evaluating the deal. PetroChina was China's largest oil and gas company and an attractive play on China's continued economic... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; China