Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(159)
- Faculty Publications (46)
- March 2008 (Revised February 2009)
- Case
Transparent Value LLC
By: Sharon P. Katz, Krishna G. Palepu and Aldo Sesia, Jr.
Leading index company Dow Jones recently signed a license and joint marketing agreement with Transparent Value LLC, the creator of a new fundamentals-based valuation methodology. The agreement allowed Dow Jones to offer a family of indexes based on the Transparent... View Details
Keywords: Asset Management; Stocks; Price; Performance Expectations; Mathematical Methods; Valuation
- January 2008
- Background Note
Valuing Risky Debt
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
This lesson develops the classical structural approach to pricing and hedging credit risk: Merton's (1974) contingent claims model of debt and equity claims. This model is used to make investment and risk management decisions in an over-the-counter (OTC) market for... View Details
Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Investment; Price; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Valuation
- December 2007
- Article
Fair (and Not So Fair) Division
By: John W. Pratt
Drawbacks of existing procedures are illustrated and a method of efficient fair division is proposed that avoids them. Given additive participants' utilities, each item is priced at the geometric mean (or some other function) of its two highest valuations. The... View Details
- Fourth Quarter 2007
- Article
Contingent Claims Approach to Measuring and Managing Sovereign Credit Risk
By: Dale . F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie
This paper proposes a new approach to measure, analyze, and manage sovereign risk based on the theory and practice of modern contingent claims analysis (CCA). The paper provides a new framework for adapting the CCA model to the sovereign balance sheet in a way that can... View Details
- February 2004
- Case
Bradman and Tendulkar, LLC
By: Ananth Raman and Vishal Gaur
An investment firm is trying to project inventory turns for Radio Shack, a chain of consumer electronics stores. The investment firm has access to public financial data but not to internal operational metrics. It needs to project inventory turns because inventory... View Details
- January 2004 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Valuation Ratios in the Restaurant Industry
By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu
Examines factors underlying differences in valuation multiples (price-earnings and price-to-book) across four firms in the restaurant industry. View Details
- November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Drilling South: Petrobras Evaluates Pecom
By: Mihir A. Desai and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho
The Brazilian oil company, Petrobras, is evaluating the acquisition of an Argentine oil company, the Perez Companc Group (Pecom). The acquisition would increase Petrobras' oil reserves and expand its interests outside Brazil, a significant step for the largest company... View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Crisis; Non-Renewable Energy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; State Ownership; Performance Evaluation; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Energy Industry; Argentina; Brazil
- August 2003 (Revised May 2009)
- Background Note
Basic Venture Capital Formula, The
By: William A. Sahlman and Matthew Willis
Briefly summarizes the process that venture capitalists use to analyze high-risk, long-term investments. Contains information on methods that can be used to calculate valuation, share price, percent ownership, implied valuation, dilution, and option pools. View Details
- January 2003 (Revised February 2011)
- Tool
Business Analysis and Valuation Model (Version 5)
By: Paul M. Healy, Krishna G. Palepu and Jonathan Barnett
Once you enter company financial statements, this software enables you to standardize them to a common format, make any needed adjustments to the company's accounting, and make assumptions about the company's future performance. The model then provides financial ratios... View Details
- June 2002
- Background Note
Note on the Equivalency of Methods for Discounting Cash Flows
Uses a numerical example to demonstrate that when you discount the cash flows to capital from a project at the weighted average cost of capital, you get same net present value result as you obtain when discounting the cash flows to equity at the cost of equity. Also... View Details
- August 2001 (Revised July 2008)
- Technical Note
A Technical Note and Discussion on Real Estate Valuation (IBET): Back of the Envelope (BOE) on Bonhomme Place: A Case within a Case
By: Arthur I Segel
Discusses real estate valuation. Reviews "back of the envelope" valuation; real estate appraisal methods, including the income method; market comparables and replacement costs; and more complex computer modeling. Also discusses other variables that could influence... View Details
- July 2001
- Technical Note
Technical Note on LBO Valuation (A): LBO Structure and the Target IRR Method of Valuation
Explains the equity cash flow method of valuation as it applies to leveraged buyouts. Also explains: 1) earnings and cash flow forecasts, 2) debt structure and the cash sweep, 3) the cashing out horizon and terminal valuation, and 4) the target IRR method of valuation. View Details
- July 2001
- Technical Note
Technical Note on LBO Valuation (B): The Equity Cash Flow Method of Valuation using CAPM
Explains the equity cash flow method of valuation as it applies to leveraged buyouts. Also explains how to implement the changing cost of equity method using the CAPM. View Details
- December 2000
- Background Note
Intellectual Asset Valuation
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gavin Clarkson
Discusses the shortcomings of the current "rules of thumb" for intellectual asset valuation in the context of intellectual property licensing transactions. As an alternative to the present scheme, this note proposes quantitative methods for such valuations in order to... View Details
- August 2000 (Revised July 2001)
- Case
Laura Martin: Real Options and the Cable Industry
By: Mihir A. Desai and Peter Tufano
CSFB equity research analyst Laura Martin publishes a report on valuing Cox Communications that introduces an innovative approach to valuation. She contends that EBITDA multiple analysis, typical for the cable industry, is flawed because it overlooks the value of the... View Details
- Article
Valuation of Bankrupt Firms
By: S. C. Gilson, E. S. Hotchkiss and R. S. Ruback
This study compares the market value of firms that reorganize in bankruptcy with estimates of value based on management's published cash flow projections. We estimate firm values using models that have been shown in other contexts to generate relatively precise... View Details
- June 1998
- Background Note
Note on Alternative Methods for Estimating Terminal Value
Reviews basic techniques for estimating terminal value in the valuation of businesses. Among the techniques discussed are perpetuities, growing perpetuities, use of multiples, and liquidation value. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details
- January 1998 (Revised January 1999)
- Background Note
A Note on Valuation in Entrepreneurial Ventures
By: Paul A. Gompers
Discusses various valuation methodologies for analyzing entrepreneurial firms. Gives a description of the methodologies and describes when each method is appropriate. View Details
- 1998
- Article
Alternative Models of Uncertain Commodity Prices for Use with Modern Asset Pricing Methods
By: Malcolm Baker, E. S. Mayfield and John Parsons
This paper provides an introduction to alternative models of uncertain commodity prices. A model of commodity price movements is the engine around which any valuation methodology for commodity production projects is built, whether discounted cash flow (DCF) models or... View Details
Keywords: Asset Pricing; Goods and Commodities; Price; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Production; Projects; Cash Flow
- July 1996 (Revised June 2001)
- Case
Atlantic Corporation-Abridged
By: Thomas R. Piper
A major paper company is considering acquiring the assets of a company that is threatened by a hostile takeover. The acquisition can be evaluated in terms of industry attractiveness, comparative advantage, and cash-flow analysis. View Details