Publications

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November 2023
Article

When Executives Pledge Integrity: The Effect of the Accountant's Oath on Firms' Financial Reporting

By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Caspar David Peter

We study the effect of executives’ pledges of integrity on firms’ financial reporting outcomes by exploiting a 2016 regulation that requires holders of Dutch professional accounting degrees to pledge an integrity oath. We identify chief executive officers (CEOs) and... View Details

Keywords: Integrity; Financial Reporting; Accounting; Earnings Management

SSRN

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

“Too Big To Fail”: Reining In Large Financial Firms

largely unregulated hedge fund, came perilously close to collapse in 1998, threatening the global financial system. The tech bubble burst in 2001. Accounting scandals destroyed Enron in 2001 and WorldCom in... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Financial Services; Financial Services

June 2025
Technical Note

Fair Value Accounting for Debt Securities and Loan Assets

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu and Charles CY Wang

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Debt Securities

Educators

2016
Working Paper

Financial Regulation in a Quantitative Model of the Modern Banking System

By: Juliane Begenau and Tim Landvoigt

How does the shadow banking system respond to changes in the capital regulation of commercial banks? This paper builds a quantitative general equilibrium model with commercial banks and shadow banks to study the unintended consequences of capital requirements. A key... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Commercial Banking

SSRN

December 2006
Supplement

Financial Reporting Problems at Molex, Inc. (B)

By: Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Problems and Challenges; Technology Industry

13 May 2014
News

Harvard Historian Nancy Koehn's Prologue To The 2008 Financial Meltdown

Web

Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability Course | HBS Online

This course is part of the Business in Society and Leadership & Management track. Introduction to Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability ENROLL NOW No application needed for our certificate programs. Start your journey today!... View Details

November 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Teaching Note

Financial Accounting: An Online Introductory Course (TN)

By: David F. Hawkins and Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting

19 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Top Executive Background and Financial Reporting Choice: The Case of Goodwill Impairment

Keywords: by Francois Brochet & Kyle Welch; Accounting

1996
Book

Business Analysis and Valuation Using Financial Statements

By: Victor L Bernard, Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Financial Statements; Valuation

Find at Harvard

Article

Financial Statements: Signposts as Well as Milestones

By: Henry B. Reiling and John C. Burton

Keywords: Financial Statements

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2008
News

No Easy Fix for the Financial Crisis

How did we get into this mess, and how do we fix it? Those were the key questions that three separate expert panels — two convened by HBS and one by Harvard University — addressed for standing-room-only audiences in late September as the nation’s View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson;Martha Lagace; deregulation; moral hazard; the middle class; Finance

Web

Banking System - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

Income from trading activities was strongly negative in several years during the financial crisis. Source: Bank Holding Company Y9C Data Accounting Measures of Risk The ratio of risk-weighted assets to... View Details

April 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

ALZA and Bio-Electro Systems (A): Technological and Financial Innovation

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

To develop the next generation of risky products, ALZA, a mature and profitable biotechnology firm specializing in drug delivery systems, must raise $40 million. Organizational constraints and competitive concerns demand that the work be done inside the firm. However,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Business Subsidiaries; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Finance; Biotechnology Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Educators

December 2006
Supplement

Financial Reporting Problems at Molex, Inc. (C)

By: Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Problems and Challenges; Technology Industry

March 2025
Article

Do Public Financial Statements Influence Private Equity and Venture Capital Financing?

By: Brian K. Baik, Natalie Berfeld and Rodrigo S. Verdi

We study whether private firm public financial statements influence the probability of raising venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) financing. In particular, we propose that private firms’ public financial statements can help the VC/PE search process by... View Details

Keywords: Business Economics; Search Costs; Accounting; Venture Capital; Governance; Private Equity; Financial Statements

SSRN

December 26, 2014
Article

Mergers & Acquisitions: Before a Merger, Consider Company Cultures Along with Financials

By: David G. Fubini

Not everything can be accounted for on a spreadsheet. View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Mergers and Acquisitions; Accounting

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