Publications

2008
Working Paper

Liquidity Needs in Economies with Interconnected Financial Obligations

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

A model is developed where firms in a financial system have to settle their debts to each other by using a liquid asset. The question that is studied is how many firms must obtain how much of this asset from outside the financial system to make sure that all debts... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; Networks

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Research Summary

Sustainability and Integrated Reporting

A sustainable strategy for a company is one that enables it to create value for shareholders over the long term while contributing to a sustainable society. In doing so, it must balance the needs of different types of providers of financial capital (e.g.,... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Reporting

01 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

Keywords: by Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo & Robert C. Merton; Construction; Real Estate

20 May 2019
News

What it can mean for Morehouse grads to have loans paid off by Robert Smith

February 2021 (Revised March 2023)
Supplement

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Global Economy (B)

By: Alberto Cavallo and Christian Godwin

By December 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had swept across the globe, creating widespread disruption in all aspects of everyday life. Almost 90 million people had been infected and nearly two million had died from the disease. By this point in the pandemic—a year since... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Economy; Health Pandemics; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Global Range; Crisis Management; Disruption

February 2021
Case

China Rapid Finance: The Collapse of China’s P2P Lending Industry

By: William C. Kirby, Bonnie Yining Cao and John P. McHugh

China’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry had over 3,000 platforms at its height in 2015. China Risk Finance (CRF) was one of the country’s P2P success stories. With over 1 million borrowers using CRF’s platform, it raised $60 million in its 2016 IPO on the New York... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; P2P Lending; Government And Business; Regulation; Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

workout plan, enabling more than 90% to meet their payments and get back to good credit standing, while saving the bank more than $80 million in bad debt annually. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 1997 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Bankruptcy and Restructuring at Marvel Entertainment Group

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Jason Auerbach

Marvel Entertainment Group is the leading comic book publisher in the United States, with superheros like Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, and Captain America. It is also one of the leading manufacturers of sports and entertainment trading cards under the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governance Controls; Courts and Trials; Planning; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Latam Airlines and COVID-19: Seeking Bankruptcy Protection in the United States

By: Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Larrain, Carlos Vilches and Sarah Jeong

On May 26, 2020, Latam Airlines became the largest airline in the world to be driven to bankruptcy by COVID-19. With a complex debt structure and international investor composition, the company decided to file for bankruptcy protection in the United States, which... View Details

Keywords: Airlines; Pandemic; Coronavirus Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Air Transportation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Capital Markets; Strategy; Latin America; Chile; United States

02 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 2, 2018

significant chilling effect on downstream innovation. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54706 Towards a New Approach for Upgrading Europe’s Competitiveness By: Ketels, Christian, and Michael E. Porter... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Teaching Note

Harmonic Hearing Co. (Brief Case)

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Craig Stephenson

Teaching Note for 4271. View Details

Keywords: Debts; Quantitative Analysis; Financing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Development Stage Enterprises; Small ＆ Medium-sized Enterprises; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt

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

November 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

FMC Corp.: A Recapitalization

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

A proposed recapitalization will use new debt to pay a large dividend to some shareholders in return for a reduction of their voting power. The result will be a highly leveraged financial structure and negative owners' equity. Students can trace the effects of proposed... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Strategy; Asset Management; Financial Management; Business Conglomerates; Borrowing and Debt; Business and Shareholder Relations; Capital Structure; Equity; Private Equity; Chemical Industry

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2020
Working Paper

Currency Hedging in Emerging Markets: Managing Cash Flow Exposure

By: Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Calani and Liliana Varela

Foreign currency derivative markets are among the largest in the world, yet their role in emerging markets in particular, is relatively understudied. We study firms' currency risk exposure and their hedging choices by employing a unique dataset covering the universe of... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Currency Hedging; FX Derivatives; Foreign Currency Debt; Currency Mismatch; Trade Credit; Currency; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets

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February 2017
Case

Valerie Daniels-Carter: High Growth Entrepreneurship via Franchising

By: Steven Rogers and Alyssa Haywoode

This case looks at entrepreneurship via franchising through the leadership of an African-American entrepreneur who owns almost 150 stores including Burger King, Pizza Huts, and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Her company is the largest female-owned franchise business in the... View Details

Keywords: Giving And Philanthropy; Weather And Climate Change; Franchise Ownership; Family Business; Experience and Expertise; Decisions; Borrowing and Debt; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business History; Climate Change; Motivation and Incentives; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Alphatec Electronics Pcl

By: Stuart C. Gilson, C. Fritz Foley and Perry Fagan

The newly appointed CEO of an important high-technology company in Thailand must lead the company through a complicated debt restructuring. Due to the collapse of the Thai currency, the company's debt burden, like that of most Thai companies, has skyrocketed because it... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Valuation; Management Teams; Restructuring; Laws and Statutes; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Developing Countries and Economies; Borrowing and Debt; Technology Industry; Electronics Industry; Thailand; United States

June 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Equator Principles, The: An Industry Approach to Managing Environmental and Social Risks

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Aldo Sesia

In June 2003, 10 leading international banks adopted new voluntary guidelines, called the Equator Principles, to promote sustainable development in project finance. In recent years, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) had raised issues about the lenders'... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Project Finance; Standards; Projects; Commercial Banking; Non-Governmental Organizations