Publications

September 2010
Case

Angola and the Resource Curse

By: Aldo Musacchio, Eric D. Werker and Jonathan Schlefer

Since emerging from decades of conflict in 2002, Angola has been growing at a scorching double-digit rate, led by its oil industry. But the nation remains beset with seemingly intractable problems: immense inequality, low life expectancy, a non-diversified economy, and... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Institutions; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; Government Administration; Emerging Markets; Natural Environment; Angola

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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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

20 May 2019
News

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

25 Oct 2021
News

What to Know about Investment Banking and the Professionals Driving the Biggest Deals on Wall Street

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

2021
Working Paper

Elusive Safety: The New Geography of Capital Flows and Risk

By: Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Ruth Judson and Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr

A confidential dataset with industry-level disaggregation of U.S. cross-border claims and liabilities, shows U.S. securities to be increasingly intermediated by tax-haven-financial-centers (THFC) and less regulated funds. These securities are risky, in... View Details

Keywords: Tax Havens; Financial Centers; Geography Of Flows; Profit Shifting; Tax Avoidance; Risk; Safe Assets; Hetergeneous Firms; Endogenous Entry; Endogenous Monitoring; Regulatory Arbitrage; Assets; Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Capital; Global Range

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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

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

Web

Bankers, Financiers, and Statesmen - Coin and Conscience

by N. Smith, June 10, 1793. 22.5 x 17.5 cm F gb4 x Gresham is known as the founder of the Royal Exchange and of Gresham College, London. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp, he was shrewd in discharging the View Details

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

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

Find at Harvard

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

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

March 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Supplement

Harmonic Hearing Co., Spreadsheet Supplement (Brief Case)

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Craig Stephenson

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

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

Forthcoming
Article

Variable Leases Under ASC 842: Evidence on Properties and Consequences

By: Jonas Heese, Albert Shin and Charles C.Y. Wang

The new lease standard (ASC 842) allows firms to keep variable leases off-balance-sheet, in part based on the assumption that future expenses are difficult to estimate reliably. We show that variable-lease expenses are both prevalent and substantial, exhibiting... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Financial Analysis; Accounting; Leasing; Financial Strategy