Publications

April 2017 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The U-Turns of National Truck Stops

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Alexander W. Schultz

Raj Makam had spent months trying to restructure a 2006 investment he had made in National Truck Stops, Inc. (NTS) as a senior member of Oaktree Capital Management’s (Oaktree) Mezzanine finance business within their Corporate Debt platform. It was the first time they... View Details

Keywords: Mezzanine Financing; Corporate Debt; Bankruptcy; Real Assets; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Private Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Atlanta; New York (city, NY)

21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

transportation, however, is that railroads are clearly a distinct industry with distinct economics and a separate value chain. Any sound strategy in railroads must take these differences into account. Defining the industry as... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

Research Summary

Overview

By: Vincent Pons

Professor Pons studies questions in political economy and development with the goal of understanding how democratic systems function, and how they can be improved.

He decomposes the electoral cycle into four essential steps: the factors affecting voter... View Details

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

Sourcing at Nike This case explores the evolution of Nike's global product sourcing strategy, in particular ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at its suppliers' factories. Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea? The setting for this case... View Details

29 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 29

Publications August 2013 Journal of Financial Economics X-CAPM: An Extrapolative Capital Asset Pricing Model By: Barberis, Nicholas, Robin Greenwood, Lawrence Jin, and Andrei Shleifer Abstract—Survey evidence suggests that many... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 16

advertising system in which a certain amount of waste and fraud has become the norm, despite the system's fundamental capability to offer unprecedented accountability. Publisher's link: http://www.benedelman.org/publications/accountable-adfraud-ieeesp-nov2014.pdf... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

Cognitive Uncertainty in Intertemporal Choice

By: Benjamin Enke and Thomas Graeber

This paper studies the relevance of cognitive uncertainty – subjective uncertainty over one's utility-maximizing action – for understanding and predicting intertemporal choice. The main idea is that when people are cognitively noisy, such as when a decision is complex,... View Details

Keywords: Cognitive Uncertainty; Intertemporal Choice; Cognition and Thinking; Complexity; Decision Choices and Conditions

Find at Harvard

January 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

With nearly $700 billion in assets, Lehman was the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history. In 2007, Lehman achieved record earnings of over $4 billion on revenues of $60 billion. By September 2008 the fourth largest investment bank in the world was bankrupt. How had a... View Details

13 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

When Good Incentives Lead to Bad Decisions

employment and economic growth," Cole explains. "But they often find it hard to get access to financing because they lack the large amounts of collateral that banks typically require. So we were interested in studying this small... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Banking

September 2012 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals (SPH), a vertically integrated Chinese pharmaceutical conglomerate, was considering its strategic options in the context of a rapidly evolving industry, policy, and economic environment. The company—essentially a collection of subsidiaries... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Conglomerates; Vertical Integration; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Health Care and Treatment; Global Strategy; State Ownership; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; Shanghai; United States; Europe

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

Hellenic Bottling Company) and the role of regulation in integrated reporting (Anglo-American). April 2015 American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings Real Effects of Relational Contracts By: Henderson, Rebecca, Steven Blader, Andrea... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

High-Definition TV: The Grand Alliance

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes political and economic forces that influenced the development of an all-digital, high-definition television (HDTV) standard in the United States between 1986 and 1996. Outlines the stakes for various government and industry participants in the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Policy; Management Practices and Processes; Emerging Markets; Standards; Business and Government Relations; Networks; Research and Development; Technology Adoption; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Technology Industry; Japan; Europe; United States

14 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2007

Supplements the case "Nestle's Milk District Model: Economic Development for a Value-Added Food Chain and Improved Nutrition." Purchase this supplement: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=907402 A... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2017
Teaching Note

The U-Turns of National Truck Stops

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Alexander W. Schultz

Raj Makam had spent months trying to restructure a 2006 investment he had made in National Truck Stops, Inc. (“NTS”) as a senior member of Oaktree Capital Management’s (“Oaktree”) Mezzanine finance business within their Corporate Debt platform. It was the first time... View Details

Keywords: Mezzanine Financing; Corporate Debt; Bankruptcy; Real Assets; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Private Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Atlanta; New York (city, NY)

Web

About - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

measure investor sentiment or risk neglect and understand its influence on security prices? Do credit market conditions reveal bubbles? How are credit market bubbles different from equity market bubbles? Regulation and Monetary Policy... View Details

2008
Working Paper

Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items

By: Edward J. Riedl and Suraj Srinivasan

This paper investigates whether managers' presentation of special items within the financial statements reflects economic performance or opportunism. Specifically, we assess special items presented as a separate line item on the income statement (income statement... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Disclosure; Performance