Publications

September 2008 (Revised April 2011)
Case

The American Express Card

By: John A. Quelch

Senior executives at American Express are reviewing the company's marketing strategy for charge and credit cards in the United States. A variety of growth options exists for students to consider, including further penetration of existing markets and the opening of new... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Credit Cards; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United States

August 2004
Article

Appearing and Disappearing Dividends: The Link to Catering Incentives

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We document a close link between fluctuations in the propensity to pay dividends and catering incentives. First, we use the methodology of Fama and French (J. Finan. Econ. (2001)) to identify a total of four distinct trends in the propensity to pay dividends... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Payout Policy; Catering; Dividend Premium; Investor Sentiment; Investment Return; Motivation and Incentives; Trends; Stocks; Financial Services Industry

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May 2011
Case

Oriental Fortune Capital: Building a Better Stock Exchange

By: Josh Lerner and Keith Chi-ho Wong

When ChiNext opened in October 2009 as the second tier market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), it aimed to provide Chinese entrepreneurs with equity capital and to facilitate the exits of venture capital firms and other investors which had previously relied on... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Stocks; Financial Markets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; International Finance; Financial Services Industry; China

May 1976
Article

The Impact on Option Pricing of Specification Error in the Underlying Stock Price Returns

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Price; Stocks

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June 2001
Case

Bond Math

This case presents four exercises that teach compounding interest and valuing bonds. View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Valuation

February 1984 (Revised February 1994)
Background Note

Note on Options

By: David E. Bell

Keywords: Stock Options

February 1984 (Revised January 1994)
Exercise

Options Exercises

By: David E. Bell

Keywords: Stock Options

2020
Guest Column

Learning from Lehman: Lessons for Today

By: Laura Comstock, Michael Holland and Peter Tufano

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Financial Crisis; Financial Markets; Financial Instruments

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September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Icahn Enterprises: Ponzi Scheme or Sound Investment

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Icahn Enterprises, a publicly traded limited partnership founded and operated by famed activist investor Carl Icahn, had earned above market returns for over a decade. Between 2018 and early 2023, it had a compound annual return of 31%. Icahn invested in undervalued... View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Investment Return; Business Model; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

May 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Enron Odyssey (A), The: The Special Purpose of "SPEs"

The board has asked Ron Tolbert, an employee in the Risk Assessment and Control Group, to analyze three SPE transactions executed by Enron executives: the Destec, Rhythms, and Fishtail/Bacchus transactions, which were prominently featured in the Examiner's Report in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Instruments; Analysis; Accounting; Financial Strategy; Energy Industry

March 1991 (Revised May 1991)
Case

New York Life Insurance Co.: Pension Department

By: Robert J. Dolan

Analyzes competition in the pension fund industry. In particular, New York Life must decide whether to compete head-to-head with mutual fund giants by offering record-keeping services or to just continue to focus on selling investment products. Presents the results of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

May 1993 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Wesfarmers Limited.: The Dividend Decision

By: Dwight B. Crane

Keywords: Stocks; Decision Making

May 1991
Background Note

Interpretation and Analysis of Stockholders' Equity

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Equity; Stocks

June 1998
Background Note

Note on Alternative Methods for Estimating Terminal Value

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

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

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Valuation