Publications
Publications
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(2,016)
- Faculty Publications (759)
- March 2009 (Revised June 2011)
- Case
The Guardian: Transition to the Online World
By: David J. Collis, Peter W. Olson and Mary Furey
The Guardian had been an early innovator in online newspapers and had not only become the leading U.K. newspaper web site, but was making strides with audiences outside of the U.K. However, The Guardian had been losing money since 2000, and, in spite of the relative... View Details
- March 2009 (Revised September 2011)
- Case
UBS and Auction Rate Securities (A)
By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Shawn A. Cole and Siddharth Bhaskar Shenai
UBS, a global financial services company, must decide whether to continue to support the market for Auction Rate Securities in the face of a growing financial crisis. These instruments, underwritten by UBS, were marketed to clients as highly liquid and safe... View Details
- March 2009 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. (A)
By: Stuart C. Gilson, Vincent Marie Dessain and Sarah Abbott
In the summer of 2006, the chairman and CEO of Eurotunnel Group is faced with the decision whether to file for bankruptcy protection, after having failed to gain creditor approval of an ambitious out-of-court restructuring plan. The company, which has been attempting... View Details
- 2009
- Book
Financial Economics
By: Zvi Bodie, Robert C. Merton and David L. Cleeton
This book seeks to explain finance through its functions rather than its institutions, concentrating on the three pillars of finance: optimization over time, asset valuation, and risk management. View Details
- 2009
- Working Paper
An Ounce of Prevention: The Power of Public Risk Management in Stabilizing the Financial System
By: David A. Moss
The magnitude of the current financial crisis reflects the failure of an economic and regulatory philosophy that had proved increasingly influential in policy circles over the past three decades.
This paper suggests (1) that contrary to the prevailing wisdom,... View Details
- May 2009
- Article
Asymmetric Information Effects on Loan Spreads
The paper estimates the cost arising from information asymmetry between the lead bank and members of the lending syndicate. In a lending syndicate, the lead bank retains only a fraction of the loan but acts as the intermediary between the borrower and the syndicate... View Details
- Article
Debt Maturity: Is Long-Term Debt Optimal?
By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk
We model and calibrate the arguments in favor and against short-term and long-term debt. These arguments broadly include: maturity premium, sustainability, and service smoothing. We use a dynamic equilibrium model with tax distortions and government... View Details
- October 2008 (Revised September 2011)
- Supplement
PepsiCo's Bid for Quaker Oats (D)
Describes the final deal struck between PepsiCo and Quaker Oats, including the terms of collared consideration. Summarizes stock price announcement effects. View Details
- 2008
- Chapter
A New Generation of Pension Fund Management
By: Robert C. Merton
In talking about pension plans at this point in American economic and corporate history, we need to discuss three linked issues: the defined-benefit (DB) corporate plans that worked for our parents; the defined-contribution (DC) plans we're getting today because... View Details
- September 2008
- Article
Firm Heterogeneity and Credit Risk Diversification
By: Samuel G. Hanson, M. Hashem Pesaran and Til Schuermann
This paper examines the impact of neglected heterogeneity on credit risk. We show that neglecting heterogeneity in firm returns and/or default thresholds leads to under estimation of expected losses (EL), and its effect on portfolio risk is ambiguous. Once EL is... View Details
- Article
MIT Roundtable on Corporate Risk Management
By: Robert C. Merton
Against the backdrop of financial crisis, a distinguished group of academics and practitioners discusses the contribution of financial management and innovation to corporate growth and value, along with the pitfalls and unintended consequences of such innovation.... View Details
- fall 2008
- Article
The Intermediation of Financial Risks: Evolution in the Catastrophe Reinsurance Market
By: Kenneth A. Froot
In this paper, I provide evidence concerning the imperfections in the reinsurance market. I try to get at some of the root causes of these imperfections, e.g., the behavior of ratings firms and the agency problems associated with the corporate form of ownership. I also... View Details
- August 2008
- Teaching Note
Go Red for Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness (TN)
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Madelene Bell
Teaching Note for [507026]. View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability
By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie
This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details
- June 2008 (Revised October 2008)
- Case
International Carbon Finance and EcoSecurities
By: Andre F. Perold, Forest L. Reinhardt and Mikell Hyman
In late 2007, EcoSecurities had to decide whether to undertake a new Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in China. EcoSecurities was an aggregator of carbon credits and also invested directly in projects that produced carbon credits. Governments and firms... View Details
- June 2008
- Article
Capital Structure with Risky Foreign Investment
By: Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley and James R. Hines Jr.
- March 2008 (Revised March 2010)
- Module Note
Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture
By: Laura Alfaro
This module note presents a series of case studies taught in the Harvard Business School course Institutions, Macroeconomics, and the Global Economy (IMaGE). The course addresses the opportunities created by the emergence of a global economy and proposes strategies for... View Details
- March 2008
- Teaching Note
2006 Hurricane Risk (TN)
By: André Perold and Erik Stafford
Teaching Note for [207075]. View Details
- January 2008
- Background Note
Convertible Arbitrage
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
The goal of this simulation is to understand how convertible bonds can be viewed as a portfolio of simpler securities and to introduce an over-the-counter market. The convertible bonds that are available during the simulation are at-the-money and in-the-money so that... View Details