Publications

13 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 13

volatility. This paper presents evidence that movements in both the short-term nominal interest rate and the yield spread are positively related to changes in subsequent realized bond risk and bond return volatility. The yield spread appears to proxy for View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Case

NatureSweet

By: Jose Alvarez, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

This case describes the business model and workplace philosophy of NatureSweet, a privately owned, vertically integrated greenhouse grower and marketer of fresh tomatoes with sales across the United States and $329 million in 2016 revenues. CEO Bryant Ambelang treated... View Details

August 1994
Case

Intuit, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

The merger of two computer software firms with very rapidly growing non-overlapping products makes great strategic sense, but presents difficult valuation and accounting problems. How can a firm pay $225 million to acquire another firm with negligible current earnings,... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Applications and Software; Accounting; Financial Strategy; Goodwill Accounting; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry; United States

Forthcoming
Article

The Stock Market and Bank Risk-Taking

By: David S. Scharfstein and Antonio Falato

We argue that stock market pressure to generate earnings encourages banks to increase risk. We measure risk using confidential supervisory ratings as well as financial information released in regulatory filings. We document that there is an increase in the risk-taking... View Details

Keywords: Stock Market; Financial Markets; Business Earnings; Banks and Banking; Risk and Uncertainty

May 2010
Article

Elections and Discretionary Accruals: Evidence from 2004

By: Karthik Ramanna and Sugata Roychowdhury

We examine the accrual choices of outsourcing firms with links to U.S. congressional candidates during the 2004 elections, when corporate outsourcing was a major campaign issue. We find that politically connected firms with more extensive outsourcing activities have... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Accounting Information; Accruals Management; Campaign Contributions; Discretionary Accruals; Election Outcomes; Political Currency; Political Process; Social Issues; Political Elections; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Motivation and Incentives; Earnings Management; Welfare; United States

SSRN

Find at Harvard

18 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Payout Taxes and the Allocation of Investment

Keywords: by Bo Becker, Marcus Jacob & Martin Jacob

October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company

By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi

Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details

Keywords: Lean Management; Operation Management; Service Management; Commercialization; Operations; Management; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Performance; Energy Industry; Europe

31 Jan 2017
News

All The Single Ladies - Women Who Downplay Their Successes And Why It’s a Huge Mistake

April 2011 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Securities Lending After the Financial Crisis

By: Robert C. Pozen and Gayle Hameister

In April 2009, Wendy Jefferson had just returned to her office following a whirlwind day of meetings with her newest client, Star Advisor. Jefferson, a financial services consultant, was eager to dig into the information provided to her and her team about the Star... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information

KRISHNA G. PALEPU is the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, and has served previously as Senior Advisor to the President of Harvard University, and Senior Associate Dean at the... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; banking; financial services; information technology industry; pharmaceuticals; retailing

26 Feb 2020
News

Are the Houston Astros irredeemable cheaters? Or are they all of us?

12 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

COVID Tested Global Supply Chains. Here’s How They’ve Adapted

activity, and foreign direct investment from multiple sources, including corporate earnings calls. Less business in China, but trade remains global One major takeaway from the analysis: The share of Chinese... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

11 Jul 2015
News

Marriage Is Evolving. The 'Primates of Park Avenue’ Aren’t.

07 Nov 2007
Op-Ed

How Marketing Hype Hurt Boeing and Apple

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. Last month,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Aerospace; Consumer Products

2013
Article

Learning and the Disappearing Association Between Governance and Returns

By: Lucian A. Bebchuk, Alma Cohen and Charles C.Y. Wang

The correlation between governance indices and abnormal returns documented for 1990–1999 subsequently disappeared. The correlation and its disappearance are both due to market participants' gradually learning to appreciate the difference between good-governance and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Investment Return; Operations; Performance; Value; Learning; Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance

March 1999 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Saevig Corporation

By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard

The taxpayer purchased land and later transferred it to a family controlled corporation in return for an earn out. When funds were eventually received, the IRS treated them as dividends, whereas the individual and corporate taxpayers contended they were sums paid on... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Debt Securities; Taxation; Outcome or Result; Financial Reporting; Family Business; Assets; Business and Stakeholder Relations

July 1986 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Nippon-WTI Ltd.

By: W. Carl Kester and Glynn Ferguson

A Japanese joint venture between a U.S. parent and a Japanese parent has proposed that 100% of the U.S. parent's product be produced in Japan rather than the 40% currently being manufactured there. This would require the U.S. parent to give up a dollar profit earned on... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Product; Production; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Japan; United States