Publications

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2012
Working Paper

Issuer Quality and Corporate Bond Returns

By: Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson

We show that the credit quality of corporate debt issuers deteriorates during credit booms, and that this deterioration forecasts low excess returns to corporate bondholders. The key insight is that changes in the pricing of credit risk disproportionately affect the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Credit; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Bonds; Market Design; Cost of Capital; Mathematical Methods; System Shocks

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Research Summary

Investment Management

Professor Chacko's research looks into the portfolio choice decisions of individuals and institutions. He is particularly concerned with optimal portfolio choice and consumption decisions in a dynamic framework. His work looks at how economic agents make these... View Details

August 1985
Case

Bob Malott and Product Liability Law Reform

Robert Malott, Chairman and CEO of FMC, must decide whether or not to continue his work on product liability law reform, an issue on which he has worked for almost 10 years. Malott must decide how extensive his own involvement should be and what arguments he can or... View Details

Keywords: Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Legal Liability

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

innovations might impact—and be impacted by—workers, consumers, organizations, and society. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55845 March 2019 Organizational Behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

Research Data Uncertainty in Markov Chains: Application to Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Medical Innovations By: Goh, Joel, Mohsen Bayati, Stefanos A. Zenios, Sundeep Singh, and David Moore... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2012
Chapter

The Availability and Utilization of 401(k) Loans

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We document the loan provisions in 401(k) savings plans and how participants use 401(k) loans. Although only about 22% of savings plan participants who are allowed to borrow from their 401(k) have such a loan at any given point in time, almost half had used a 401(k)... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Finance; Retirement; Financing and Loans; Microeconomics

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2025
Working Paper

Warnings and Endorsements: Improving Human-AI Collaboration in the Presence of Outliers

By: Matthew DosSantos DiSorbo, Kris Ferreira, Maya Balakrishnan and Jordan Tong

Problem definition: While artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms may perform well on data that are representative of the training set (inliers), they may err when extrapolating on non-representative data (outliers). How can humans and algorithms work together to make... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Decision Choices and Conditions

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July 2008 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Sam Barnstable and Blue Sky Radio Devices

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

These three short vignettes depict investment professionals considering difficult financings for companies in their portfolios. For one reason or another, each company has under-performed expectations. Should the protagonist recommend that the firm participate or not,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Performance

June 2016
Case

Career at a Crossroad: Akhil and Roopa

By: Noam Wasserman

Akhil Patel is passionate about his business idea: an innovative green technology fuel cell. He wants to dive in and commit to his startup, but Roopa Rao, his fiancee, is much more risk averse, his parents don't approve of the startup, and Akhil has an enticing... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Opportunities; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Startups; Green Technology Industry

01 Mar 2023
News

March 2023 Alumni and Faculty Books

aggressively for the Navy and Marine Corps’ future—a future he believed would be defined by uncertainty and unpredictability. Every Friday, he wrote a personal message to the... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

19 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 19, 2019

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55632 forthcoming Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Active Choice, Implicit Defaults, and the Incentive to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Hurry or Wait: The Pros and Cons of Going Fast or Slow on Climate Change

By: Eleanor Denny and Jurgen Weiss

Climate change risk will likely force the de-carbonization of our electricity sector and thus involve massive investments in long-lived assets using many new and emerging technologies. Since technological progress (independent or dependent on deployment) will likely... View Details

Keywords: Electricity Sector; Environmental Risks; Fat Tails; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Climate Change; Information Technology; Investment; Technological Innovation; Cost vs Benefits

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February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Kevin McCarthy and Westlake Chemical Corporation (A)

Examines forecasting earnings/performance for a commodity chemical firm during a period of high uncertainty, highlighting the combined effects of input process (natural gas), industry capacity/utilization, and cyclicality. Assuming the role of Kevin McCarthy (the top... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Futures and Commodity Futures; Forecasting and Prediction; Chemicals; Chemical Industry

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

steps toward rapprochement in June 2016. The central dilemma is this: whether in light of the existing uncertainties companies operating in both countries can resume their investments and commercial... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Jun 2018
News

June 2018 Alumni and Faculty Books

consumers in seeking care providers, how consumers make decisions about health care, the system-wide effects of increased consumer choice in health care, and the important... View Details

10 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 10, 2018

companies, where decision rights and incentives can be murky, and the effects of any given choice can be tough to pin down. So the authors chose... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

12 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

The Unexpected Link Between Cadavers and Careers

identity but aren't trained toward any given profession," he says. "It's really important for them to understand variations in occupational dynamics and their implications on decision-making—including View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education; Health

August 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), a U.S. network of four privately owned oncology focused factory hospitals, was weighing options for growth. CTCA was entirely cancer focused and specialized in treating patients with complex and advanced-stage cancers, who... View Details