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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,959)
- People (1)
- News (319)
- Research (1,360)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (12)
- Faculty Publications (932)
- 2007
- Working Paper
Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt
By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk
Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve holdings take the level of international debt as given. However, given the sovereign's willingness-to-pay incentive problems, reserve accumulation may reduce sustainable debt levels. In addition, assuming... View Details
- February 1999 (Revised October 2009)
- Background Note
Debt v. Equity: Definitions and Consequences
By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard
Explores the location of the somewhat imprecise line between debt and equity. Identifies the primary business contexts that give rise to problems, the alternative tax consequences attending the debt versus equity determination, and the most prominent tests used to... View Details
Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Interest Rates; Taxation; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry
Reiling, Henry B., and Mark Pollard. "Debt v. Equity: Definitions and Consequences." Harvard Business School Background Note 299-041, February 1999. (Revised October 2009.)
- May 2000 (Revised May 2001)
- Case
Debt Policy at UST Inc.
UST, Inc. is a very profitable smokeless tobacco firm with low debt compared to other firms in the tobacco industry. The setting for the case is UST's recent decision to substantially alter its debt policy by borrowing $1 billion to finance its stock repurchase... View Details
Keywords: Capital Structure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry
Mitchell, Mark L. "Debt Policy at UST Inc." Harvard Business School Case 200-069, May 2000. (Revised May 2001.)
- June 2023
- Article
Why Is Dollar Debt Cheaper? Evidence from Peru
By: Bryan Gutiérrez, Victoria Ivashina and Juliana Salomao
In emerging markets, a significant share of corporate loans are denominated in dollars. Using novel data that enables us to see currency and the cost of credit, in addition to several other transaction-level characteristics, we re-examine the reasons behind dollar... View Details
Keywords: Emerging Market Corporate Debt; Currency Mismatch; Liability Dollarization; Carry Trade; Currency; Emerging Markets; Borrowing and Debt; Interest Rates; Peru
Gutiérrez, Bryan, Victoria Ivashina, and Juliana Salomao. "Why Is Dollar Debt Cheaper? Evidence from Peru." Journal of Financial Economics 148, no. 3 (June 2023): 245–272.
- Article
Undisclosed Debt Sustainability
By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk
Over the past decade, non-Paris Club creditors, notably China, have become an important source of financing for low- and middle-income countries. In contrast with typical sovereign debt, these lending arrangements are not public, and other creditors have no information... View Details
Alfaro, Laura, and Fabio Kanczuk. "Undisclosed Debt Sustainability." AEA Papers and Proceedings 112 (May 2022): 521–525.
- 25 Oct 2020
- News
The Dark Side of Fintech Borrowing
- Jun 2013
- Working Paper
Government Debt and Competitiveness
The United States federal government’s current and projected fiscal deficits are not sustainable. View Details
- May 1986 (Revised June 1986)
- Case
International Debts and Deficits
Meerschwam, David M. "International Debts and Deficits." Harvard Business School Case 386-188, May 1986. (Revised June 1986.)
- 2017
- Working Paper
Lessons Unlearned? Corporate Debt in Emerging Markets
By: Laura Alfaro, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari and Ugo Panizza
This paper documents a set of new stylized facts about leverage and financial fragility for emerging market firms following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Corporate debt vulnerability indicators during the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) attributed to corporate... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Debt; Financial Fragility; Firm-level Data; Large Firms; Emerging Markets; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Financial Condition
Alfaro, Laura, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari, and Ugo Panizza. "Lessons Unlearned? Corporate Debt in Emerging Markets." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-097, May 2017. (Revised October 2017. NBER Working Paper Series, No. 23407, May 2017)
- 07 Sep 2010
- News
As Pay Falls, Borrowers Lose Ground
- Research Summary
Debt Maturity: Is Long-Term Debt Optimal? (with Fabio Kanczuk)
By: Laura Alfaro
We model and calibrate the arguments in favor and against short-term and long-term debt. These arguments broadly include: maturity-term premium, tax smoothing, rolling over risk and the cost from defaulting. We use a dynamic equilibrium model with tax distortion,... View Details
- 07 Oct 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Sovereign Debt Portfolios, Bond Risks, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy
- 2017
- Article
A Brief Money Management Scale and Its Associations with Personality, Financial Health, and Hypothetical Debt Repayment
By: Masha Ksendzova, Grant Edward Donnelly and Ryan Howell
Money management is essential for financial health, and more research is needed to better assess people’s money management practices. Therefore, we factor-analyzed 205 scaled questions from previous money management measures to select the best items and examined their... View Details
- Research Summary
Undisclosed Debt Sustainability
By: Laura Alfaro
Over the past decade, non-Paris Club creditors, notably China, have become an important source of financing for low- and middle-income countries. In contrast with typical sovereign debt, these lending arrangements are not public, and other creditors have no information... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Brazil 2003: Inflation Targeting and Debt Dynamics
By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel
In October 2002, Brazilians elected a left-wing president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, for the first time in that country's history. As markets faltered in response, Lula sought to reaffirm his commitment to fiscal discipline, a floating exchange rate, and inflation... View Details
Keywords: Economy; Inflation and Deflation; Money; Borrowing and Debt; Policy; Emerging Markets; Brazil
Alfaro, Laura, Rafael M. Di Tella, and Ingrid Vogel. "Brazil 2003: Inflation Targeting and Debt Dynamics." Harvard Business School Case 704-028, February 2004. (Revised March 2010.)
- 2008
- Book
Borrowing to Live: Consumer and Mortgage Credit Revisited
By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Eric S. Belsky
Retsinas, Nicolas P. and Eric S. Belsky, eds. Borrowing to Live: Consumer and Mortgage Credit Revisited. Brookings Institution Press, 2008.
- May 2001
- Case
The Mexican Debt Crisis of 1982
By: Huw Pill
Describes Mexico's development strategy based on international borrowing and its culmination in the debt crisis of 1982. Discusses Mexico's approach to overcoming the crisis. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details
Pill, Huw. "The Mexican Debt Crisis of 1982." Harvard Business School Case 701-111, May 2001.
- January 2008
- Background Note
Valuing Risky Debt
By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
This lesson develops the classical structural approach to pricing and hedging credit risk: Merton's (1974) contingent claims model of debt and equity claims. This model is used to make investment and risk management decisions in an over-the-counter (OTC) market for... View Details
Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Investment; Price; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Valuation
Coval, Joshua, and Erik Stafford. "Valuing Risky Debt." Harvard Business School Background Note 208-111, January 2008.
- December 2020
- Article
Sovereign Debt Portfolios, Bond Risks, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy
By: Wenxin Du, Carolin Pflueger and Jesse Schreger
We document that governments whose local currency debt provides them with greater hedging benefits actually borrow more in foreign currency. We introduce two features into a government's debt portfolio choice problem to explain this finding: risk-averse lenders and... View Details
Du, Wenxin, Carolin Pflueger, and Jesse Schreger. "Sovereign Debt Portfolios, Bond Risks, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy." Journal of Finance 75, no. 6 (December 2020): 3097–3138.
- April 2011 (Revised February 2013)
- Background Note
How Government Debt Accumulates
By: Dante Roscini and Jonathan Schlefer
This note discusses the economics of government-debt accumulation. Fiscal deficits are only part of the picture; other factors include the level of debt as a percent of nominal GDP; the interest rate; the inflation rate; the growth rate; and changes in the exchange... View Details
Roscini, Dante, and Jonathan Schlefer. "How Government Debt Accumulates." Harvard Business School Background Note 711-087, April 2011. (Revised February 2013.)