Publications

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Cairo: Navigating a Path to Economic Resilience

By: A. Zelleke and Ahmed Dahawy

Egypt has long been a pivotal force in the Middle East and North Africa. Located at a crossroads of global trade routes, the country was a strategic partner for numerous regional and global powers. However, a substantial currency devaluation in 2016 brought many... View Details

Keywords: Business; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Economies and Regions; International Relations; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Culture; Economy; Country; Currency; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Egypt

November 1996 (Revised September 1997)
Case

BancZero New Product Development

By: Marco Iansiti and Alberto Moel

The Mexico City office of a large U.S. bank is asked by clients to develop currency swaps, a derivative financial product. This case deals with the new product development process in financial services, and the problems and issues that are raised in product development... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Banks and Banking; Financial Instruments; Situation or Environment; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility; Banking Industry; Mexico City; United States

Spring 2015
Article

Bitcoin: Economics, Technology, and Governance

By: Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman and Tyler Moore

Bitcoin is an online communication protocol that facilitates virtual currency including electronic payments. Since its inception in 2009 by an anonymous group of developers, Bitcoin has served tens of millions of transactions with total dollar value in the billions.... View Details

Keywords: Market Platforms; Online Technology; Currency

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December 2007
Article

Private Power in Indonesia

By: Louis T. Wells

The Asian Currency Crisis led to the collapse of agreements Indonesia had negotiated for private electric power only a few years earlier. The ensuing struggle meant bad publicity and several hundred million dollars in costs for Indonesia. As Indonesia in 2007 was... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Government Legislation; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Indonesia

March 2006
Module Note

Valuing Cross-Border Investments

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Describes a core module in the International Finance course at Harvard Business School. The module explores how valuation differs in an international context and introduces students to the major issues in cross-border valuations: how to value investments in currencies... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Currency Exchange Rate; Investment; Framework; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Body of Literature; Risk Management; Projects; Valuation

January 1990 (Revised March 1994)
Case

Royal Ahold NV

By: Richard F. Meyer

Contains a general description of a large international retailer. Focus is on the major financial risks facing the company: exchange rate risk and commodity price risk. This case is an introduction to financial risk management. It poses some of the major problem areas. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Futures and Commodity Futures; Trade; Distribution; Financial Services Industry

February 2018
Case

Infrastructure in Nigeria: Unlocking Pension Fund Investments

By: John Macomber and Pippa Tubman Armerding

The so-called “infrastructure finance gap” was a problem in Nigeria as in many parts of the world. Infrastructure projects like power plants and dams were very large capital investments that could generate long-term consistent cash flows, but their financing and... View Details

Keywords: Pension Fund Investing; Infrastucture; Power/Energy; Credit Enhancement; Infrastructure; Project Finance; Investment Funds; Emerging Markets; Nigeria; Africa

Teaching Interest

Managing International Trade and Investment

By: Dante Roscini

Managing International Trade and Investment (MITI) is designed for students who expect to engage directly or indirectly in commerce and in strategic or financial investments across national borders. It covers concepts that are relevant to a number of operating and... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Investment; Foreign Direct Investment

04 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 4

and organizations, leaving few left for newcomers and growth. In this context, some networks seek to sell the addresses they previously received-sales that can usefully transfer resources to the networks that most need them, but with certain View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Oriflame S.A. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins, Karol Misztal and Daniela Beyersdorfer

A direct-selling cosmetics company involved in emerging markets exhibits significant foreign exchange risk exposure and profitability swings in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Students must review the company's use of derivative instruments and other hedging... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Crisis; Currency Exchange Rate; Financial Strategy; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

January – March 2012
Article

Bond Risk, Bond Return Volatility, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates

By: Luis M. Viceira

This paper explores time variation in bond risk, as measured by the covariation of bond returns with stock returns and with consumption growth, and in the volatility of bond returns. A robust stylized fact in empirical finance is that the spread between the yield on... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Volatility; Forecasting and Prediction; Interest Rates; Inflation and Deflation; Investment Return; Risk and Uncertainty; Currency Exchange Rate; Cash Flow; Stocks

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22 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 22, 2007

Working PapersGlobal Currency Hedging Authors:John Y. Campbell, Karine Serfaty-de Medeiros, and Luis M. Viceira Abstract This paper considers the risk management problem of an investor who holds a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Supplement

Oriflame S.A. (C)

By: David F. Hawkins and Karol Misztal

Notes from Oriflame's 2009 annual report relevant to the assessment of the monetary impact of Oriflame's FX risk management actions. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; International Accounting; Currency Exchange Rate; Annual Reports; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Standards; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

December 1994 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Tiffany & Co.--1993

By: W. Carl Kester and Kendall Backstrand

The restructuring of Tiffany's retailing agreement with Mitsukoshi Ltd. in 1993 exposed Tiffany to substantial yen/dollar exchange rate volatility that it had not previously faced. This new exposure requires Tiffany to establish risk management policies and practices.... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Currency Exchange Rate; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Situation or Environment

17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

major role in propelling growth. But there were two key differences. First, the scale of Chinese currency intervention was without precedent, as were the resulting distortions of the world economy. Second, the Chinese have so far resisted... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Bitcoin

Keywords: by Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman & Tyler Moore; Banking

November 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Dow Chemical's Bid for the Privatization of PBB in Argentina

By: Mihir A. Desai and Alexandra de Royere

What price should Dow Chemical bid for PBB, a petrochemical complex that is being privatized by the Argentine government? To answer this question, students are forced to consider the role of country risk, the underlying currency exposure of the business, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Privatization; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Valuation; Business and Government Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Energy Industry; Argentina