Publications

May 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Credit Unions: The Future of the Cooperative Financial Institution

By: Robert C. Pozen and Grace Hou

Credit unions are a specialized type of depository institution with a cooperative, non-profit structure and a federal tax exemption. They originated as small, cooperative institutions with an emphasis on uncollateralized consumer lending to the unbanked... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Credit Unions; Banks and Banking

March 2009
Journal Article

Does Individual Performance Affect Entrepreneurial Mobility? Empirical Evidence from the Financial Analysis Market

By: Boris Groysberg, Ashish Nanda and M. Julia Prats

Our paper contributes to the studies on the relationship between workers' human capital and their decision to become self-employed as well as their probability to survive as entrepreneurs. Analysis from a panel data set of research analysts in investment banks over... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Banking; Retention; Human Capital; Performance Effectiveness; Banking Industry

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July 2015
Article

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations: Analysts' Perceptions and Shifting Institutional Logics

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

We explore the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings on sell-side analysts' assessments of firms' future financial performance. We suggest that when analysts perceive CSR as an agency cost, due to the prevalence of an agency logic, they produce... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Analysts; Investment Recommendations; Sustainability; Institutional Logics; Environment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Corporate Governance; United States

22 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Reading the Financial Crisis Warning Signs: Credit Markets and the 'Red-Zone'

clarity. “Financial crises come out of periods of overheated credit markets.” Rachel Layne: Part of your research with HBS Professor Samuel Hanson explores market behavior, including examining the origin of financial crises. Where do... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Banking

Research Summary

The Role of Financial and Information Intermediaries in the Capital Markets

Hutton's research investigates the role of financial analysts and short sellers in the pricing of equity securities. Recently, Hutton examines (with Patricia Dechow and Richard Sloan) the role of sell-side analysts' earnings forecasts in the pricing of common equity... View Details

Article

The Value of Intermediation in the Stock Market

By: Marco Di Maggio, Mark Egan and Francesco Franzoni

We estimate a structural model of broker choice to quantitatively decompose the value that institutional investors attach to broker services. Studying over 300 million institutional equity trades, we find that investors are sensitive to both explicit and implicit... View Details

Keywords: Financial Intermediation; Institutional Investors; Research Analysts; Broker Networks; Equity Trading; Institutional Investing

March 2013
Case

NovaStar Financial: A Short Seller's Battle

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Kaser

The NovaStar case describes the challenges faced by short seller Marc Cohodes of hedge fund Rocker Partners as he tried to expose what he thought was widespread fraud in mortgage lender NovaStar Financial. The case is set in the time period from 2001 to 2007 and tracks... View Details

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Hubei Lantian (A)

By: David F. Hawkins, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Nancy Hua Dai

Emily Wang, an analyst with Future Securities, a Shanghai-based investment firm, is given the task of making stock purchase recommendations to her supervisor from a number of Chinese common stocks. One stock in particular, Hubei Lantian Co., Ltd. (Hubei Lantian),... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Ratio Analysis

May 2011
Article

Consequences and Institutional Determinants of Unregulated Corporate Financial Statements: Evidence from Embedded Value Reporting

By: George Serafeim

I analyze Embedded Value (EV) reporting by firms with life insurance operations to assess the impact of unregulated financial reporting on transparency and to examine the institutional characteristics that promote unregulated reporting. Under EV accounting the present... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Reporting; Cash Flow; Contracts; Equity; Profit; Value; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Earnings

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April 2014
Teaching Note

Jiangxi Agribusiness: (TN)

By: David F. Hawkins

[TN for 114-039] Emily Wang, an analyst with Future Securities, a Shanghai-based investment firm, is given the task of making stock purchase recommendations to her supervisor from a number of Chinese common stocks. One stock in particular, Jiangxi Agribusiness... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Ratio Analysis

January 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

First Solar: CFRA's Accounting Quality Concerns

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Ian McKown Cornell

The case relates to accounting quality analysis conducted by the leading research firm Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA) on companies in the solar industry with a focus on First Solar Inc. In 2009, CFRA was concerned that First Solar, like much of the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Quality; Financial Accounting; Financial Statement Analysis; Accounting Fraud; Accounting Red Flags; Accounting Scandal; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Earnings Management; Valuation; Crime and Corruption; Financial Statements; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Accounting Industry; Energy Industry

January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Showdown at Cracker Barrel

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray

In the fall of 2011, activist investor, Sardar Biglari, has acquired nearly 10% ownership in the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. He believes that the board and senior management have failed and the company has underperformed relative to its peers. When he is denied a... View Details

October 2012
Case

Hill Country Snack Foods Co.

By: W. Carl Kester and Craig Stephenson

Hill Country Snack Foods, located in Austin, Texas, manufactures, markets, and distributes snack foods and frozen treats. The CEO is passionate about maximizing shareholder value and believes in keeping tight control over costs and operating the business as efficiently... View Details

Keywords: United States; Financial Strategy; Debt Management; Retail Trade; Risk Management; Food; Capital Structure; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Texas

September 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

The United Kingdom and the Means to Prosperity

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Hilary White

After struggling through the country's longest recession since 2008, the U.K. was expected to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2014. Analysts wondered whether the return to growth was because, or in spite of, Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial £113... View Details

March 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

General Electric 2000: Quality of Earnings Assessment

By: David F. Hawkins

A financial analyst reviews General Electric's financial reports to learn more about U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and how they differs from international accounting standards. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Accounting Audits; International Accounting; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry; United States

November 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

eBay Inc.: Internet Success or Fairy Tale?

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

A well-known financial analyst claims that eBay has never been profitable and currently does not generate any "unfettered" cash flow. View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Accounting; Web Services Industry

February 2005 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Assessing Accounting Risk

By: David F. Hawkins

Describes a framework that financial analysts can use to assess the likelihood of accounting misstatements in financial statements. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Framework; Financial Statements