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In 2008, EADS, the European aerospace group that owns Airbus, was faced with the decision of how best to hedge a large and growing mismatch between its dollar revenues and its euro manufacturing costs. Specifically, the company needed to decide if it would continue... View Details

Article

Tax Policy and the Efficiency of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad

By: Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley and James R. Hines Jr.

Deferral of U.S. taxes on foreign source income is commonly characterized as a subsidy to foreign investment, as reflected in its inclusion among "tax expenditures" and occasional calls for its repeal. This paper analyzes the extent to which tax deferral and other... View Details

Keywords: International Taxation; Dynamic Efficiency; Deferral; Policy; Taxation; Performance Efficiency; Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Investment Return; Business Earnings; Equity; Financing and Loans; Cash Flow; Capital; United States

SSRN

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September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS

By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

The American Institute for Foreign Studies (AIFS) organizes study abroad programs and cultural exchanges for American students. The firm's revenues are mainly in U.S. dollars, but most of its costs are in eurodollars and British pounds. The company's controllers review... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Revenue; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Education Industry; North and Central America

06 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

How South Africa Challenges Our Thinking on FDI

More than one decade after the fall of apartheid, and despite ambitious economic reforms by the ANC government, foreign direct investment flows into South Africa averaged around two-thirds less than investments in comparable... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

04 Oct 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Cold Call: Corporate Governance and Growth Strategy at Capital SAFI

Keywords: Re: V.G. Narayanan; Financial Services

30 Jul 2008
Op-Ed

Why the U.S. Should Encourage FDI

recent experience suggests that direct foreign investors on average do not possess that advantage when entering the United States. For sovereign wealth funds eager to deploy capital, the experience of the... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir A. Desai

Research Summary

Financial reporting quality and its consequences

Does reporting quality have real economic consequences? Professor Yu addresses this question in her research, which examines the channels through which reporting quality affects the behavior of economic agents, namely managers and investors. Her particular focus is... View Details

2008
Book

Mexico Since 1980

By: Stephen Haber, Herb Klein, Noel Maurer and Kevin Middlebrook

This book addresses two questions that are crucial to understanding Mexico's current economic and political challenges. Why did the opening up of the economy to foreign trade and investment not result in sustained economic growth? Why has electoral democracy not... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Foreign Direct Investment; Government and Politics; Growth and Development; Law Enforcement; Welfare or Wellbeing; Mexico

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14 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 14, 2009

structures. SWFs seem to engage in a form of trend chasing, since they are more likely to invest at home when domestic equity prices are higher, and invest abroad when foreign prices are higher. Funds see... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Empresas ICA and the Mexican Road Privatization Program

By: Willis M. Emmons III and Monica Brand

Mexico's largest construction company, Empresas ICA, makes an initial public offering to international equity investors in April 1992 to help fund its participation in an ambitious new private-sector approach to highway development. Under the new program, launched by... View Details

Keywords: Construction; Transportation Networks; Infrastructure; Privatization; Private Equity; Investment; Initial Public Offering; Private Sector; Government and Politics; Policy; Construction Industry; Mexico

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December 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Guangdong Nowada Group, The

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Anthony St. George

In late 1998, 38-year-old He Boquan, CEO of the Guangdong Nowada Group, a health beverage producer, needs to decide how to fund his company's growth and ambition to become China's number one domestic health beverage producer by 2002. A consultants study revealed that... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Capital; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Management Skills; Negotiation Offer; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; China

July 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (A), The

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

The CFO of General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, Shanghai General Motors (SGM), wants to refinance almost $900 million of project finance it raised to begin operations. The highest priority is improving the terms of the financing with regard to costs and specific... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Joint Ventures; Financing and Loans; Auto Industry; Shanghai

This book addresses two questions that are crucial to understanding Mexico’s current economic and political challenges. Why did the opening... View Details

August 2022
Case

In-Q-Tel: Innovation On A Mission

By: Joshua Lev Krieger and Josh Lerner

In 2022, the leaders of In-Q-Tel (IQT) considered what was next for the unique mission-driven organization. Since 1999, IQT had one mission: to be the most sophisticated source of strategic technical knowledge and capabilities to the U.S. government and its allies. IQT... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; National Security; Technological Innovation; Research; Geopolitical Units; Risk Management; Recruitment; Growth and Development Strategy; Venture Capital; Knowledge Management; Information Industry; Banking Industry

22 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: Jan. 22

and increased employment has attracted increased interest. Yet questions about efficacy and the efficiency with which funds are used is a subject of frequent debate. This paper examines empirical data from the Danish National Advanced... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

W. Carl Kester

Carl Kester is a Baker Foundation Professor and the George Fisher Baker Jr. Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Finance Unit. He served as Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs (2006-2010), Chairman of the... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; education industry; financial services; investment banking industry; pharmaceuticals; private equity (LBO funds)

Louis E. Caldera

Louis Caldera is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He teaches Leadership and Corporate Accountability, a required first-year course in the MBA program. He has previously taught law school courses on corporate... View Details

July 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (B), The

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

This case provides the outcome to "The Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (A)" in which the CFO of General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, Shanghai General Motors (SGM), wants to refinance almost $900 million of project finance it raised to begin operations. The... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Joint Ventures; Financing and Loans; Auto Industry; Shanghai