Publications

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March 2006
Module Note

Financing Decisions within the Firm

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Describes a core module in the International Finance course at Harvard Business School. The module focuses on the financial and managerial issues that confront managers who make financial decisions within multinational firms: how subsidiaries should be financed and... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; International Finance; Taxation; Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Framework; Performance Evaluation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

September 2002 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Transformation at the IRS

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Describes the service transformation occurring at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Plagued by a history of poor service, enormous complexity, and an insular employee base, the 100,000-person organization grapples with a turnaround process that attempts to change... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Taxation; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Public Administration Industry; United States

February 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Background Note

A Note on the Legal and Tax Implications of Founders' Equity Splits

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Lauren Barley

This note summarizes key legal and tax issues that founders should consider as they contemplate an equity split and ownership structure. Specific issues covered include why founders should not delay splitting the equity and whether they should involve an attorney or... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Taxation; Intellectual Property; Law; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships

October 2002 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness, The: Sweden Inc. for Sale?

By: Huw Pill, Petter Johnsson, Ola Nordquist and Ingrid Vogel

The Swedish Model--sometimes presented as a third way between savage capitalism and unrealistic socialism--was much lauded in the 1960s. It was viewed as a strategy that addressed social concerns while supporting economic growth. However, the financial and currency... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Welfare; Government and Politics; Taxation; Competition; Public Administration Industry; Sweden

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens

By: Mihir A. Desai, James R. Hines, Jr and Mark Veblen

In response to Stanley Work's announcement that it is moving to Bermuda--and the associated jump in market value--a major competitor sets out to determine how the market is valuing the consequences of moving to a tax haven and whether his company should invert to a tax... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Taxation; Financial Strategy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; International Finance; Valuation; Financial Markets; Financial Statements; United States

November 2002
Background Note

Strategy and Sources of Motion Picture Finance, The

By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel J. Loeb and Mark Veblen

This case considers the alternative financing mechanisms for film financing, the evolution of film finance in the United States, and the nature of tax-motivated film financing in the United States and around the world. It develops the strategy driving motion picture... View Details

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Financial Instruments; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Globalized Markets and Industries; Taxation; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

10 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 10, 2007

competition takes place at a very conceptual level, Li Ning has chosen to adopt a very controversial "oriental theme" for its brand, while becoming at the same time a major sponsor of international athletes of the highest... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Article

Market Reaction to and Valuation of IFRS Reconciliation Adjustments: First Evidence from the UK

By: Joanne Horton and George Serafeim

We investigate the market reaction to, and the value-relevance of, information contained in the mandatory transitional documents required by International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 1 (2005). We find significant negative abnormal returns for firms reporting... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Markets; Information; International Finance; Earnings Management; Stock Shares; Taxation; Goodwill Accounting; Price; Financial Reporting; Standards; Corporate Disclosure; United Kingdom

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October 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Cyprus (A)

By: Eric Werker, Sebastian Berardi, Stelios Elia, Omar Muakkassa and James Zumberge

Cyprus is a small Mediterranean island located at the cross-roads of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Since its 1974 split, Cyprus has grown real GDP more than fivefold—in large part because of its development as an "international business" center. The country... View Details

Keywords: Tax Havens; Taxation; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Cyprus

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

to police its trademark by preventing others from using it to refer to something other than the Real Thing. Shareholder value is enhanced when a firm chooses an appropriate form of business organization, ranging from a limited liability company with pass-through View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

09 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 9, 2019

proposals, and quality evaluations for more than 12,000 evaluator-proposal pairs. The analysis shows that solicitations offering a personal reward for top submissions boost participation rates without affecting submission quality. We show that this is due to workers... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

Among those who pursued residency training, the most common specialties were internal medicine (39.3%), emergency medicine (10.4%), orthopedic surgery (9.2%), and general surgery (8.6%). Physician-MBAs trained in View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Americans Voted for an Income Tax

Mitt Romney, his opponent in the 2012 presidential election, but on this logic for taxation they are not so far apart. Lost in the press coverage of the president's 2012 rebuttal to anti-government forces "You didn't build that"... View Details

Keywords: by Matthew C. Weinzierl

June 2011
Article

Watch What I Do, Not What I Say: The Unintended Consequences of the Homeland Investment Act

By: Dhammika Dharmapala, C. Fritz Foley and Kristin J. Forbes

This paper analyzes the impact of the Homeland Investment Act of 2004, which provided a one-time tax holiday for the repatriation of foreign earnings and thereby reduced the cost to U.S. multinationals of accessing a source of internal capital. Lawmakers and lobbyists... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Performance Effectiveness; Code Law; Taxation; Cost; Capital; Financial Strategy; Research and Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

23 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 23

International Tax Competition Matthew C. Weinzierl, and Jacob KuipersHarvard Business School Case 710-038 How do (and how should) governments design fiscal policies to compete in a globalized economy while meeting View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 21

PublicationsThe Size and Composition of Corporate Headquarters in Multinational Companies: Empirical Evidence Authors:David Collis, David Young, and Michael Goold Publication:Journal of International Management 18, no. 3 (September... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 26

stocking decision, our model is generalizable to other types of capacity investment decisions. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-105.pdf Heterogeneity and Optimal Capital Income Taxation Authors:Mikhail Golosov, Maxim... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2025
Working Paper

Tax Planning, Illiquidity, and Credit Risks: Evidence from DeFi Lending

By: Lisa De Simone, Peiyi Jin and Daniel Rabetti

This study establishes a plausible causal link between tax-planning-induced illiquidity and credit risks in lending markets. Exploiting an exogenous tax shock imposed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on cryptocurrency gains, along with millions of transactions in... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Taxation; Financial Liquidity; Credit; Financing and Loans; Financial Markets