Publications

28 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Investor Lawsuits Against Auditors Are Falling, and That's Bad News for Capital Markets

Investors rely on corporate auditors to keep impartial watch on the accounting practices of the companies they invest in. Historically, investors have not been shy about launching litigation when they believed auditors did not do enough... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Accounting

12 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Investors Often Lose When They Sue Their Financial Adviser

assistant professor of finance at Harvard Business School. When they do find out, they often want to sue, but they can’t. Financial services companies require customers to waive their right to litigate and... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

February 2016 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Bankruptcy at Caesars Entertainment

By: Kristin Mugford and David Chan

Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

in employment at small firms in high-tech industries, which are a frequent target of patent trolls. By contrast, the laws have no significant impact on employment at larger or non-high-tech firms. Anti-troll legislation is also associated with fewer business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2008 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Savage Beast (A)

By: Noam Wasserman and LP Maurice

For several months, things had been spiraling downwards at Savage Beast, the music-recommendation company started three years before by Tim Westergren. The company's founder-CEO recently left due to pressures both at home and within the venture. Dozens of investors... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Lawsuits and Litigation; Leadership; Groups and Teams

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

November 2005 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Bally Total Fitness (A): The Rise, 1962–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

From a single, modest club in 1962, Bally Total Fitness had grown to become—in management’s words—the “largest and only nationwide commercial operator of fitness centers” in the United States in 2004. Bally had faced its share of challenges, but the last couple of... View Details

Keywords: Bally Total Fitness; Fitness; Gyms; Health Clubs; Chain; Securities And Exchange Commission; Paul Toback; Weight Loss; Exercise; Contracts; Personal Training; Retention; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Finance; Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Public Equity; Financing and Loans; Revenue; Revenue Recognition; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Trends; Cost Management; Profit; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Five Forces Framework; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago

13 Sep 2016
First Look

September 13, 2016

of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. Our model shows that NPE litigation can reduce infringement and support small inventors. However, the model also shows that as NPEs become effective at bringing... View Details

06 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Determinants of Corporate Venture Capital Success

leaking out of the company" (Armstrong 1993). The committee focused on two options: (1) to begin aggressively litigating those who try to leave with new technologies and (2) to invest in people trying to leave Xerox. Owing to... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

allow holders of patents the right but not the obligation to sue others. We suggest that the likelihood of a patent's being litigated is positively associated with the value of the patent and the extent of disclosure (prior art cited) in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 6

http://www.cengage.com/aushed/instructor.do?disciplinenumber=1028&product_isbn=9781133626701&courseid=MN05&codeid=2A3A&sortBy=copyrightYear&sortByShow=all August 2013 Journal of Financial Economics Accountability of Independent Directors-Evidence... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

bankrupt fighting its War of Independence against Britain. At the war's end, the national government owed tremendous sums to foreign creditors and its own citizens. But lacking the power to tax, it had no means to repay them. The Founders and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Jun 2016
First Look

June 14, 2016

Behavior and Impact of Patent Trolls: A Survey By: Cohen, Lauren, Umit Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers Abstract—We survey the empirical literature on non-practicing entity (NPE) litigation behavior and its consequences. We document both... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

crisis gives a new life and legitimacy to the European vision. This essay explores how this European vision, often referred to as 'managed globalization,' has been conceived and implemented and how the rules that Europe fashioned in trade and View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

fall 2010
Article

Lawsuits and Empire: On the Enforcement of Sovereign Debt in Latin America

By: Faisal Z. Ahmed, Laura Alfaro and Noel Maurer

The re-occurring phenomenon of sovereign default has prompted an enormous theoretical and empirical literature. Most of this research has focused on why countries ever chose to pay their debts (or why private creditors ever expected repayment). The problem originates... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Debt Securities; Motivation and Incentives; Markets; Equity; Banking Industry; Latin America

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28 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 28, 2015

Gurun, and Scott Kominers Abstract—We develop a theoretical model of, and provide the first large-sample evidence on, the behavior and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the intellectual property space. Our model shows that NPE View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

16 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 16, 2008

is therefore more likely to succeed, they will be more willing to commit resources to the firm. In this way, success breeds success and strengthens performance persistence. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-028.pdf The View Details

May 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Supplement

Mylan Lab's Proposed Merger with King Pharmaceuticals—courseware

By: Lucy White

Perry Capital owns shares in King and, to facilitate approval of the merger, buys shares in Mylan, whilst hedging out its economic exposure to Mylan's share price using derivatives. The price at which Mylan proposes to merge with King is generous to King shareholders,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Voting; Ethics; Stock Shares; Investment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake

February 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Mylan Laboratories' Proposed Merger with King Pharmaceutical

By: Lucy White and Matt Kozlowski

Perry Capital owns shares in King and, to facilitate approval of the merger, buys shares in Mylan, whilst hedging out its economic exposure to Mylan's share price using derivatives. The price at which Mylan proposes to merge with King is generous to King shareholders,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Voting; Ethics; Stock Shares; Investment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake