Publications

2010
Chapter

The Euro as a Reserve Currency for Global Investors

By: Luis M. Viceira and Ricardo Gimeno

This article explores the demand for the euro for risk management purposes and the evidence of stock market integration in the euro area. We define a reserve currency as one that investors demand either because it helps them hedge real interest risk and inflation risk,... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Inflation and Deflation; Capital Markets; Currency; Stocks; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management

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June 2009 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Colbún—Powering Chile

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Gustavo A. Herrero and Sanjay Patnaik

This case is about Colbún, Chile's second largest electricity generator, which is facing significant uncertainty regarding the cost and availability of alternative energy sources. Problems with the contracted supply of natural gas and the volatility of oil prices,... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Government Relations; Climate Change; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Chile

19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

the mechanism for providing worker insurance developed stronger venture capital markets over 1990-2008, especially in high volatility sectors. In this context, policy mechanisms are more important than the overall level of worker... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Nov 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Medium Term Business Cycles in Developing Countries

Keywords: by Diego Comin, Norman Loayza, Farooq Pasha & Luis Serven

Article

Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We examine how investor sentiment affects the cross-section of stock returns. Theory predicts that a broad wave of sentiment will disproportionately affect stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and are difficult to arbitrage. We test this prediction by... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Stocks; Investment Return; Valuation; Forecasting and Prediction; Volatility; Price; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavioral Finance

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February 2005 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Arauco (A): Forward Integration or Horizontal Expansion?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Jorge Tarzijan and Jordan Mitchell

Celulosa Arauco is a major Chilean producer of market pulp and wood products. Owning over 1.2 million hectares of forest in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, the company's key advantage is the ideal growing conditions in which the company's forests are located. As of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Forest Products Industry; Chile

April 1995
Case

Phelps Dodge Corporation

By: W. Carl Kester and Kendall Backstrand

A prolonged decline in copper prices prompts Phelps Dodge, one of the world's largest independent copper companies, to consider corporate diversification as a means of protecting itself from copper price volatility. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Price; Volatility; Risk Management; Mining Industry; Arizona; United States

December 2021
Article

Trade Policy Uncertainty and Stock Returns

By: Marcelo Bianconi, Federico Esposito and Marco Sammon

A recent literature has documented large real effects of trade policy uncertainty (TPU) on trade, employment, and investment, but there is little evidence that investors are compensated for bearing such risk. To quantify the risk premium associated with TPU, we exploit... View Details

Keywords: Trade Policy; Uncertainty; Stock Returns; Risk Premium; Tariff Rates; Portfolio Analysis; Trade; Policy; Risk and Uncertainty; Stocks; Investment Return

SSRN

March 2016 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Tableau

By: Boris Vallee

Matrix Capital Management, a long-short equity hedge fund based in Waltham, Massachusetts, is assessing its investment in Tableau, a data visualization company. Tableau, which conducted an IPO a few years ago, has been experiencing substantial growth as it aims at... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Long-short Equity; Growth Investing; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment; Valuation; Technology; Technology Industry; Waltham

Research Summary

Time Varying Expected Returns, Stochastic Dividend Yields, and Default Probabilities: Linking the Credit Risk and Equity Literature (with George Chacko and Jens Hilscher)

In standard structural bond pricing models, the firm defaults once the market value of assets has fallen below a threshold. Expected returns, or at least dividend yields, are assumed to be constant, which implies that any asset value movement is permanent and has the... View Details

February 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Utilis: Designing, Producing, and Selling Rapid Deployment Shelters for a Troubled World

By: Herman B. Leonard, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Simon Harrow

How can a company that supplies disaster response and humanitarian agencies best handle the intrinsically unpredictable and highly volatile demand for its products? Utilis is a French supplier of rapid-deploy high-end tent solutions for civilian and military uses (such... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Strategic Planning; Natural Disasters; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; France

The co-movement of Treasury bonds and stocks is an important indicator for both policy makers and for long-term investors. A positive co-movement between nominal Treasury bonds and stocks, as in the 1980s, means that nominal bonds amplify the volatility of stock... View Details

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0

By: Luis Viceira, Marco Di Maggio and Allison Ciechanover

Founded in 2005, Zillow had become the leading online real estate and home-related marketplace. The brand was recognized as a trusted resource for players in the real estate market, providing information and transparency on home prices. Revenue, which was historically... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Corporate Culture; Intermediation; Brokerage; Startup; Evaluating Business Investments; Property; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Business Startups; Real Estate Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

07 Nov 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Causes and Consequences of Linguistic Complexity in Non-US Firm Conference Calls

Keywords: by Francois Brochet, Patricia Naranjo & Gwen Yu; Accounting

August 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Diageo and Mey Icki: Turkish Delight or Turkish Hangover?

By: Dante Roscini and Gamze Yucaoglu

In September 2013, two years after its $2.1 billion acquisition of Mey Icki Sanayi ve Ticaret AS (Mey Icki), the principal spirits company in Turkey specializing in the local beverage, raki, Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks company, was concerned about new... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Emerging Markets; Government Legislation; Taxation; Valuation; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Risk Management; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Middle East; Turkey

Article

CDS Trading and Nonrelationship Lending Dynamics

By: Jung Koo Kang, Christopher Williams and Regina Wittenberg-Moerman

We investigate how credit default swaps (CDSs) affect lenders’ incentives to initiate new lending relationships. We predict that CDSs reduce adverse selection that nonrelationship lead arrangers face when competing for loans. Consistently, we find that a loan is... View Details

Keywords: Credit Default Swaps; CDS Market; Non-relationship Lending; Debt Contracts; Adverse Selection; Lending Monitoring; Cross-selling

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2018
Working Paper

Global Portfolio Diversification for Long-Horizon Investors

By: Luis M. Viceira and Zixuan (Kevin) Wang

This paper conducts a theoretical and empirical investigation of global portfolio diversification for long-horizon investors in the presence of permanent cash flow shocks and transitory discount rate shocks to asset prices and returns. An increase in the cross-country... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Risk and Uncertainty; Diversification; Capital Markets; Global Range