Publications

2014
Working Paper

Financial Repression in the European Sovereign Debt Crisis

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

By the end of 2013, the share of government debt held by the domestic banking sectors of Eurozone countries was more than twice its 2007 level. We show that this type of increasing reliance on the domestic banking sector for absorbing government bonds generates a... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cycles; Sovereign Debt; Financial Repression; Sovereign Finance; Greece

September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

OPOWER: Increasing Energy Efficiency through Normative Influence (A)

By: Amy J.C. Cuddy, Kyle Todd Doherty and Maarten W. Bos

The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Attitudes; Entrepreneurship; Energy Conservation; Power and Influence; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry; United States

Educators

Web

Connect with Clubs - Recruiting

Hire Talent Connect with Clubs Hire Talent Connect with Clubs Partner with a HBS Student Club Reach targeted groups of students by connecting with over 50 career-related student clubs. Work with club leaders to sponsor events, advertise... View Details

February 2023
Article

Disruption and Credit Markets

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

We show that over the past half century innovative disruptions were central to understanding corporate defaults. In a given year, industries experiencing abnormally high VC or IPO activity subsequently see higher default rates, higher segment exits by conglomerates,... View Details

Keywords: Default; Corporate Bonds; Disruption; Corporate Finance; Bonds

2011
Working Paper

Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm Level Evidence

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of the business cycle. Yet fluctuations in bank-loan supply have been hard to quantify in the time-series. While loan issuance falls in recessions, it is not clear if this is due to... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Banks and Banking; Bonds; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

other research here . Related Themes: Monetary Policy & Money Markets, Stabilization Policy & Regulation More Info Covenant-Light Contracts and Creditor Coordination By: Bo Becker & Victoria Ivashina 31 MAR... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

On the Economic Origins of Concerns Over Women’s Chastity

By: Anke Becker

This paper studies the origins and function of customs and norms that intend to keep women from being promiscuous. Using large-scale survey data from more than 100 countries, I test the anthropological theory that a particular form of preindustrial... View Details

Keywords: Infibulation; Female Sexuality; Paternity Uncertainty; Concern About Women's Chastity; Pastoralism; Economic Anthropology; History; Gender; Social Issues; Culture

March 2014
Article

Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm Level Evidence

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of the business cycle. Yet fluctuations in bank-loan supply have been hard to quantify in the time series. While loan issuance falls in recessions, it is not clear if this is due to... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Banks and Banking; Bonds; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

Web

Finance - Faculty & Research

mechanism that amplifies interest rate volatility. I find strong support for these predictions in the time series of US government bond returns. 2014 Working Paper Financial Repression in the European Sovereign Debt Crisis By: Bo View Details

Web

Research - Private Capital Project

Disruption and Credit Markets By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina We show that over the past half century innovative disruptions were central to understanding corporate defaults. In a given year, industries... View Details

Web

Faculty & Research - Race, Gender & Equity

of the post-MBA paths of Harvard Business School alumni. Study findings have been published in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Poets & Quants, and covered in other print, digital, and broadcast media outlets. Life & Leadership examines the role played... View Details

February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Roche's Acquisition of Genentech

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Bo Becker and Vincent Marie Dessain

Franz Humer, CEO of the Roche Group, must decide whether to mount a hostile tender offer for the publicly-owned shares of Roche's biotechnology subsidiary, Genentech. The case provides opportunities to analyze Roche's strategy with respect to Genentech, the pros and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Negotiation Offer; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

Educators

24 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 24

Monetary Economics Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm-Level Evidence By: Ivashina, Victoria, and Bo Becker Abstract—Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Skydeck - Alumni

Revolution Bright Horizons CEO Stephen Kramer (MBA 1997) on what modern parents really want from their workplace What We Can Learn From “The Oracle of Wall Street” Taylor Becker (MBA 2025) shares personal anecdotes and life lessons from... View Details

2012
Working Paper

Reaching for Yield in the Bond Market

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Reaching-for-yield—the propensity to buy riskier assets in order to achieve higher yields—is believed to be an important factor contributing to the credit cycle. This paper analyses this phenomenon in the corporate bond market. Specifically, we show evidence for... View Details

Keywords: Fixed Income; Reaching For Yield; Financial Intermediation; Insurance Companies; Insurance; Bonds; Assets; Risk Management; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Insurance Industry

Web

Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

Lawrence's other research here . Related Themes: Monetary Policy & Money Markets, Stabilization Policy & Regulation More Info Covenant-Light Contracts and Creditor Coordination By: Bo Becker & Victoria... View Details

March 2024
Supplement

ELCA's Series A Cap Table Exercise (Instructor Version)

By: Raymond Kluender and Anke Becker

In ELCA, the company must decide between two term sheets: one put forth by STV and one put forth by ESV.

This exercise is an analysis of the implications of these two term sheets on the ownership structure and the payouts of common and preferred... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Venture Capital; Investment; Ownership Stake

2011
Working Paper

Fiduciary Duties and Equity-Debtholder Conflicts

By: Bo Becker and Per Stromberg

We use an important legal event as a natural experiment to examine the effect of management fiduciary duties on equity-debt conflicts. A 1991 Delaware bankruptcy ruling changed the nature of corporate directors' fiduciary duties in firms incorporated in that state.... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Conflict and Resolution; Welfare or Wellbeing; Delaware