Publications

02 Nov 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Accounting for Organizational Employment Impact

Keywords: by David Freiberg, Katie Panella, George Serafeim, and T. Robert Zochowski

July 2018
Article

Global Collaborative Patents

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

We study the prevalence and traits of global collaborative patents for U.S. public companies, where the inventor team is located both within and outside of the United States. Collaborative patents are frequently observed when a corporation is entering into a new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Ethnic Networks; Migration; Technology Transfer; Mobility; Information Technology; Globalized Firms and Management; Diasporas; Patents; Ethnicity; Entrepreneurship; Research and Development; Foreign Direct Investment; Innovation and Invention; Globalization; United States

December 2012
Case

Trouble Brewing for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

In October 2011, noted hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital delivered a presentation at an investors' conference analyzing the business and accounting quality weaknesses of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Until then Green Mountain had exhibited rapid... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Climate Solutions, Transition Risk, and Stock Returns

By: Shirley Lu, Edward J. Riedl, Simon Xu and George Serafeim

Using large language models to measure firms' climate solution products and services, we find that high-climate solution firms exhibit lower stock returns and higher market valuation multiples. Their stock prices respond positively to events signaling increased demand... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Generative Ai; Large Language Models; Climate Finance; Climate Change; Innovation and Invention; Environmental Sustainability; AI and Machine Learning; Investment; Financial Markets

SSRN

2010
Chapter

The Impact of Employer Matching on Savings Plan Participation under Automatic Enrollment

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

Existing research has documented the large impact that automatic enrollment has on savings plan participation. All the companies examined in these studies, however, have combined automatic enrollment with an employer match. This raises a question about how effective... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Investment Funds; Microeconomics; Compensation and Benefits

2011
Working Paper

Why Fears about Municipal Credit Are Overblown

Highly publicized predictions of 50-100 municipal defaults have caused anxiety among municipal bond investors. While there is some chance that negative investor sentiment will lead to further spread widening, the probability of the kind of widespread default that would... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Bonds; Investment Return; City

September 2008 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hearts On Fire - Brand Development Manager

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Benson P. Shapiro

Hearts On Fire, a successful branded diamond producer, established the position of Brand Development Manager (BDM) to build the company's presence, sales, and relationships with its retail customers. After one year, the CEO, CFO and President must evaluate the impact... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Investment Return; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Business Processes; Salesforce Management; Business Strategy

Web

Impact Stories | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Filter Results: (52) Submit People Alumni Executive Education Faculty MBA Students Topics Business for Social Impact Impact Investing K-12 Education Nonprofit Strategy & Governance Public Sector Social Entrepreneurship Format Text Video... View Details

spring 1973
Article

Management of Commercial Bank Government Security Portfolios: An Optimization Approach Under Uncertainty

By: D. B. Crane and Stephen P. Bradley

Keywords: Management; Banks and Banking; Government and Politics; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty

October 1993
Supplement

The Analyst's Dilemma (B)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Ethics; Risk and Uncertainty; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry

October 1996 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

Note on Valuation in Private Equity Settings, A

By: Josh Lerner and John Willinge

This note discusses several ways in which venture-backed firms can be valued, including comparables, net present value, decision-tree analysis, and the "venture capital method." View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Valuation

December 2022
Article

Conflicting Interests and the Effect of Fiduciary Duty: Evidence from Variable Annuities

By: Mark Egan, Shan Ge and Johnny Tang

We examine the variable annuity market to study conflicts of interest and the effect of fiduciary duty in brokerage markets. Insurers typically pay brokers higher commissions for selling more expensive annuities. Our results indicate that sales are four times as... View Details

Keywords: Variable Annuity; Brokers; Fiduciary Duty; Finance; Investment; Insurance; Conflict of Interests; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

SSRN

June 1996
Article

Risk-Based Capital Requirements and the Riskiness of Bank Portfolios

By: Brian J. Hall and Steven R. Grenadier

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Capital; Banks and Banking; Investment

2020
Working Paper

Measuring the Cost of Corporate Water Usage

By: DG Park, George Serafeim and T. Robert Zochowski

We develop a methodology that calculates the impact that organizations have on the environment through their water consumption relating to water stress risk. Using the methodology, we derive estimates for four companies that show how assumptions on the geographic... View Details

Keywords: Water; Water Management; Environment; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Impact-Weighted Accounts; IWAI; Organizations; Environmental Sustainability; Valuation

2021
Working Paper

Two Case Studies on the Financing of Forest Conservation

By: Andrew Baxter, Connor Cash, Josh Lerner and Ratnika Prasad

A variety of factors is leading to fresh approaches to the ownership and management of forestland, with an emphasis on the combination of conservation goals and private investments. But the barriers to successfully achieving attractive financial returns and desirable... View Details

Keywords: Financing; Forestry; Environmental Management; Natural Resources; Financing and Loans

SSRN

January 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Innovation at the Treasury: Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (A)

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Peter A. Hecht and Christopher Edward James Payton

In 1997, the U.S. Treasury was deciding whether to proceed with a proposal to issue inflation-indexed bonds. This case explores the challenges facing innovation in the financial markets as the Treasury tries to determine whether to introduce Treasury... View Details

Keywords: Inflation; Innovation; Federal Government; Securities; Debt Securities; Risk Management; Bonds; Investment Portfolio; Capital Markets; Inflation and Deflation; Government and Politics; Innovation and Invention; United States

2012
Working Paper

Issuer Quality and Corporate Bond Returns

By: Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson

We show that the credit quality of corporate debt issuers deteriorates during credit booms, and that this deterioration forecasts low excess returns to corporate bondholders. The key insight is that changes in the pricing of credit risk disproportionately affect the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Credit; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Bonds; Market Design; Cost of Capital; Mathematical Methods; System Shocks