Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

2023
Working Paper

The Evolving Academic Field of Climate Finance

By: Matteo Gasparini and Peter Tufano

The urgency and the magnitude of climate change will affect every aspect of our economies, societies, and planet. The academic finance research has begun to study the financial implications of global warming, although this body of literature is small. The field has... View Details

Keywords: Climate Finance; Finance Academia; Greenhouse Gas; Sustainable Finance; Financial Decisions; Educational Finance; Finance; Climate Change; Transition

SSRN

Read Now

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Zoots - Financing Growth (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Todd Krasnow

Traces the genesis and founding of Zoots, the largest chain of dry cleaning establishments in the U.S. Founded by some of the founders of the very successful Staples chain, the company raises a very large amount of capital without fully proving its business model, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation; United States

September 2006
Case

Stedman Place: Buy or Rent?

By: Andre F. Perold and David S. Scharfstein

A couple has to decide whether to continue renting a townhouse or buy the one next door. Allows for a discussion of net present value, internal rate of return, and the costs and benefits of homeownership. View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Asset Pricing; Investment Return; Housing; Family Ownership; Renting or Rental; Valuation

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; illustration by Dan Bejar; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

01 Sep 2018
News

After the Fall

traditional banks to one where non-bank financial intermediaries played a much more important role,” he says. These less regulated intermediaries, which included money market funds, hedge funds, and investment banks, relied heavily on... View Details

Web

Lehman Brothers Records | Baker Library

Lehman Brothers Records The Lehman Brothers Records document the history of the investment banking firm from 1868 until 2007. The records of the investment firm Kuhn, Loeb & Co., prior to its 1977 merger... View Details

January 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Note on Yield Conventions

By: Andre F. Perold and Wai Lee

Describes the principal conventions used to report yields on debt instruments. View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Capital Markets; Asset Management; Reports; Conferences; Governing and Advisory Boards

January 2008
Background Note

Equity Options

By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford

The goal of this simulation is to understand the reliance of option values on volatility. When an investor trades an option, they are essentially trading volatility. Therefore, much of the focus in this lesson is on forecasting volatility. Students are able to use two... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Forecasting and Prediction; Stock Options; Investment Return; Price; Market Transactions; Mathematical Methods; Value

September 2007 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Sinopec: Refining its Strategy

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Julia Galef

China's oil industry, with majority ownership vested in the government, had engaged in an "equity oil" strategy for the past few years-acquiring equity interests in oil producing nations including Sudan, Angola, and Iran. Outside critics, however, suggested that the... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Equity; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; State Ownership; Energy Industry; China

June 2005
Article

Currency Returns, Intrinsic Value, and Institutional Investor Flows

By: K. A. Froot and T. Ramadorai

Keywords: Currencies; Exchange Rates; Purchasing Power Parity; Real Exchange Rate; Forecasting and Prediction; Behavioral Finance; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Performance Expectations; Personal Characteristics; Asset Pricing; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

21 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales

investing in projects that earn more than their cost of capital; increasing profits from existing capital investments; reducing assets in activities that earn less than the cost of capital; and reducing the firm’s cost of capital itself.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

17 Nov 2015
First Look

November 17, 2015

at many non-financial firms have highlighted a "low-leverage puzzle" and raised questions about the implications of cash holdings for corporate investment and economic growth. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 May 2013
News

Gil Kemp, MBA 1976 & Barbara Guss Kemp

“We invest in HBS because today’s students are inspiring. We love meeting the students we support. They are just terrific, and we know that they are going to do amazing things and make a real difference in the world. We are proud to be... View Details

2008
Book

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

By: Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson traces the historical evolution of the financial system, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls "Planet Finance." In doing so, he reveals financial history as the essential backstory behind all history, from the... View Details

Keywords: Financial History; Money; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Investment; Globalization