Publications

2010
Working Paper

Does Diversification Create Value in the Presence of External Financing Constraints? Evidence from the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

We show that the value of corporate diversification increased during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Diversification gave firms both financing and investment advantages. First, conglomerates became significantly more leveraged relative to comparable focused firms.... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Financial Crisis; Resource Allocation; Investment; Financing and Loans; Business Conglomerates; Capital Markets

16 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Does Diversification Create Value in the Presence of External Financing Constraints? Evidence from the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis

Keywords: by Venkat Kuppuswamy & Belén Villalonga

February 2019
Teaching Note

Zalora Philippines: From Growth to Profitability

By: Donald Ngwe

Teaching Note for HBS No. 517-009. View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Online Retail; Emerging Markets; Philippines

Purchase

10 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Governance and Internal Capital Markets

Keywords: by Zacharias Sautner & Belén Villalonga

2014
Working Paper

Finance and Social Responsibility in the Informal Economy: Institutional Voids, Globalization and Microfinance Institutions

By: Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis and Sunny Li Sun

We examine the heterogeneous effects of globalization on the interest rate setting by microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. We consider MFIs as a mechanism to overcome the institutional void of credit for small entrepreneurs in developing and emerging... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Microfinance Institutions; Economic Globalization; Social Globalization; Microfinance; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies

SSRN

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

2024
Working Paper

Capital Market Integration and Growth across the United States

By: Leonardo D'Amico and Maxim Alekseev

What drives the integration of national financial markets and what are its consequences for regional growth? We digitize and collect US state-level banking data from 1953 to 1983 and document a tight link between high nominal short rates and financial integration,... View Details

Keywords: Interest Rates; Financial Markets; Economic Growth; Banks and Banking; Analytics and Data Science

October 2015
Teaching Note

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

Purchase

Article

High School Curriculum and Financial Outcomes: The Impact of Mandated Personal Finance and Mathematics Courses

By: Shawn Cole, Anna Paulson and Gauri Kartini Shastry

Financial literacy and cognitive capabilities are convincingly linked to the quality of financial decision-making. Yet, there is little evidence that education intended to improve financial decision-making is successful. Using plausibly exogenous variation in exposure... View Details

Keywords: Financial Literacy; Cognitive Capability; Secondary Education; Personal Finance; Decision Making

July 2012
Article

The Real Consequences of Market Segmentation

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

We study the real effects of market segmentation due to credit ratings using a matched sample of firms just above and just below the investment-grade cutoff. These firms have similar observables, including average investment rates. However, flows into high-yield mutual... View Details

Keywords: Segmentation; Credit; Investment; Investment Funds; Quality; Markets; Measurement and Metrics; Business Ventures

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

To other functional departments such as finance and operations, the sales and marketing functions look alike. After all, they are both "outward looking," focused on the customer and the market.... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

September 2018
Article

Asset Price Dynamics in Partially Segmented Markets

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson and Gordon Y. Liao

We develop a model in which capital moves quickly within an asset class but slowly between asset classes. While most investors specialize in a single asset class, a handful of generalists can gradually reallocate capital across markets. Upon the arrival... View Details

Keywords: System Shocks; Asset Pricing

07 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Market Investors Pay More for Resilient Companies

The steep market drop in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis is being used as a laboratory to study the importance of companies investing in stakeholder relations with their employees, suppliers, and customers, and how those investments... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

07 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Which Does More to Determine the Quality of Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies, Firms or Countries?

Keywords: by Andrea Hugill & Jordan Siegel

January 2010
Background Note

In the Spotlight: The Market for Iron Ore

By: Aldo Musacchio, Tarun Khanna and Jenna Bernhardson

This note discusses the structure and functioning of the market for iron ore. This market has traditionally functioned using a benchmark pricing mechanism, in which large steel mills in Japan (now in China) negotiate the benchmark price with the largest of the big... View Details

Keywords: Industry Structures; Mining; Price; Valuation; Business Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Mining Industry; China

27 Jun 2023
News

Marketing When Budgets Are Down

May 2011
Article

Institutional Stock Trading on Loan Market Information

By: Victoria Ivashina and Zheng Sun

Over the past decade, one of the most important developments in the corporate loan market has been the increasing participation of institutional investors in lending syndicates. As lenders, institutional investors routinely receive private information about borrowers.... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Financing and Loans; Negotiation; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return

May 2019
Article

The Role of Gatekeepers in Capital Markets

By: Sugata Roychowdhury and Suraj Srinivasan

Gatekeepers in financial markets have the power to provide the institutional stability, fortitude and direction necessary for the development and the smooth functioning of capital markets. At the same time, they are often motivated by their own private incentives.... View Details

Keywords: Gatekeepers; Capital Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Effectiveness

SSRN

July 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Pricing is one of the most difficult decisions marketers make and the one with the most direct and immediate impact on the firm's financial position. This toolkit will introduce the fundamental terminology and calculations associated with pricing and profitability... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Profit; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry