Publications

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09 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 9, 2010

PublicationsDid Increased Competition Affect Credit Ratings? Authors:Bo Becker and Todd Milbourn Publication:Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming) Abstract The credit rating industry has historically been dominated by just two... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Global Economy (A)

By: Alberto Cavallo and Christian Godwin

In April 2020, the world struggled to contain the exponential escalation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Dozens of countries had imposed restrictions on travel, work, and social gatherings. A large share of the global population was under lockdowns and... View Details

July 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Central Bank: The ChexSystemsSM QualiFile® Decision

By: Dennis Campbell, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Peter Tufano and Emily McClintock

The "Central Bank" series analyzes the use of information and product design for managing the counterparty risk of newly acquired customers. Central Bank, a mid-sized regional U.S. bank, was attempting to grow its customer base by increasing the number of new checking... View Details

Keywords: Central Banking; Knowledge Management; Customer Satisfaction; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Making; Banking Industry; United States

August 1989 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Grosvenor Park

By: William J. Poorvu and Katherine Sweetman

Dick Dublin believes he has designed a townhouse development which will appeal to mobile young professionals. Dublin has removed some market risk by locking in a forward commitment for low interest rate loans for future purchasers at Grosvenor Park. The pricing... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Projects; Financing and Loans; Property; Financial Strategy; Price; Strategic Planning; Business and Government Relations; Real Estate Industry; Maryland

09 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Moving From Bean Counter to Game Changer

and consumer lending. The researchers chose to study risk-management experts because their role has risen in importance with demands for improved corporate governance and the need for better forecasting and modeling. After the financial... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Banking

Web

Business Economics - Doctoral

Experimental economics Alex Chan Financial intermediaries Samuel G. Hanson Victoria Ivashina Joseph Pacelli Clayton S. Rose Emil N. Siriwardane Adi Sunderam Yuan Zou Game theory Jerry R. Green Investment management Malcolm P. Baker Luis... View Details

17 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Many Small-Business Employees May Be Close to Losing Health Insurance

at risk of cancelling health insurance coverage within two months, the researchers found. Almost one in five, 18.9 percent, predicted they’d be able to keep paying premiums for no more than two months. Another 13.2 percent were unsure how... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

October 1984
Case

Citibank Indonesia

Describes a dilemma faced by Citibank's country manager for Indonesia. His superiors have asked him to raise his profit goal for 1984. But to produce increased profits he would either have to reduce the amount lent at below-market rates, particularly to prime customers... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Multinational Firms and Management; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Indonesia

02 Aug 2004
What Do You Think?

For Greater Transparency, Is Section 404 an Effective Response?

Summing Up Responses to this month's column raise questions about whether Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring that senior managers certify the integrity of the processes by which their companies' financial reports are... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2024
Working Paper

How Do Global Portfolio Investors Hedge Currency Risk?

By: Robin Greenwood and Alex Cheema-Fox

We use monthly portfolio data from one of the world’s largest custodian banks, with over $40 trillion assets under custody, to study how global portfolio investors hedge foreign exchange risk in their equity and fixed income portfolios over the past 25 years. The data... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Investment Funds; Currency; Risk and Uncertainty

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April 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Module Note

Teaching Project Finance: An Overview of the Large-Scale Investment Course

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Large-Scale Investment is a case-based course about project finance for second-year MBA students. Project finance involves the creation of a legally independent project company financed with nonrecourse debt for the purpose of investing in a single-purpose industrial... View Details

Keywords: Projects; Financing and Loans

Robert Simons is a Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School. For over 35 years, Simons has taught accounting, management control, and strategy execution courses in both the Harvard MBA and Executive Education Programs. For 2024/25, he is teaching a... View Details

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

Eisenhower, and Robert McNamara. 08 Nov 2024 Op-Ed How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis by John Macomber Africa faces escalating climate risks that threaten its people and businesses. While governments and... View Details

August 2015
Article

Poultry in Motion: A Study of International Trade Finance Practices

By: Pol Antràs and C. Fritz Foley

This paper analyzes the financing terms that support international trade and sheds light on how these terms shape the impact of economic shocks on trade. Analysis of transaction-level data from a U.S.-based exporter of frozen and refrigerated food products, primarily... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; International Finance; Financing and Loans; Trade

Find at Harvard

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30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

international economic and financial crises highlights the need for a comprehensive framework to assess the robustness of national economic and financial systems. This paper proposes a new comprehensive... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2020
Supplement

RBC: Transforming Transformation (B)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia

In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Giant Cinema

By: Malcolm P. Baker, Richard S. Ruback, Erik Stafford and Kathleen Luchs

The owner of Giant Cinema must decide whether to invest in a digital projector, a new technology for screening films, or purchase a traditional projector. The impact of the new technology is uncertain, and the case describes probabilities for different outcomes that... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Film Entertainment; Technology Adoption; Financial Strategy; Investment; Outcome or Result; Risk and Uncertainty; Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry