Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(512)
- Faculty Publications (90)
- June 2006 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Creditor Activism in Sovereign Debt: 'Vulture' Tactics or Market Backbone
By: Laura Alfaro and Ingrid Vogel
The role of distressed debt funds, also known as "vulture funds," in sovereign debt restructuring was a hotly debated topic, especially after the success of Elliot Associates in converting an $11 million investment in Peruvian bonds worth $21 million into a $58 million... View Details
- March 2006
- Case
Wells Fargo Convertible Bonds
By: Malcolm P. Baker and Elizabeth Kind
Howard Atkins, the chief financial officer of Wells Fargo, is considering issuing $3 billion in convertible debt. With an investment-grade credit rating, Wells Fargo is not the typical issuer of convertible securities, but the market conditions in 2003 are unusual.... View Details
- July 2005 (Revised December 2005)
- Case
General Motors U.S. Pension Funds
By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung
In June 2003, General Motors Corp. (GM) successfully marketed the largest corporate debt offering in U.S. history, worth $17.6 billion. The offering included $13.6 billion worth of debt denominated in dollars, euros, and pounds and $4 billion dollars denominated in... View Details
- January 2005 (Revised October 2005)
- Background Note
Standard & Poor's Sovereign Credit Ratings: Scales and Process
By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner
Describes Standard & Poor's sovereign credit ratings scales and the credit rating process. In particular, describes the role and function of the rating committee and the analytical categories considered in arriving at a final sovereign credit rating. View Details
- 2005
- Working Paper
Pseudo Market Timing and Predictive Regressions
By: Malcolm Baker, Ryan Taliaferro and Jeffrey Wurgler
A number of studies claim that aggregate managerial decision variables, such as aggregate equity issuance, have power to predict stock or bond market returns. Recent research argues that these results may be driven by an aggregate time-series version of Schultz's... View Details
- 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
- November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire
By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas
Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,... View Details
- November 2003
- Article
The Maturity of Debt Issues and Predictable Variation in Bond Returns
By: Malcolm Baker, Robin Greenwood and Jeffrey Wurgler
The maturity of new debt issues predicts excess bond returns. When the share of long-term debt issues in total debt issues is high, future excess bond returns are low. This predictive power comes in two parts. First, inflation, the real short-term rate, and the term... View Details
- 2002
- Other Unpublished Work
The Maturity of Debt Issues and Predictable Variation in Bond Returns
By: Malcolm Baker, Robin Greenwood and Jeffrey Wurgler
The maturity of new debt issues predicts excess bond returns. When the share of long term debt issues in total debt issues is high, future excess bond returns are low. This predictive power comes in two parts. First, inflation, the real short-term rate, and the term... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Finova Group, Inc. (A), The
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Perry Fagan
Finova Group, a $14 billion commercial finance company, filed for Chapter 11 in early March 2001, in what was one of the largest U.S. bankruptcy filings of all time and the largest corporate bond default since the Great Depression. While in Chapter 11, Finova became... View Details
- October 2000 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Harvard Management Company and Inflation-Protected Bonds, The
By: Luis M. Viceira
In March 2000, the board of The Harvard Management Co. (HMC) approved significant changes in the policy portfolio determining the long-run allocation policy of the Harvard University endowment. These changes included a sharp reduction of the allocation to U.S. equities... View Details
- June 1999 (Revised June 2000)
- Case
Robert Mondavi: Competitive Strategy
By: Michael E. Porter and Gregory C Bond
Describes the competitive situation facing Robert Mondavi, the leading premium California winery. Mondavi has been an industry innovator and has recently taken steps to become more international. Mondavi has to cope with growing domestic competition as well as market... View Details
- June 1999 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
The California Wine Cluster
By: Michael E. Porter and Gregory C Bond
Describes the California wine cluster, or the group of interconnected wineries, grape growers, suppliers, service providers, and wine-related institutions located in California. Also describes the wine cluster in France, Italy, Australia, and Chile, the four other... View Details
- July 1997 (Revised September 1997)
- Case
USAA: Catastrophe Risk Financing
By: Kenneth A. Froot and Mark Seasholes
Describes the first major risk financing using catastrophe bonds. Provides a basis for discussing the securitization of insurance risks. View Details
- February 1997 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Launching the BMW Z3 Roadster
By: Robert J. Dolan and Susan M. Fournier
James McDowell, vice president of marketing at BMW North America, Inc., must design Phase II communication strategies for the launch of the new BMW Z3 Roadster. The program follows an "out-of-the-box" prelaunch campaign centered on the placement of the product in the... View Details
- Article
Perceptions and the Politics of Finance: Junk Bonds and the Regulatory Seizure of First Capital Life
By: S. C. Gilson, H. DeAngelo and L. DeAngelo
In May 1991, one month after seizing Executive Life, California regulators seized First Capital Life (FCLIC). Both insurers were Drexel clients with large junk bond holdings, and both had experienced 'bank runs.' FCLIC's run followed regulators' televised comments that... View Details
- Article
The Collapse of First Executive Corporation: Junk Bonds, Adverse Publicity, and the Run on the Bank Phenomenon
By: S. C. Gilson, H. DeAngelo and L. DeAngelo
In April 1991, regulators seized the major subsidiaries of First Executive Corporation (FE), an insurer that invested heavily in junk bonds. During the junk bond market turmoil of 1989–1990, adverse publicity fueled a bank run at FE, forcing a $4 billion portfolio... View Details
- January 1994
- Exercise
Walt Disney Company's Sleeping Beauty Bonds
Walt Disney Co. issues a 100-year bond. This case describes the terms of the bond and immediate capital market reaction. View Details
- January 1994 (Revised July 2000)
- Exercise
Walt Disney Company's Sleeping Beauty Bonds--Duration Analysis
Walt Disney Co. issues a 100-year bond. This case describes the terms of the bond and immediate capital market reaction. View Details
- July 1993 (Revised November 1993)
- Case
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Marketing Strategy for the Debut Bond Offering
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the first supranational financial institution of the post-Cold War era, is planning its debut in the international capital markets through a bond issuance of $500 million. The bank must determine its marketing... View Details