Publications

2013
Article

How Concentrated Is the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry? Myth vs. Reality

By: Alvin J. Silk and Charles King III

We analyze changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services industry using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's quinquennial Economic Census and the Service Annual Survey. These data, heretofore largely ignored, allow us to redress some of... View Details

Keywords: Concentration Levels; Data; U.S. Census Bureau’s Quinquennial Economic Census And The Service Annual Survey; Measurement Problems; Herfindahl-Hirschman Index; Concentration Ratios; Advertising; Advertising Industry; North and Central America

summer 1995
Article

Hedging Portfolios with Real Assets

By: K. A. Froot

Keywords: Institutional Investing; Market Efficiency; Behavioral Finance; Equities; Stock Market; Indexing; Hedging; Asset Allocation; Commodities; Commodity Investing; Real Estate; Financial Markets; Asset Pricing

Summer 2013
Article

Real Estate Prices During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

By: Tom Nicholas and Anna Scherbina

Using new data on market-based transactions we construct real estate price indexes for Manhattan between 1920 and 1939. During the 1920s prices reached their highest level in the third quarter of 1929 before falling by 67% at the end of 1932 and hovering around that... View Details

Keywords: Property; Market Transactions; Price; Value; Financial Crisis; Investment; Real Estate Industry; New York (state, US)

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Excess Comovement of Stock Returns

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood; Financial Services

July 1992 (Revised January 1995)
Case

An Investment Linked to Commodity Futures

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Jay O. Light and Nancy Donohue

Describes a new investment which is linked to an index of commmodity futures prices. Explores how the index is constructed, how commodity futures (as opposed to other futures and spot prices) behave, and what the portfolio impacts of such an investment might be. View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Investment Management; Portfolio Management; Financial Markets; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Futures and Commodity Futures

May 2008
Article

Excess Comovement of Stock Returns: Evidence from Cross-sectional Variation in Nikkei 225 Weights

By: Robin Greenwood

In the presence of limits to arbitrage, cross-sectional variation in periodic investor demand should be related to the degree of comovement of returns. I exploit the unusual weighting system of the Nikkei 225 index in Japan to identify cross-sectional variation in... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Investment; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Weight; Performance Expectations; Behavior; Japan

2024
Working Paper

Who Clears the Market When Passive Investors Trade?

By: Marco Sammon and John J. Shim

We find that firms are the primary sellers of shares when index funds are net buyers, providing shares at a nearly one-for-one rate. Rather than provide liquidity, most demand-side institutions trade in the same direction as index funds, especially over long horizons.... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Institutional Investing; Price; Investment Portfolio; Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments

SSRN

September – October 2007
Article

Trading Patterns and Excess Comovement of Stock Returns

By: Robin Greenwood and Nathan Sosner

n April 2000, 30 stocks were replaced in the Nikkei 225 Index. The unusually broad index redefinition allowed for a study of the effects of index-linked trading on the excess comovement of stock returns. A large increase occurred in the correlation of trading volume of... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Mathematical Methods

30 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

expect their investments to outperform major equity indexes going forward, and they’re continuing to fund new endeavors. “It’s sort of the opposite of doom and gloom,” Gompers says. “We were surprised by how relatively unaffected the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services; Banking

February 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Smith Breeden Associates: The Equity Plus Fund (A)

By: Robert C. Merton and Alberto Moel

In early 1997, Smith Breeden Associates, a money management and consulting firm, was pondering the future of the Equity Plus Fund. The Equity Plus Fund was an S&P enhanced-index fund that tried to outperform the S&P Index by replicating the index using low-cost... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Cash; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Mortgages; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Marketing; Performance; Consulting Industry

2021
Working Paper

The Changing Role of Business in Society

By: Michael E. Porter

Business interaction with the U.S. government, historically based on securing industry or company special interests at the expense of the public good, has enabled and furthered government dysfunction. Gridlock within the American political system has precluded the... View Details

February 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Enron Corp.: - Credit Sensitive Notes

This case investigates an innovative bond issue by Enron. The coupon on the bond is indexed to the company's credit rating, making it a credit derivative structure. View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Bonds; Energy Industry

08 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, August 8, 2017

using money to buy time can protect people from the detrimental effects of time pressure on life satisfaction. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52953 Governance Through Shame and Aspiration: Index Creation... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2015
Article

The Great Recession, Insurance Mandates, and the Use of In Vitro Fertilization Services in the United States

By: Sorapop Kiatpongsan, Robert S. Huckman and Mark D. Hornstein

Objective: To investigate the relationship between economic activities, insurance mandates, and the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States.

Design: We examined the correlation between the coincident index (a proxy for overall economic... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Recessions; Medical Care; In Vitro Fertilization; Health Industry; United States

2020
Case

Building Transparency within the Sustainable Apparel Coalition: The Road to Successful Pre-Competitive Collaboration

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) was founded in 2010 to develop a common set of sustainability standards for the apparel, footwear, and home textile industries. The organization was an example of pre-competitive collaboration, a strategy in which companies... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Cooperation; Social Issues; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Evaluation; Apparel and Accessories Industry

December 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Compensation at Level 3 Communications

Level 3's unique compensation plan rewarded managers for the firm's performance only if the firm's stock price movement exceeded that of the market. This design was intended to maximize shareholder value by tying manager's performance more closely to that of the firm,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Telecommunications Industry