Publications

02 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Explaining China's Crash

freely? Will they liberalize the capital account and let the currency float? In short, markets will assess how credibly the country’s policies are evolving. Q: How does China’s political leadership affect... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese; Financial Services

March 1997 (Revised May 2000)
Background Note

Bretton Woods System of Exchange Rates, The

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

Describes the exchange rate system adopted at Bretton Woods in 1994. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Currency Exchange Rate; Government and Politics; Adoption; System

12 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 12, 2018

forthcoming Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press The Academy of Fisticuffs: Political Economy and Commercial Society in Enlightenment Italy By: Reinert, Sophus A. Abstract—The terms “capitalism” and “socialism” continue to haunt our... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (D)- Bank of America's Strategic Investment in China Construction Bank

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

With its $3 billion investment in Chinese state bank China Construction Bank, Bank of America--the second U.S. bank behind Citigroup in terms of assets and market capitalization--was one of several foreign banks directly participating in China's banking sector reform.... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Banks and Banking; Foreign Direct Investment; International Relations; Banking Industry; China; United States

December 1980 (Revised January 1994)
Case

International Foodstuffs

By: David E. Bell

Describes three fairly routine instances in which considerations of risk exposure in foreign exchange are necessary. The three are a delayed payment for a grain shipment, a foreign subsidiary facing devaluation of its domestic currency, and a foreign acquisition. The... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Risk and Uncertainty; International Relations; Mergers and Acquisitions; Money; International Finance; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2013
Case

Europe: An Ever Closer Union?

By: Gunnar Trumbull, Jonathan Schlefer and Diane Choi

In 2010, the European Union faces the challenges of the global financial crisis. With 27 member states, each facing different challenges, can new EU institutions respond effectively? Will its new currency, the euro, survive? View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Money; Trade; Currency; Policy; Government and Politics; European Union

06 Oct 2015
First Look

October 6, 2015

European, and especially Eurozone, countries after the economic downturn that began in 2008. In fact, it was possible that both the euro currency union and the European political union depended on increasing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2012 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Persephone's Pomegranate: Crédit Agricole and Emporiki

By: Dante Roscini, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Jerome Lenhardt

In 2006 the French bank Crédit Agricole bought the Greek Emporiki bank, for €2.8 billion, at the peak of a bull market for bank takeovers. Six years, a major financial crisis, and €5.2 billion of losses later, in a context of great uncertainty in the European banking... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Currency; Development Economics; International Finance; International Relations; Banking Industry; Greece

03 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Lehman Brothers Plus Five: Have We Learned from Our Mistakes?

tools to deal with asset bubbles after they form, and no regulator wants to act promptly and spoil the fun. Thus the need to avoid them. No one really knows what the future entails during the Great Unwind. We do know that most likely we will continue to debase our... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Banking; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

10 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 10, 2009

has declined since the early 1980s, driving down term premia. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-088.pdf Global Currency Hedging Authors:John Y. Campbell, Karine Serfaty-de Medeiros, and Luis M. Viceira Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The End of Chimerica

Keywords: by Niall Ferguson & Moritz Schularick

02 Jun 2011
What Do You Think?

Is it Time for a National Bankruptcy?

the situation that must be rectified." Kapil Kumar Sopory cited his concern that insolvency would further exacerbate inequality, expressing the fear that "This is going to lead to revolutions in the long run." Tom Dolembo added, "Dissolving a View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

05 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

What Companies Should Not Do in the Next Banking Crisis

to the short-term ones.” Steinwender points out that their findings only apply to companies in the wake of a financial crisis brought on by a banking crash—and don’t necessarily apply to crises brought on by demand shock or currency... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking

May 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (F)- Alcatel and Strong Chinese Competition

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

The Chinese operations of Alcatel, a global communications solution provider based in France, were faced with strong local competition and a difficult market. It remained unclear how Alcatel would be able to recover growth in the Chinese market. Initiatives were... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; International Relations; Growth and Development Strategy; Research and Development; Competitive Strategy; Horizontal Integration; Communications Industry; China; France; United States

September 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Bohemian Crowns: Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka (A)

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Vincent Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Tells the story of the Czech transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy, describing the first economic reforms, the fixed-exchange rate regime, and the voucher privatization. Also explains why, in the middle of the 1990s, the Czech Republic... View Details

Keywords: History; Currency Exchange Rate; Credit; Government Administration; Decisions; Economic Systems; Expansion; Mergers and Acquisitions; Developing Countries and Economies; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Czech Republic