Publications

September 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Timing of Option Grants at UnitedHealth Group (A)

Faced with press allegations that executives' stock options might have been backdated, the Board of UnitedHealth Group needs to determine whether its accounting for the options was proper, and if not, what the restatement amount should be and what... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Stock Options; Accounting; Crisis Management; Corporate Governance; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; United States

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

subcommittee delivered June 5, Desai detailed his view of this "dual-reporting system" and the implications on how executive stock options are treated. The hearing was titled "Executive View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Note on Option Valuation

For every option, a fair price has to be established. But how do you actually price an option? Assuming a basic knowledge of options, this note covers two pricing methods: the binominal tree and the Black-Scholes/Merton formula. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Stock Options

October 2011 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Vignette: Alternative Liquidity Options

By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

The growth of companies that facilitate the sales of unregistered stock, such as that granted to employees of successful but long-private companies, has raised a number of questions among regulators, investors, and company founders. This brief vignette sketches out... View Details

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Private Equity; Stocks; Business Growth and Maturation; Sales

May 2009
Teaching Note

Nextel Partners: Put Option (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Teaching Note for [207-128] View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Voting; Price; Public Ownership; Valuation; Financial Liquidity; Stock Options; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry

Fast Answer

Stock prices: current & historical

Where do I find current or historical company stock prices? Bloomberg is best for current prices (Note: There is a 20-minute delay). Type a company ticker and then hit the EQUITY key; e.g., MSFT US [EQUITY] for... View Details

February 1995
Teaching Note

Corporate Financial Management: Options Exercises (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Teaching Note for (9-293-095). View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Price; Stock Options; Theory; Investment; Corporate Finance

Fast Answer

Bloomberg: stock and bond holders

How can I find holders of stocks and bonds in Bloomberg? The full shortcut for viewing holders includes the specific security ticker, then HDS, e.g; GM US [EQUITY] HDS [GO] for holders of GM stock GM8.375... View Details

November 1984
Background Note

Black-Scholes Option Pricing Program for the HP 12C Calculator

By: Andre F. Perold

Contains a program that can be used on the HP12C pocket calculator to compute the Black-Scholes option price and the associated hedge ratio. The program must be given the following parameters: the exercise price, the risk-free rate, the time to expiration, and the... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Investment Funds; Price; Management; Software

01 Apr 2002
News

Underwater Options May Not Sink Incentives

During the bull market of the 1990s, stock grants and options formed increasingly large components of executive compensation. Now, however, with many options "underwater" as... View Details

Keywords: Lisa Muelbroek; Li Jin; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

March 2002
Case

Akamai's Underwater Options (B): The Decision

By: Brian J. Hall, Houston Lane and Jonathan Lim

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Stock Options; Attitudes; Compensation and Benefits

December 2003
Article

Expensing Stock Options: A Fair-Value Approach

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Stock Options; Value

Read Now

March 2002
Teaching Note

Akamai's Underwater Options (A) and (B) TN

By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim

Teaching Note for (9-902-069) and (9-902-195). View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

2017
Working Paper

Equality and Equity in Compensation

By: Jiayi Bao and Andy Wu

Equity compensation is widely used for incentivizing skilled employees, particularly in new technology businesses. Traditional theories explaining why firms offer equity suggest that workers with higher rank should receive compensation packages more heavily weighted in... View Details

Keywords: Inequality Aversion; Compensation; Stock Options; Scarcity; Experiment; Compensation and Benefits; Equity; Equality and Inequality; Perception

Read Now

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Paid for Success: Options for Compensating CEOs

When large public companies perform poorly, do the CEOs running them share the financial pain? That question, according to HBS associate professor Brian Hall, is not answered by looking at their salary and bonus but rather by a careful examination of their View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

February 1984 (Revised January 1994)
Teaching Note

Options Exercises and Note on Options, Teaching Note

By: David E. Bell

Keywords: Stock Options

2016
Working Paper

Options-Pricing Formula with Disaster Risk

By: Robert J. Barro and Gordon Y. Liao

A new options-pricing formula applies to far-out-of-the money put options on the overall stock market when disaster risk is the dominant force, the size distribution of disasters follows a power law, and the economy has a representative agent with Epstein-Zin utility.... View Details

Keywords: Option Pricing; Rare Disaster; Price; Stock Options; Financial Crisis