Publications

November 2002 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios

By: Mihir A. Desai, Gabriel J. Loeb and Mark Veblen

The head of production for Rexford Studios must analyze the terms and value consequences of an international financing involving a German film fund. The financing involves a sale-leaseback structure where international tax rules give rise to a sizable economic pie that... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Financing and Loans; Taxation; Cash Flow; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Competition; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Germany

2016
Report

Problems Unsolved and a Nation Divided: The State of U.S. Competitiveness 2016

By: Michael E. Porter, Jan Rivkin, Mihir Desai and Manjari Raman

In this report, the authors synthesize their views on U.S. competitiveness and unveil the findings of the 2016 HBS surveys on U.S. competitiveness. Specifically, the report documents the faltering performance of the U.S. economy and the erosion of America’s business... View Details

Keywords: U.S. Competitiveness; Competitive Strategy; Macroeconomics; Government and Politics; United States

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26 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 26

evolution of multinational banks over time and suggest a conceptual framework in which this development can be understood. In-depth analyses of the multinational banking strategies of selected countries and institutions extend from the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 1992 (Revised November 1992)
Case

Lockheed Aeromod Center, Inc.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Corp. has an $11 million expansion underway in South Carolina. The company must decide how best to take advantage of the opportunity to issue tax exempt debt. Specifically, the decision involves choices about the maturity and... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Decisions; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; Taxation; Opportunities; Expansion; Valuation; South Carolina

09 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 9

Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/15-016_c6e7c9cc-70a3-4119-bd7b-8e4b25a26312.pdf Technology Choice and Capacity Portfolios Under Emissions Regulation By: Drake, David, Paul R. Kleindorfer, and Luk N. Van Wassenhove Abstract—We... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

Taxman: Firm Misreporting and Limits to Tax Enforcement By: Carrillo, Paul, Dina Pomeranz, and Monica Singhal Abstract—Reducing tax evasion is a key priority for many governments, particularly in developing... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

October 2002 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Welfare State and its Impact on Business Competitiveness, The: Sweden Inc. for Sale?

By: Huw Pill, Petter Johnsson, Ola Nordquist and Ingrid Vogel

The Swedish Model--sometimes presented as a third way between savage capitalism and unrealistic socialism--was much lauded in the 1960s. It was viewed as a strategy that addressed social concerns while supporting economic growth. However, the financial and currency... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Welfare; Government and Politics; Taxation; Competition; Public Administration Industry; Sweden

June 2009
Journal Article

Taxes, Institutions and Foreign Diversification Opportunities

By: Mihir Desai and Dhammika Dharmapala

Investors can access foreign diversification opportunities through either foreign portfolio investment (FPI) or foreign direct investment (FDI). The worldwide tax regime employed by the U.S. potentially distorts this choice by penalizing FDI, relative to FPI, in... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Portfolio; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Diversification; United States

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May 2023
Article

Decarbonizing Health Care: Engaging Leaders in Change

By: Vivian S. Lee, Kathy Gerwig, Emily Hough, Kedar Mate, Robert Biggio and Robert S. Kaplan

Health care leaders are often surprised to learn that their operations contribute significantly to a warming climate. In addition to their roles as responders to and victims of extreme weather events, health care organizations have an obligation to reduce... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Decarbonization; Carbon Emissions; Net-zero Emissions; Climate Change; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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January 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

H&R Block 2006

By: Peter Tufano

Mark Ernst, the Chairman, CEO and President of H&R Block, has to decide how to respond to a competitive threat posed by a competitor's refund-lending product. Block is the largest U.S. tax preparation firm, which competes not only on its tax preparation services, but... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Taxation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competition; Financial Services Industry

20 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 20

2016 Gurgaon, India: Penguin Random House Win-Win Corporations: The Indian Way of Shaping Successful Strategies By: Shah, Shashank Abstract—Why did Ratan Tata decide to pay for all the victims of 26/11 whether injured in the Taj or... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

1-800 Buy Ireland

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Adele S. Cooper and J. Richard Lenane

After decades of poor economic performance, the Irish government adopted major changes in economic policy in 1987. By the end of the 1990s, Ireland's real GDP growth rate of almost 10% per year exceeds that of all member nations of the European Union (EU). A key... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Development Economics; Supply and Industry; Policy; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Macroeconomics; Republic of Ireland

13 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 13

understanding of these implications is essential for future policy analysis, particularly for issues relating to fostering innovation. Publisher's link: http://www.people.hbs.edu/wkerr/Kerr_Kerr_Lincoln_WP14_IPEFirms.pdf January 2015 IESE Insight From TV to Web:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2023
Case

Gabon Special Economic Zone

By: John Macomber and Wale Lawal

Tropical rain forest covers about 80% of the West African nation of Gabon, part of the Congo Basin and the "lungs of the world." Gabon is one of the first nations to earn revenue from carbon sequestration...as long as the rain forest remains intact. There are... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Forestry; Wood; Carbon Credits; Supply Chain; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Government Administration; Business and Government Relations; Strategy; Forest Products Industry; Africa; Gabon

2008
Book

On Competition

By: M. E. Porter

Competition is one of society's most powerful forces for making things better in many ﬁelds of human endeavor. The study of competition and the creation of value, in their full richness, have preoccupied me for several decades. Competition is pervasive, whether it... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Practice; Competitive Strategy; Theory; Value Creation

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1 Apr 2013
Interview

Restoring U.S. Competitiveness: Professor Michael Porter in an interview with Charlie Rose

By: Michael E. Porter

"There is an historic opportunity right now for business and government to work together [to restore U.S. competitiveness]." Professor Porter discusses the eight federal policy priorities that business leaders and policymakers, liberals and conservatives agree will... View Details

Keywords: U.S. Competitiveness; Competition; Policy; Global Strategy; Business and Government Relations; United States

15 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018

They often functioned, as a result, as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. In the more recent globalization era, the strategies of Western corporations have moved beyond the practices of the colonial past, but linkages... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

24 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 24, 2008

taxonomy that assembles the field's knowledge about these decision-making bounds and organizes efforts toward deepening this knowledge and developing strategies for improvement. Specifically, we group five identified decision-making... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2025
Case

TfL Pension Fund and the 2022 Gilt Market Crisis

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Vincent Dessain, Emer Moloney and Carlota Moniz

On September 27, 2022, Padmesh Shukla, CIO of the Transport for London (TfL) Pension Fund, was keeping a careful eye on the turmoil in the U.K. sovereign bond (or gilt) market. When the new government announced the largest tax cuts the U.K. had seen in half a century,... View Details