Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(306)
- Faculty Publications (103)
- March 2013 (Revised March 2013)
- Teaching Note
Social Finance, Inc. (TN)
By: Shawn Cole
- September 2012
- Case
BASIX (Abridged)
By: Shawn Cole and Peter Tufano
BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details
Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microfinance; Household; Risk Management; Insurance; Banking Industry; India
- 2012
- Chapter
Evidence from the Firm: A New Approach to Understanding Corruption
By: Shawn A. Cole and Anh Tran
Due to its clandestine nature, most of what we understand about corruption comes from survey evidence and self-reported perceptions of corruption: this limits both the range of questions that can be asked and the precision of answers that can be provided. This chapter... View Details
- November 2011 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
China Life: Micro Insurance for the Poor
By: Shawn Cole and Lilei Xu
China Life must decide whether to accept the government's "invitation" to develop a microinsurance product for the rural poor. Can it be done profitably? View Details
- October 2011 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
SKS and the AP Microfinance Crisis
By: Shawn Cole and Yannick Saleman
SKS, India's leading microfinance firm, is challenged when politicians declaim microfinance as exploitation of the poor and severely restrict business practices. View Details
- Article
Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India
By: Sarthak Gaurav, Shawn A. Cole and Jeremy Tobacman
Recent financial liberalization in emerging economies has led to the rapid introduction of new financial products. Lack of experience with financial products, low levels of education, and low financial literacy may slow adoption of these products. This article reports... View Details
- June 2011
- Case
Fighting a Dangerous Financial Fire: The Federal Response to the Crisis of 2007-2009
By: David Moss and Cole Bolton
By the summer of 2009, many observers concluded that a catastrophic financial collapse- which seemed all but imminent the previous fall and winter - had been averted. Although the recession had still yet to be declared over and the economy's footing remained far from... View Details
- June 2011
- Case
Steering Monetary Policy Through Unprecedented Crises
By: David Moss and Cole Bolton
In early April 2008, economic conditions in Europe appeared to be deteriorating on almost all fronts: sales figures were falling, business and consumer confidence were slumping, forecasts for European growth were being revised downward, and inflation was rising. In... View Details
- April 2011 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
BANEX and the No Pago Movement (A)
By: Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner
This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress. View Details
- April 2011 (Revised March 2013)
- Supplement
BANEX and the No Pago Movement (B)
By: Shawn Cole and Baily Blair Kempner
This case examines Grassroots Capital's decision of whether or not to continue investing in a Bolivian microfinance bank that is suffering financial distress. View Details
- December 2010 (Revised June 2018)
- Case
The Pecora Hearings
By: David Moss, Cole Bolton and Eugene Kintgen
In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, the Senate Banking Committee began a much-publicized investigation of the nation's financial sector. The hearings, which came to be known as the Pecora hearings after the Banking Committee's lead counsel Ferdinand Pecora,... View Details
- 2010
- Other Unpublished Work
Is High School the Right Time to Teach Self-control? The Effect of Financial Education and Mathematics Courses on Savings Behavior
By: Shawn A. Cole and Gauri Kartini Shastry
Household financial behavior affects household welfare and the economy at large. Yet our understanding of how to improve financial decisions is limited. Recent literature and policy attention have focused on financial education, for example, in high school. We use... View Details
- March 2010 (Revised December 2010)
- Case
Danatbank
By: David A. Moss, Cole Bolton and Andrew Novo
In the summer of 1931, Germany was struggling with a deepening economic crisis. Production had fallen, unemployment was high, and bank deposits and gold were being withdrawn from the country at a rapid pace, threatening the value of the German mark. The country's third... View Details
- April 2009
- Teaching Note
First National Bank's Golden Opportunity (TN)
By: Shawn A. Cole
Teaching Note for [208072]. View Details
- April 2009
- Teaching Note
SKS Microfinance (TN)
By: Shawn A. Cole
Teaching Note for [208137]. View Details
- March 2009 (Revised September 2011)
- Case
UBS and Auction Rate Securities (A)
By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Shawn A. Cole and Siddharth Bhaskar Shenai
UBS, a global financial services company, must decide whether to continue to support the market for Auction Rate Securities in the face of a growing financial crisis. These instruments, underwritten by UBS, were marketed to clients as highly liquid and safe... View Details