Publications

May 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Nexgen: Structuring Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)

A client asks Luc Giraud, CEO of the structured finance solutions provider Nexgen Financial Solutions, to put together a solution that allows the client to add AAA-rated bonds to its portfolio. The client cannot find suitably priced top-rated bonds in the market and... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk and Uncertainty; Debt Securities; Bonds; Financial Services Industry

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

requirements, reorienting the discussion around housing finance reform from keeping mortgage credit cheap to ensuring financial stability, and instituting measures that compel asset managers to compete on the true value of the services... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Feb 2012
Op-Ed

Once a Castle, Home is Now a Debtors’ Prison

era before unemployment soared, the Dow plummeted, and credit default swaps surfaced. In today's jargon, these owners are underwater—they owe more than the value of their homes. But underwater is a misnomer. People underwater either swim... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

07 Jan 2002
What Do You Think?

Did Consumer Behavior Tracking Come of Age on September 11?

Internet and credit or debit cards. The rapid accumulation of information in data warehouses, as reflected in the value of EMC stock (at least up to a year ago), was testimony to this, regardless of whether very many organizations had... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

learning. Contingent Claims Approach to Measuring and Managing Sovereign Credit Risk Authors:Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton, and Zvi Bodie Periodical:Journal of Investment Management (forthcoming) Abstract This paper proposes a new... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

Working PapersInvestable Tax Credits: The Case of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Authors:Mihir A. Desai, Dhammika Dharmapala, and Monica Singhal Abstract The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Sep 2007
Op-Ed

Building Sandcastles: The Subprime Adventure

blurred vision of the credit rating agencies. Lenders are requiring better credit and more documentation. Brokers are facing governmental regulations. Borrowers must once again save for a down payment. This... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Banking; Construction; Real Estate

November 2010
Supplement

Lessons Learned? Brooksley Born & the OTC Derivatives Market (B)

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

This (B) case provides the 2009 reflections of former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt on CFTC Chairman Brooksley Born's 1998 efforts to consider regulating the OTC derivative market. It also provides a summary of the aspects of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that regulate these... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Legislation; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; Public Administration Industry; District of Columbia

11 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Guts and Bliss: The Entrepreneur’s Journey

analysis," she advised. Another entrepreneur took a different tack and credited her own decision-making prowess to the power of yoga. Roxanne Quimby, who started Burt's Bees, Inc., a personal care products firm, in her Maine kitchen,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

large borrowers fell by 47% during the peak period of the financial crisis (fourth quarter of 2008) relative to the prior quarter and by 79% relative to the peak of the credit boom (second quarter of 2007). New lending for real investment... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2025
Supplement

Negotiating a Legacy at Sustainable Harvest (B)

By: Jillian Jordan, Julian Zlatev, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

The specialty coffee importer Sustainable Harvest was the first certified B Corp in the coffee industry due to its investments in building coffee farmers’ capacity and livelihood. But in 2022, after coffee prices plummeted and the company’s bank declined to extend its... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Trust; Ethics; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Volatility; Futures and Commodity Futures; Social Enterprise; Valuation; Business Model; Credit; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe

November 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Dow Chemical's Bid for the Privatization of PBB in Argentina

By: Mihir A. Desai and Alexandra de Royere

What price should Dow Chemical bid for PBB, a petrochemical complex that is being privatized by the Argentine government? To answer this question, students are forced to consider the role of country risk, the underlying currency exposure of the business, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Privatization; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Valuation; Business and Government Relations; Multinational Firms and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Energy Industry; Argentina

20 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Risky Business with Structured Finance

mispriced," Coval remarks. "But we didn't have any sense that it would all come crashing down the way it did—we just thought that the mispricing would be corrected gradually." Stafford adds that neither he nor Coval had done much work in the area of... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

10 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

How Numbers Talk to People

their credit card, and then they also supplied the bank's address in the billing address fields. This caused the transaction to fail with the credit card processor. Simply removing the "Company"... View Details

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

closed question–based surveys. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50727 June 2016 Journal of Finance Local Currency Sovereign Risk By: Du, Wenxin, and Jesse Schreger Abstract—We introduce a new measure of emerging market sovereign View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Nov 2024
Book

Building the Road to 'Small Business Utopia' with AI and Fintech

predict the creditworthiness of a small business, much like a consumer’s personal credit score helps banks predict creditworthiness for personal loans, credit cards, and mortgages? What if a small business... View Details

Keywords: by Karen G. Mills; Financial Services

August 1986 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Hanson Ski Products

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

At the end of the budget cycle, the manager must test whether plans are feasible given financing arrangements and constraints. Cash needs are great due to seasonality. Needed loans must be calculated at five separate dates, and financial position projected. This is a... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Capital Budgeting; Cash Flow; Financial Strategy; Activity Based Costing and Management; Financing and Loans; Managerial Roles; Credit; Insurance