Publications

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This paper proposes a new approach to social cost-benefit analysis using a model in which a benevolent government chooses risky projects in the presence of market failures and tax distortions. The government internalizes market failures and therefore perceives project... View Details

17 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Technology Choice and Capacity Portfolios Under Emissions Regulation

Keywords: by David Drake, Paul R. Kleindorfer & Luk N. Van Wassenhove

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

examining the role of stock options in executive compensation; the incidence of stock option abuses; how stock option compensation is reported to stockholders under generally accepted accounting principles versus how the same compensation... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

March 2021
Article

The Variation in Capacity Remuneration Requirements in European Electricity Markets

By: Conor Hickey, Derek Bunn, Paul Deane, Celine McInerney and Brian O' Gallachoir

This paper provides the first EU wide analysis of the variation in Capacity Remuneration Requirements throughout Europe which aim to resolve the “missing money” problems in various member states. The findings of this analysis point to an asymmetric investment case for... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Regulation; Investment; Utilities Industry; Europe

Purchase

13 Dec 2014
News

The openness revolution

01 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Dying to Lead: How Reaching the Top Can Kill You Sooner

A warning to CEOs and other top executives in high-pressure positions: Job stress could shave years off your life, causing you to die younger than lower-level workers, new research suggests. After all, modern CEOs face taxing work... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

June 2019
Article

Social Risk, Fiscal Risk, and the Portfolio of Government Programs

By: Samuel G. Hanson, David S. Scharfstein and Adi Sunderam

We develop a model of government portfolio choice in which a benevolent government chooses the scale of risky projects in the presence of market failures and tax distortions. These two frictions generate motives to manage social risk and fiscal risk. Social risk... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Government and Politics; Programs

Read Now

26 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 26

inclusion among "tax expenditures" and occasional calls for its repeal. This paper analyzes the extent to which tax deferral and other policies inefficiently subsidize U.S. direct investment abroad. Investments are dynamically... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Survival’s Secret Sauce

But long-term success-even for a family company-can be explained in a rather simple, straightforward way. Here are some high points to consider. Grow Every Generation In order to stay alive commercially as a family, you must grow your... View Details

05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond

moderate-income families. Low-risk and low-profile, savings bonds have been around for decades, offering the dual benefit of funding the national debt while acting as a savings vehicle for millions of Americans. In "Reinventing Savings Bonds," an article in... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

2016
Working Paper

Financing Payouts

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, Roni Michaely and Martin Schmalz

We study the extent to which firms rely on the capital markets to fund their payouts. We find that 42% of firms that pay out capital also initiate debt or equity issues in the same year, resulting in 32% of aggregate payouts being externally financed. Most firms with... View Details

Keywords: Payout Policy; Financing Decisions; Debt Issues; Equity Issues; Capital Structure; Decision Making; Financing and Loans; Corporate Finance

April 2010
Article

Endowments, Fiscal Federalism, and the Cost of Capital for States: Evidence from Brazil, 1891-1930

By: Andre C. Martinez Fritscher and Aldo Musacchio

There is a large literature looking at the determinants of country risk (defined as the difference between the yield of a sovereign's bonds and the risk-free rate). In this paper, we contribute to the discussion by arguing that an important explanatory factor is the... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Performance Capacity; Taxation; Revenue; Governance; Geographic Location; Trade; Price; Cost of Capital; Risk and Uncertainty; Public Administration Industry; Brazil

Read Now

2025
Working Paper

Race, Rental Yields, and Housing Decay in Manhattan

By: Tom Nicholas and Christophe Spaenjers

We develop a new dataset on real estate transactions in Manhattan (1912–1939), linked to federal Census records (1930 and 1940) and property images used for tax assessment purposes (around 1940 and 1980). We analyze investor returns and incentives to maintain... View Details

Keywords: Housing Markets; Rental Yields; Urban Decay; Race; Manhattan

2017
Working Paper

Investment Timing with Costly Search for Financing

By: Samuel Antill

I develop a dynamic model of investment timing in which firms must first choose when to search for external financing. Search is costly and the arrival of investors is uncertain, leading to delay in financing and investment. Depending on parameters, my model can... View Details

Keywords: Real Options; Search And Bargaining; Time-varying Financial Conditions; Investment; Venture Capital; Mathematical Methods

August 2020 (Revised November 2022)
Case

George Soros: The Stateless Statesman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Wendy Ying

This case traces the business career and philanthropic activities of George Soros. The Hungarian-born Soros made a fortune as a hedge fund investor after establishing Quantum Fund on the tax haven island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles in 1973 where he was... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Philanthropy; Populism; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Political Elections; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Financial Services Industry; Europe; Hungary; United Kingdom; North and Central America; United States

Educators

Purchase

13 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 13

increase private savings by taxing savings up front instead of in retirement? Roth 401(k) contributions are not tax-deductible in the contribution year, but withdrawals in retirement are untaxed. The more common before-tax 401(k)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

Summing Up If not useful growth, what are we measuring? And why? This column does not thrive on general agreement. And this past month discussants came close to general agreement on the proposition that... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

23 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 23

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/810007-PDF-ENG Generation Health: A Pioneer in Genetics Benefit Management (B) Robert F. HigginsHarvard Business School Supplement 811-005 Supplements the (A) case. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2019
Article

Costly Concessions: An Empirical Framework for Matching with Imperfectly Transferable Utility

By: Alfred Galichon, Scott Duke Kominers and Simon Weber

We introduce an empirical framework for models of matching with imperfectly transferable utility and unobserved heterogeneity in tastes. Our framework allows us to characterize matching equilibrium in a flexible way that includes as special cases the classic fully- and... View Details

Keywords: Sorting; Matching; Marriage Market; Intrahousehold Allocation; Imperfectly Transferable Utility; Marketplace Matching; Mathematical Methods