Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(424)
- Faculty Publications (133)
- Article
Trust and Incentives in Agency
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F Spulber
Contracts between a principal and an agent are not formed in a vacuum. Although formal contracts between a principal and an agent contain explicit incentives for performance, the relationship between a principal and an agent also involves implicit incentives. Three... View Details
- July 2005 (Revised August 2006)
- Background Note
Deception in Business: A Legal Perspective
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner
Discusses several of the most important prohibitions on deception found in U.S. law, starting with the basic elements of liability for fraud and moving to important antifraud provisions in federal statutes, restrictions on "misrepresentation" in consumer and contract... View Details
- November 2004 (Revised February 2006)
- Background Note
Note on Insider Trading Liability
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner
Provides a general description and overview of U.S. law on insider trading, including the basic theories of liability, the responsibilities of securities firm managers to prevent and detect insider trading, and the potential penalties for insider trading. A rewritten... View Details
- September 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Background Note
Note on Individual and Corporate Liability
By: Lynn S. Paine
Answers some of the most common questions managers ask about potential corporate and individual liability for corporate misconduct under U.S. law. Describes a few general principles of liability that managers should be aware of. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details
- June 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Background Note
Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions
By: Arthur I Segel, Jeff Mandelbaum and Armen Panossian
Summarizes several of the major federal environmental statutes, most notably the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA" or "Superfund"). Also discusses several state and local regulations. View Details
- June 2004 (Revised January 2005)
- Background Note
Principals, Agents, and Partners
By: Arthur I Segel, Armen Panossian and Jeff Mandelbaum
The establishment of the principal-agent relationship, the duties owed by the agent to the principal, and the principal's liability for illegal actions or representations made by the agent are all examined. Also covers the creation of partnerships and the duties of... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Music Downloads
By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier
Examines the competition between competing music formats. In the '90s, the MP3 format challenged the traditional means of music distribution by allowing for storage of near CD-quality recordings at 1/10th of their previous size. The threat to traditional distribution... View Details
- June 2003 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
Pension Policy at The Boots Company PLC
By: Luis M. Viceira and Akiko M. Mitsui
In early 2000, the trustees of the pension scheme at Boots considered a proposal to move 100% of the pension assets into a bond portfolio, which would be passively managed. The Boots Co. PLC was a leading retailer of cosmetics and toiletries in the United Kingdom, and... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
International Steel Group
By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga
Profiles veteran investor Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.'s plan to turn around the aging steel assets of LTV, formerly America's second largest integrated steel producer. Purchasing several key assets from LTV under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, Ross is able to acquire the... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised August 2002)
- Case
Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (A)
By: H. Kent Bowen and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Focuses on modifying operations to increase profitability at an upscale senior care facility in California. Jennifer Raiser, president of Raiser Senior Services, opened the Stratford in 1992 as a high-end, continuing-care retirement community. Ten years later, the... View Details
- July 2002 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
Unilever Superannuation Fund vs. Merrill Lynch, The
By: Andre F. Perold and Joshua Musher
In 2001, the Unilever Superannuation Fund sued Merrill Lynch for damages of 130 million British pounds. Over the period 1977 to 1998, the Unilever Fund had significantly underperformed the benchmark, and its trustees contended that the poor returns resulted from... View Details
- 2002
- Working Paper
Legal Risk as a Determinant of Syndicate Structure in the Project Finance Loan Market
By: Benjamin C. Esty and William L. Megginson
- November 2001 (Revised April 2005)
- Case
Lonestar
By: Michael A. Wheeler and Georgia Levenson
Explores the legal and ethical responsibilities of a manager who believes that he has heard of a serious instance of sexual harassment, but who has been implored by the victim not to report it. Discussion can focus on the immediate problem or be expanded to a broader... View Details
- October 2001
- Exercise
Liability Problems
By: Robert S. Kaplan
This case provides three examples of the recognition and measurement of liabilities. The first focuses on recognizing when employees have rendered services for which future period benefits have been earned, that is, whether unused vacation, sick, and personal days at... View Details
Keywords: Cash; Annuities; Interest Rates; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Wages; Problems and Challenges; Value
- 2001
- Other Unpublished Work
'Pure Accidents' and the Evolving Bias of American Liability Law
By: David Moss and Michael Fein
- March 2001 (Revised April 2002)
- Case
Ginzel et al v. Kolcraft Enterprises et al (A)
Examines the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an infant who died after a portable crib collapsed. The manufacturer, Kolcraft, licensed the Playskool brand name from the co-defendant, Hasbro Industries. Raises difficult questions about what the two... View Details
- August 2000 (Revised November 2001)
- Background Note
Liability Reporting
By: Paul M. Healy and Preeti Choudhary
By examining key criteria for recognizing a liability, this case explores liability recognition in straightforward situations and then examines the most difficult reporting issues in recording liabilities. These often arise when: 1) uncertainty arises about whether an... View Details
- January 2000 (Revised November 2000)
- Exercise
WineMaster.com (A-1): Confidential Instructions for WineMaster
A two-person negotiation exercise involving the potential sale of a small e-commerce company to a large company. The parties need to negotiate four issues: the number of shares in the deal, the vesting period for the shares, whether the seller will get a seat on the... View Details
- January 2000 (Revised November 2000)
- Exercise
WineMaster.com (A-2): Confidential Instructions for HomeBase
A two-person negotiation exercise involving the potential sale of a small e-commerce company to a large company. The parties need to negotiate four issues: the number of shares in the deal, the vesting period for the shares, whether the seller will get a seat on the... View Details
- August 1998
- Case
General Motors Corp. (B), The : Financial Policies
By: Peter Tufano
The second in a four-part series, the case details the financial policies and practices at General Motors from 1990 to 1996. This part describes the stated financial policies of the firm, including its approach to capital structure, liability structure, equity... View Details