Publications

2016
Working Paper

College Tuition, Public Finance and New Business Starts

By: Gareth Olds

A growing public discourse cites the rising cost of education and student debt overhang as a contributor to slow economic growth. A parallel discussion explores the causes of the secular decline in business dynamism and entrepreneurship rates in the United States over... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship

Read Now

08 Sep 2008
HBS Case

The Value of Environmental Activists

There are many methods, most financial, to measure the success of companies in meeting goals. But the question becomes a lot harder at Harvard Business School when MBAs are challenged to measure the efforts of environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

2016 Boston: Cengage Learning Management: An Integrated Approach By: Gulati, Ranjay, Anthony Mayo, and Nitin Nohria Abstract—The goal of Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd ed., is to prepare students for leadership positions in 21st... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1992 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Goldman, Sachs & Co.: Nikkei Put Warrants--1989

By: Peter Tufano

Japanese financial institutions' willingness to sell put options on the Nikkei Stock Average provides investment banks with the raw material from which to create a security that would allow U.S. investors to bet on falls in the Japanese Stock Market. The investment... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Investment Banking; Product Design; Globalized Markets and Industries; Japan; United States

December 2010
Case

Financing Higher Education in Australia

By: David A. Moss and Stephanie Lo

Even before Australian lawmakers abolished university tuition in 1973, students in Australia had long benefited from low tuition and large government subsidies. By the early 1980s, however, the nation's universities faced growing budget challenges and an apparent... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Higher Education; Borrowing and Debt; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Education Industry; Australia

January 1987 (Revised September 1991)
Case

Walt Disney Co.'s Yen Financing

By: W. Carl Kester and William B. Allen

Walt Disney is considering hedging future yen inflows from Disney Tokyo. It is evaluating techniques using FX Forwards, swaps, and Yen term borrowings. Goldman Sachs presents a rather unusual but potentially attractive solution: Disney could issue ECU Eurobonds and... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Bonds; Valuation; Tokyo

January 1983 (Revised February 1988)
Case

Hospital Corp. of America (B)

By: W. Carl Kester

Focuses on HCAs financing options for reaching its target capital structure. The options include new equity conversion of convertible debentures, a debt-for-equity swap, the sale of assets, and fixed-rate debt. Students must address the problem of market timing and... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Equity; Debt Securities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Health Industry; United States

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Lyons Document Storage Corporation: Bond Math

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In 2009 a recent MBA must analyze the possible refunding of bonds issued in 2000 when interest rates were much higher. She must consider the possible consequences of repurchasing company bonds outstanding using cash that might be obtained by issuing new bonds at a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Quantitative Analysis; Securities; Debt Securities; Bonds; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Accounting; Interest Rates

September 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Dream: Impact Through Real Estate

By: Michael Chu and John Masko

The Canadian city of Toronto had one of the largest housing affordability problems of any city in the developed world. One company trying to address this problem was Dream, one of the largest real estate groups in Canada. In 2021, Dream had just launched a new system... View Details

April 2011 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Jamaica's Anemic Growth: The IMF, China and the Debt(th) Trap

By: Rafael Di Tella and Natalie Kindred

This case describes the economic development problems faced by the small Caribbean-island country of Jamaica over most of the past half-century. The Jamaican economy showed relatively strong growth in the 1960s but stagnated in the 1970s. By the end of that decade,... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; International Finance; Crime and Corruption; Poverty; Private Sector; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Economy; Developing Countries and Economies; Borrowing and Debt; Jamaica

September 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Emergence, Valhalla, and Orchid: Divergent Models for Venture Capital Funds

By: William A. Sahlman and Matthew Willis

Compares and contrasts three different venture capital funds from the perspective of a potential investor. The first fund has a technology-enabled services preference, the second a Mid-Atlantic region preference, and the third a seed round preference. Students are... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Entrepreneurship; Service Operations; Information Technology; Venture Capital

May 1986 (Revised February 1991)
Case

Wilson Lumber Co.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The Wilson Lumber Co. is faced with a need for increased bank financing due to its rapid sales growth and low profitability. Students must determine the reasons for the rising bank borrowing, estimate the amount of borrowing needed, and assess the attractiveness of the... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Forecasting and Prediction; Sales; Financial Strategy

07 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 7

Legal Education What Courses Should Law Students Take? Lessons from Harvard's Big Law Survey By: Coates, John C., Jesse M. Fried, and Kathryn E. Spier Abstract—No abstract available. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

none of the five measures identifies firms that behave as if they were constrained: public firms classified as constrained have no trouble raising debt when their demand for debt increases, are unaffected by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

Business School Case 719-417 National Australia Bank: Looking Out for the Customer After learning that most defaults were due to health, job, or marital problems, National Australia Bank revised its debt collection department to shift... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

10 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 10

no. 11 (November 2009) Article: http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/11/what-would-peter-say/ar/1 Teach Workers About the Perils of Debt Authors:Annamaria Lusardi and Peter Tufano Publication:Harvard Business Review 87, no. 11 (November... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Is Government Just Stupid? How Bad Decisions Are Made

decision making. These barriers are: Do no harm. Their gain is our loss. Competition is always good. Support our group. Live for the moment. No pain for us, no gain for them. The antidote? An approach used in the business schools, whereby View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, Jonathan Baron & Katherine Shonk

February 2006
Case

Fraikin SA

By: W. Carl Kester, Vincent Marie Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Provides an example of a so-called "whole business" securitization. In early 2004, Fraikin, France's leading industrial vehicle rental company, compares several alternatives for refinancing a large bridge loan within a year. Presents three primary options: a classic... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Transportation; Renting or Rental; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; France

February 1982 (Revised June 1990)
Case

Massey-Ferguson Ltd.—1980

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Scott P. Mason

Massey Ferguson began fiscal year 1981 in default on $2.5 billion of outstanding debt. The company's future depends on the ability of lenders, the governments of Canada and Ontario, and management, to agree on a refinancing plan. The case reviews Massey's performance... View Details

Keywords: Financial Condition; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Canada