Publications

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February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Auctioning Morningstar

By: Malcolm P. Baker and James Quinn

Morningstar, a publisher of data and ratings for mutual fund investors, is considering an auction-based approach to the company's upcoming IPO, with management weighing the risks and benefits of the auction approach vs. a traditional underwritten offering. View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Initial Public Offering; Stock Shares; Cost vs Benefits; Strategy; Auctions; Business or Company Management; Conflict of Interests; Publishing Industry

August 2006
Article

Investor Sentiment and the Cross Section of Stock Returns

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We examine how investor sentiment affects the cross-section of stock returns. Theory predicts that a broad wave of sentiment will disproportionately affect stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and are difficult to arbitrage. We test this prediction by... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Motivation and Incentives; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility

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12 Jul 2016
First Look

July 12, 2016

Case 816-005, "Bigbelly," by Mitchell Weiss and Christine Snively. This case is an example of public entrepreneurship. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51306 Financial Regulation in a Quantitative Model of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

development of the industry, as well as the emergence of new corporate structures for social enterprises and the creation of innovative financial instruments such as the Social Impact Bond. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 1997
News

"Economists are puzzle solvers..."

world of possibilities open up. An option is a fundamental security now - whether linked to interest rates, stock indexes, currencies, commodities, or real estate. But that's only part of it. There are other financial things that have the... View Details

October 2008
Teaching Note

Samoa Tala (TN)

By: Joshua D. Coval, Bhagwan Chowdhry and Konark Saxena

Teaching Note for [209053]. View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Risk Management; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Microfinance; Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Cash Flow; Samoa

February 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Ross Perot and General Motors

By: Jay W. Lorsch

In December, 1986 the General Motors Board of Directors must decide whether to accept the buyout agreement between GM and Ross Perot, a director of GM and its largest stockholder. The agreement called for GM to purchase all of Perot's GM shares in exchange for his... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Stock Shares; Resignation and Termination; Business or Company Management; Agreements and Arrangements

24 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 24

gaining ground in banking. In light of the recent financial crisis, several commentators concluded that the continuing expansion of risk measurement is dysfunctional (Power, 2009; Taleb, 2007). This paper asks whether the expansion of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Dec 2013
First Look

First Look: December 24

accounts for more than a quarter of the overall increase in labor supply to the private sector during 1986-2005. Using the reform to instrument for private-sector labor supply, we find that private-sector labor demand is very elastic. We... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

December 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

FIRA: Confronting the Mexican Agricultural Crisis

By: James E. Austin, Michael Chu and Cate Reavis

In fall 2003, Mexico's agriculture sector was facing a crisis brought on largely by a surge in cheap U.S. imports resulting from NAFTA and inaccessible and/or expensive terms of credit for Mexican agricultural producers. It was getting harder for Mexican producers to... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Public Sector; Trade; Financial Instruments; Crisis Management; Markets; Strategic Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Web

Israel - Global Activities 2020

the bank’s entry into online banking under Russak-Aminoach’s dynamic leadership. In 2017, five years into her tenure as CEO, she took a characteristically bold step and launched Pepper, Israel’s first completely mobile bank, as a stand-alone business with View Details

May 1991 (Revised December 1994)
Case

State of Connecticut Municipal Swap

By: Andre F. Perold

The state of Connecticut wants to raise $325 million of long-term fixed-rate debt. One alternative is to do this synthetically--issue long-term variable rate debt and enter into an interest rate swap. The case is a vehicle for analyzing various floating rate structures... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Interest Rates; Taxation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk and Uncertainty; New England

December 2010
Compilation

VCPE Strategy Vignettes II

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Ann Leamon and Lisa Strope

These three vignettes present various issues around the strategy and management of venture capital and private equity firms. In one, a senior partner must decide how to manage an over-extended colleague and how to reduce the risk of the firm's portfolio; the second... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Portfolio; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Risk Management; Stocks; Problems and Challenges; United States

October 2007
Article

Supply and Demand Shifts in the Shorting Market

By: Lauren Cohen, Karl B. Diether and Christopher J. Malloy

Using proprietary data on stock loan fees and quantities from a large institutional investor, we examine the link between the shorting market and stock prices. Employing a unique identification strategy, we isolate shifts in the supply and demand for shorting. We find... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Stocks; Financing and Loans; Price; Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Return; Markets; Information

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May 2010
Case

Alpen Bank: Launching the Credit Card in Romania

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong

In 2006, the country manager for Alpen Bank in Romania, Gregory Carle, considers whether to recommend the launch of a credit card business. The firm rejected the idea several years earlier because of poor economic conditions in Romania. However, Romania is experiencing... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Credit; International Business; International Marketing; Product Introduction; Service Management; Credit Cards; Globalized Firms and Management; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Personal Finance; Product Launch; Banking Industry; European Union; Romania

Profile

Raymond Hwang

KishHealth Spine Center? “It’s remarkable how often I use HBS-derived knowledge, particularly since medicine is not a traditional MBA career track. From assessing the financial status of a medical practice to negotiating strategic... View Details

Keywords: Services; Entrepreneurship; Health Care

16 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 16

financial environment, and possibly for firms in industries with highly liquid assets as well. This result sheds light on the link between financial and economic development. Estimating the Effects of Large... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Mobile Energy Services Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

When Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap became CEO of the Scott Paper Co., the company owned a large, vertically integrated production facility in Mobile, Alabama. Dunlap sold part of the production facility, a cogeneration power plant (later known as Mobile Energy Services Co.), to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Investment; Projects; Vertical Integration; Energy Sources; Bonds; Ownership; Restructuring; Energy Industry; Alabama