Publications

2010
Working Paper

Accounting Scholarship that Advances Professional Knowledge and Practice

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Recent accounting scholarship has used statistical analysis on asset prices, financial reports and disclosures, laboratory experiments, and surveys of practice. The research has studied the interface among accounting information, capital markets, standard setters, and... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Education; Information; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Practice

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Forthcoming
Article

Variable Leases Under ASC 842: Evidence on Properties and Consequences

By: Jonas Heese, Albert Shin and Charles C.Y. Wang

The new lease standard (ASC 842) allows firms to keep variable leases off-balance-sheet, in part based on the assumption that future expenses are difficult to estimate reliably. We show that variable-lease expenses are both prevalent and substantial, exhibiting... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Financial Analysis; Accounting; Leasing; Financial Strategy

SSRN

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January 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Background Note

Shareholders' Equity: Accounting and Analysis

By: David F. Hawkins

Technical note covering various aspects of accounting for stockholders' equity. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Equity; Stocks

June 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Accounting for Leases at American Airlines (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Julia Kelley

In March 2020, as coronavirus reduced demand for air travel, an analyst was forecasting American Airlines’ (American’s) first quarter financial results. To develop a forecast, she needed to familiarize herself with Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02, “Leases... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Finance; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leasing; Accounting Industry; Accounting Industry; North and Central America; United States

September 1999 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Boeing Company's Accounting for Executive Stock Compensation, The

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Executive stock options are experiencing increased use and the Financial Accounting Standards Board is proposing changes in accounting in the United States. View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Stock Options; Financial Reporting; United States

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14 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

New Agenda for Corporate Accountability Reporting

how it affects social value in society at large. That could soon start to change. Karthik Ramanna, an associate professor at Harvard Business School who studies the political economy of corporate accountability and View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Accounting; Accounting

January 2010
Case

The Future of Financial Reporting

By: Karthik Ramanna

Multimedia/video case on the SEC's work on improvements to financial reporting. Students review topical audio and video from various sources including SEC footage, and interviews with others involved, such as Bob Pozen, (past head of Fidelity and chairman of the SEC's... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; Financial Management; Performance Improvement

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

2022 Annual Report From The Dean Key Metrics Financials PDF Downloads Financials From the CFO Financial Highlights Statement of Activity & Cash Flows Consolidated Balance Sheet... View Details

December 1998
Case

Origins of National Income Accounting

By: David A. Moss and Joseph P Gownder

Set in the Great Depression, this case explores the origins of national income accounting in the United States. Highlights Senator La Follette's 1932 proposal for the federal government to begin collecting national income statistics. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Crisis; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; United States

March 2011
Article

Accounting Scholarship That Advances Professional Knowledge and Practice

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Recent accounting scholarship has used statistical analysis on asset prices, financial reports and disclosures, laboratory experiments, and surveys of practice. The research has studied the interface among accounting information, capital markets, standard setters, and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Asset Pricing; Risk Management; Surveys; Capital Markets; Measurement and Metrics; Valuation; Fair Value Accounting; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Financial Reporting

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11 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Financial Services 24/7

week for it to clear will be equally unfathomable. Technology is transforming the banking industry so rapidly that anything less than around-the-clock electronic access to bank accounts seems unthinkable. While predictions vary widely as... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

Research Summary

Overview

Abigail's research to date has focused on the financial accounting standard setting process. Specifically, her current projects investigate the impacts of regulator backgrounds, constituent preferences, and lobbying incentives in the determination of US GAAP. Her... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Political Economy; Capital Markets; Fair Value Accounting; Disclosure; International Accounting Standards

17 Sep 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Evidence on the Effects of Unverifiable Fair-Value Accounting

Keywords: by Karthik Ramanna & Ross L. Watts

2007
Text Book

Business Analysis and Valuation: Using Financial Statements

By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Financial statements are the basis for a wide range of business analysis. Managers, securities analysts, bankers, and consultants all use them to make business decisions. There is strong demand among business students for course materials that provide a framework for... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Framework; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Statements

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Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

2023 Annual Report From The Dean Key Metrics Financials PDF Downloads Financials From the CFO Financial Highlights Statement of Activity & Cash Flows Consolidated Balance Sheet... View Details

October 2008
Case

The Talbots, Inc., and Subsidiaries: Accounting for Goodwill

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In 2006, Talbots, Inc., a specialty women's retailer, purchased a competitor, J. Jill. The transaction created a large goodwill account along with accounts for trademarks and other intangible assets. Using prevailing accounting standards (Statement of Financial... View Details

Keywords: FASB; Intangible Assets; Standards; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

15 Jul 2020
News

Predictable financial crises

August 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Plug Power (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Joseph Pacelli and James Barnett

Set immediately after a December 2019 short-seller attack, the case explores Plug Power’s long challenging history. It then focuses on two key issues raised in the short-seller report related to lease accounting and stock warrants that Plug purportedly used to boost... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Environmental Accounting; Financial Reporting; Ethics; Management; Social Enterprise; Investment; Stocks; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Europe