Publications

June 2015
Case

The Valuation and Financing of Lady M Confections

By: Mihir A. Desai and Elizabeth A. Meyer

This case explores the decision-making process that small, private businesses must undertake when considering an expansion and when selling equity to outside investors. In the process, students are asked to complete two exercises: a break-even analysis and a valuation... View Details

Keywords: Lady M; Bakery; Foodservice Industry; Breakeven Analysis; Restaurant Industry; Forecasting; Forecast; Financial Analysis; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Equity; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Finance; Food; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry; New York (city, NY)

December 2007
Article

Applying Modern Risk Management to Equity and Credit Analysis

By: Robert C. Merton

Traditional conventions of accounting and actuarial science distort the valuation of capital risk in corporations with pension plans because under these conventions, pension assets and liabilities are not included in balance sheet calculations. The modern risk... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Decision Making; Credit; Financial Statements; Capital; Equity; Compensation and Benefits

Find at Harvard

2010
Working Paper

Financial guarantors and the 2007-2009 credit crisis

More than half of the municipal bonds issued between 1995 and 2009 were sold with bond insurance. During the credit crisis the perceived credit quality of the financial guarantors fell, and yields on insured bonds exceeded yields on equivalent uninsured issues. It does... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Credit; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Insurance; Quality

September 1960 (Revised April 1983)
Background Note

Note on Financial Forecasting

Introduction to basic techniques of constructing pro forma statements and cash budgets. Illustrated by examples, supplemented by exercises. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Investment

29 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel

Harvard Business School faculty members, looking at the U.S. financial crisis from a variety of disciplines, urged caution and prudent analysis in a recent panel discussion. The discussion titled... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

October 1990
Article

Troubled Debt Restructurings: An Empirical Analysis of Private Reorganization of Firms in Default

By: S. C. Gilson, J. Kose and L. H. P. Kang

This study investigates the incentives of financially distressed firms to restructure their debt privately rather than through formal bankruptcy. In a sample of 169 financially distressed companies, about half successfully restructure their debt outside of Chapter 11.... View Details

Keywords: Theory; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring

Find at Harvard

August, 2022
Article

Billing and Insurance-Related Administrative Costs: A Cross-National Analysis

By: Barak D. Richman, Robert S. Kaplan, Japees Kohli, Dennis Purcell, Mahek Shah, Igna Bonfrer, Brian Golden, Rosemary Hannam, Will Mitchell, Daniel Cehic, Garry Crispin and Kevin A. Schulman

Billing and insurance-related costs are a significant source of wasteful health care spending in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, but these administrative burdens vary across national systems. We executed a microlevel accounting of these... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Costs; Administrative Costs; Cost; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

November 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

A Brief Note on Deferred Taxes: An Analysis Perspective

Provides an overview of accounting for deferred taxes. The primary objective is to provide external users with a basic understanding of deferred taxes. A simple illustrative example is provided, which is followed by a discussion of several important issues likely to be... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Statements; Taxation; Legal Liability; Valuation

February 2013
Case

Diamond Foods, Inc.

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray

The Diamonds Foods, Inc. case describes the major accounting blow up at the company in late 2011 that was triggered by a report by Off Wall Street, a prominent short selling research firm. Diamond Foods, a high flying growth company in 2011, grew from a walnut farmers'... View Details

January 1994 (Revised July 2000)
Exercise

Walt Disney Company's Sleeping Beauty Bonds--Duration Analysis

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Walt Disney Co. issues a 100-year bond. This case describes the terms of the bond and immediate capital market reaction. View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Bonds; Valuation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

2021
Working Paper

No-fault Default, Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and Financial Institutions

By: Robert C. Merton and Richard T. Thakor

This paper analyzes the costs and benefits of a no-fault-default debt structure as an alternative to the typical bankruptcy process. We show that the deadweight costs of bankruptcy can be avoided or substantially reduced through no-fault-default debt, which permits a... View Details

Keywords: No-fault Default; Chapter 11; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Borrowing and Debt; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Institutions; Contracts

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

April 2010
Teaching Note

Jones Electrical Distribution (Brief Case)

By: Thomas R. Piper and Jeffrey DeVolder

Teaching Note for 4179. View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Forecasting; Financing; Bank Loans; Analysis; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking

Fast Answer

Public companies: comparative financial ratios

Where do I find comparative financial ratios of public companies in an industry? In Capital IQ: For broad industry sectors (energy, materials, consumer discretionary, consumer stables, healthcare, financial, information technology,... View Details

18 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Non-Audit Services and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from 1978-1980

Keywords: by Kevin Koh, Shivaram Rajgopal & Suraj Srinivasan; Accounting

22 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis

Keywords: by Peter Tufano, Nick Maynard & Jan-Emmanuel De Neve; Financial Services

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

“Too Big To Fail”: Reining In Large Financial Firms

Here's a really scary thought. Now that the federal government has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into saving financial institutions deemed "too big to fail," hasn't it implicitly guaranteed similar largesse for all such... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Financial Services; Financial Services

2015
Working Paper

Financial Patent Quality: Finance Patents After State Street

By: Josh Lerner, Andrew Speen, Mark Baker and Ann Leamon

In the past two decades, patents of inventions related to financial services ("finance patents"), as well as litigation around these patents, have surged. One of the repeated concerns voiced by academics and practitioners alike has been about the quality of these... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Finance