Publications

19 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Business Research that Makes for Smarter Public Policy

tremendous impact when bringing that research to bear on vital problems facing the nation and the world.” That is the aspiration of efforts like Toffel’s workshop on compliance or Mills’s efforts in cross-collaboration over financial... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Credit Unions: The Future of the Cooperative Financial Institution

By: Robert C. Pozen and Grace Hou

Credit unions are a specialized type of depository institution with a cooperative, non-profit structure and a federal tax exemption. They originated as small, cooperative institutions with an emphasis on uncollateralized consumer lending to the unbanked... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Credit Unions; Banks and Banking

January 2009
Background Note

Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides an analysis of why informal financial networks and institutions still play an extremely important role in China's economy in the 21st century. Although China has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it still suffers from a weak... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Networks; China

April 2009
Case

The First Global Financial Crisis of the 21st Century

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

The global economy was expected to suffer from negative growth for the full year in 2009, a phenomenon not seen since World War II. While the U.S. subprime mortgage disaster was blamed as the original instigator, it was noted that the "global imbalances" of the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; International Relations; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution

Article

The Contingent Nature of Public Policy and the Growth of U.S. Commercial Banking

By: Christopher Marquis and Zhi Huang

That public policy affects organizational behaviors is well accepted, but less explored is how these effects may depend on other external environmental factors. We investigate how policy is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to understand the growth of... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Commercial Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

Find at Harvard

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

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

so distorted the housing market that they made a financial breakdown inevitable, the minority response argues. As a result, Washington, not Wall Street, is the villain in the bursting of the subprime mortgage bubble. The minority response... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Financial Services; Financial Services

Research Summary

Managing Financial Reporting and the Effect on Firms' Costs of Capital

Amy P. Hutton's research investigates the impact of capital market forces and firm contracts on financial reporting and disclosure policies. Specifically, her research examines how managers use financial reporting to convey a firm's strategy, and the effect of... View Details

15 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Money or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?

Keywords: by Shawn Cole, Thomas Sampson & Bilal Zia; Financial Services

08 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

The Immigrants Who Built America’s Financial System

establishing the struggling young country's financial system. In The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy, Thomas McCraw, the Isidor Straus Professor of Business History Emeritus at... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Financial Services

June 2015
Supplement

Generating Higher Value at IBM (A): EPS Forecasting Model

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Earnings Management; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Financial Strategy

2024
Working Paper

Trade Policy in the Shadow of Conflict: The Case of Dual-use Goods

By: Maxim Alekseev and Xinyue Lin

Policymakers increasingly use trade instruments to address national security concerns. This paper studies optimal policy for dual-use goods, items with both military and civilian applications. We begin by documenting that regulation and trade flows of dual-use goods... View Details

Keywords: Policy; National Security; Trade; Taxation; Financial Instruments; Macroeconomics

June 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Supplement

Generating Higher Value at IBM

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Earnings Management; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Financial Strategy

2007
Working Paper

New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Central Banking; Risk Management

23 Sep 2008
Working Paper Summaries

New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability

Keywords: by Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton & Zvi Bodie

18 Feb 2011
Working Paper Summaries

A Behavioral Model of Demandable Deposits and Its Implications for Financial Regulation

Keywords: by Julio J. Rotemberg; Financial Services

02 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Government and Financial Tech Can Fix Cash Woes for Small Businesses

cycle can mean the difference between a small business growing or just staying flat. And, the good news is that we’re seeing innovative ideas in both policy and products on this front—ideas that actually help small businesses manage their... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills

2008
Working Paper

New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Central Banking; Risk Management

2010
Casebook

Global Capital and National Institutions: Crisis and Choice in the International Financial Architecture

By: Laura Alfaro

All managers face a business environment in which international and macroeconomic phenomena matter. International capital flows can significantly affect countries' development efforts and provide clear investment opportunities for businesses. During the 1990s and early... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Capital; International Finance; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations

Find at Harvard

September 2017
Article

The Real Effects of Capital Controls: Firm-Level Evidence from a Policy Experiment

By: Laura Alfaro, Anusha Chari and Fabio Kanczuk

Emerging-market governments adopted capital control taxes to manage the massive surge in foreign capital inflows in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Theory suggests that the imposition of capital controls can drive up the cost of capital and curb... View Details

Keywords: Capital Controls; Discriminatory Taxation; International Investment Barriers; Exports; Debt; Cost of Capital; Taxation; Investment; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Brazil

Find at Harvard