Publications

February 1979
Background Note

Note on the Theory of Optimal Capital Structure

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Examines the interrelationship between the maximization of the share value of a firm's common stock and the minimization of the firm's weighted average cost of capital. Presents a revised version of a case by J.W. Mullins, Jr. View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Stock Shares; Core Relationships; Value

2008
Working Paper

Just Keep My Money! Supporting Tax-time Savings with U.S. Savings Bonds

By: Peter Tufano

This paper reports the results of a 2007 experiment testing if specific process simplification can foster increased take-up rates for savings products, particularly by low-to-moderate income (LMI) households. Tax refund recipients at certain H&R Block tax preparation... View Details

Keywords: Household; Income; Bonds; Investment; Personal Finance; Saving; Taxation; United States

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March 2006 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Geeli

By: Li Jin, Kenneth A. Froot and Si Ping May Yu

A well-performing Chinese manufacturer faces major impediments raising funding to grow. Highlights various imperfections that shape the financing decision. View Details

Keywords: Capital Costs; International Finance; Diversification; Financial Instruments; Cost of Capital; Global Strategy; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Hong Kong

January 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Supplement

Innovation at the Treasury: Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (B)

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Peter A. Hecht and Christopher Edward James Payton

In 1997, the U.S. Treasury was deciding whether to proceed with a proposal to issue inflation-indexed bonds. This case explores the challenges facing innovation in the financial markets as the Treasury tries to determine whether to introduce Treasury... View Details

Keywords: Inflation; Innovation; Federal Government; Securities; Financial Instruments; Inflation and Deflation; Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Financial Institutions; Innovation and Invention; United States

June 2001 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Role of Capital Market Intermediaries in the Dot-Com Crash of 2000, The

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Gillian D Elcock

Set in the context of the rise and fall of the Internet stocks in the United States. View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price Bubble; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Information Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

July 2017
Supplement

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts (B)

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

The case examines the aftermath of the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. View Details

February 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Blue Haven Initiative: The PEGAfrica Investment

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Amram Migdal

This case examines Blue Haven Initiative (BHI), an impact investing fund and family office, and one of its investments, PEGAfrica (PEG). BHI founder Liesel Pritzker Simmons’ motivations for using her family wealth to start a family office focused on impact investing,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Family Office; Development; International Development; International Development Investing; Development Fund; Sustainability; Solar Energy; Solar; Pay As You Go; PAYG; MFI; Social Venture; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Economics; Development Economics; Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Assets; Asset Pricing; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Venture Capital; Cash; Cash Flow; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; International Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Price; Geography; Geographic Location; Emerging Markets; Ownership; Ownership Stake; Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Value; Valuation; Value Creation; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry; Africa; United States

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

facilitates the design of new instruments and contracts to control or transfer sovereign risk. Business Methods Patents as Real Options: Value and Disclosure as Drivers of Litigation. Authors:Atul Nerkar, Srikanth Paruchuri, and Mukti... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Broadband Explosion: Thinking About a Truly Interactive World

lines creating this kind of technology. As you probably know, Jeremy was instrumental in creating Macromedia's Flash technology, so he really knows what he's talking about. This is the "rich media" component of our argument. You... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

24 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Tax Reform is on the Front Burner Again. Here’s Why You Should Care

instrument than we acknowledge. Silverthorne: If we go through American history and look at the different stages of tax evolution, broadly, how has it advanced, progressed, or changed over time? Weinzierl: The tax system was very... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/13-017.pdf Earnings Management from the Bottom Up: An Analysis of Managerial Incentives Below the CEO Authors: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie Wulf Abstract Performance-based pay is an important instrument... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 8, 2008

Abstract We use oil price fluctuations to construct a new instrument to test the impact of transfers from wealthy OPEC nations to their poorer Muslim allies. The instrument identifies plausibly exogenous... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Sep 2015
First Look

First Look -- September 1, 2015

funding, lobbying, committee participation, and other instruments to influence local, national, and international political environments. Also firms that are heavily influenced by politics are more likely to craft Integrated Political... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 2, 2010

structural model using field data. This is because, quarterly and annual bonuses help generate the instruments necessary to identify both discount factors in a hyperbolic discounting model. Substantively, the paper sheds insights on how... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 May 2004
Research & Ideas

Why We Don’t Study Corporate Responsibility

First, it may be more helpful to think about the purposes of the corporation, or at least to ask the question that way—in the plural—even if ultimately one purpose must be deemed preeminent. Second, corporations are instruments designed... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

March 1984 (Revised August 1996)
Case

B.F. Goodrich-Rabobank Interest Rate Swap

By: Jay O. Light

A U.S. manufacturing organization and a Eurobank swap fixed and floating rate obligations to reduce their financing costs. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Cost Management; Production; Interest Rates; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Auto Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation

By: Ryan W. Buell and Leslie K. John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

This Teaching Note explains the theory of the case and teaching plan for the case: Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation (619-018). In August 2017,... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Experimentation; Banks and Banking; Credit Cards; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; Australia

October 2018 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Stock-Based Compensation at Twitter

By: Jonas Heese, Zeya Yang and Mike Young

Olivia Nash, an analyst at leading hedge fund BlueShark Capital Management, had just finished listening to the hour-long earnings call for Twitter’s Q4 2017 results. Was Twitter doing well? That depended on which numbers she chose to believe. According to Generally... View Details

Keywords: Twitter; Non-GAAP Disclosure; Stock-based Compensation; Earnings Management; Corporate Disclosure; Compensation and Benefits; Stocks; Measurement and Metrics

January – February 2011
Article

Benchmarks as Limits to Arbitrage: Understanding the Low-Volatility Anomaly

By: Malcolm Baker, Brendan Bradley and Jeffrey Wurgler

Contrary to basic finance principles, high-beta and high-volatility stocks have long underperformed low-beta and low-volatility stocks. This anomaly may be partly explained by the fact that the typical institutional investor's mandate to beat a fixed benchmark... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Stocks; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management; Performance Expectations