Publications

November 2009
Article

Is it Fair to Blame Fair Value Accounting for the Financial Crisis?

By: Robert C. Pozen

When the credit markets seized up in 2008, many heaped blame on "mark to market" accounting rules, which require banks to write down their troubled assets to the prices they'd fetch if sold on the open market - at the time, next to nothing. Recording those assets below... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Crisis; Assets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Crisis Management; Standards; Banking Industry

August 2005 (Revised October 2010)
Background Note

European Financial Integration

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Provides background on the history and status of financial integration in the European Union. Describes the pertinent treaty-based "fundamental freedoms," emphasizes challenges to further cross-border consolidation in the banking sector, and examines the regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Integration; Banking Industry; European Union

April 1988 (Revised September 1992)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Backhaul Decision

By: Janice H. Hammond

Prior to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, companies with private trucking fleets were generally prohibited from selling transportation services to other companies. The deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980 allowed private carriers to offer for-hire transportation... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Revenue; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Service Operations; Sales; Salesforce Management; Transportation; Food and Beverage Industry

November 1997
Case

Borden Ranch: Balancing Private Property Rights and Social Interests in Ag

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Don Daniels and Diane Richmond

Angelo Tsakopoulos wanted to convert grazing land to crop agriculture. He received different advice from different government agencies and became involved in legal battles. View Details

Keywords: Property; Social Entrepreneurship; Rights; Agribusiness; Social Issues; Interests; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

01 Mar 2012
News

Competitiveness at Risk

Rivkin and Porter: HBS alumni are in a position to help put America back on a more competitive footing in the world economy. View the survey results Watch Professors Michael Porter and Jan Rivkin introduce the project Join the conversation Read a special issue of... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

01 Mar 2009
News

Health Care a Top Priority at HBS

The HBS Healthcare Initiative is one of five interdisciplinary areas of interest that is a priority of the School (along with the Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Social Enterprise, and Global initiatives). Its director, Cara Sterling, who holds MBA and MPH degrees from... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

September 2024
Case

Comun: Partners in Peril

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alexis Lefort

In spring 2023, Abiel Gutierrez and Andres Santos, co-founders of Comun, faced a critical decision at their fintech startup serving Latino immigrants. Having launched their product the previous year, they experienced rapid growth but encountered rising fraud and... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Development; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Latin America; United States

February 26, 2024
Article

Making Workplaces Safer Through Machine Learning

By: Matthew S. Johnson, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel

Machine learning algorithms can dramatically improve regulatory effectiveness. This short article describes the authors' scholarly work that shows how the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) could have reduced nearly twice as many occupational... View Details

Keywords: Government Experimentation; Auditing; Inspection; Evaluation; Process Improvement; Government Administration; AI and Machine Learning; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

August 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals: Decision Making in Clinical Trial Design and Operations

By: Satish Tadikonda and Amanda McEwen

The success or failure of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (Dicerna) as an emerging pharmaceutical company would likely hinge on its lead drug candidate Nedosiran and the company’s ability to see it successfully through clinical development. Ralf Rosskamp, Chief Medical... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Health Testing and Trials; Product Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry

2021
Working Paper

Regulatory Approval and Expanded Market Size

By: Benjamin Berger, Amitabh Chandra and Craig Garthwaite

Regulatory review of new medicines is often viewed as a hindrance to innovation by increasing the hurdle to bring products to market. However, a more complete accounting of regulation must also account for its potential market expanding effects through quality... View Details

Keywords: New Medicines; Regulatory Approval; Health Care and Treatment; Research and Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Markets; Expansion; Pharmaceutical Industry

Article

L'autodiscipline en guise de régulation. La stratégie patronale à l'heure de la surchauffe économique en Suisse autour de 1960

By: Sabine Pitteloud

Die Strategie der Unternehmensverbände zur Bekämpfung der konjunkturellen «Überhitzung» um 1960 Sabine Pitteloud interessiert sich für den Versuch, privatwirtschaftliche Antworten auf die Teuerung der 1960er-Jahre zu finden. Arbeitgeber und Gewerkschaften waren sich... View Details

Keywords: Inflation; Regulation; Business ＆ Government Relations; Inflation and Deflation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Labor Unions; Switzerland

September 2002
Article

Last-Minute Bidding and the Rules for Ending Second-Price Auctions: Evidence from eBay and Amazon Auctions on the Internet

By: Alvin E. Roth and Axel Ockenfels

Keywords: Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Internet and the Web

13 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Changing Landscape of Auditor Litigation and Its Implications for Audit Quality

Keywords: by Colleen Honigsberg, Shivaram Rajgopal, and Suraj Srinivasan; Accounting; Legal Services

July 2022
Article

Countercyclical Prudential Buffers and Bank Risk-taking

By: Manuel Illueca, Lars Norden, Joseph Pacelli and Gregory F. Udell

We investigate the effects of countercyclical prudential buffers on bank risk-taking. We exploit the introduction of dynamic loan loss provisioning in Spain, mandating that banks use historical average loss rates in their estimation of loan loss provisions. We find... View Details

Keywords: Banks; Bank Regulation; Macroprudential Policies; Bank Lending; Loan Loss Provisioning; Risk Taking; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk and Uncertainty