Financial Accounting - Publications - Faculty & Research

June 2004
Article

Market Liquidity as a Sentiment Indicator

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeremy Stein

We build a model that helps to explain why increases in liquidity-such as lower bid-ask spreads, a lower price impact of trade, or higher turnover-predict lower subsequent returns in both firm-level and aggregate data. The model features a class of irrational... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Financial Liquidity; Price; Trade; Sales; Equity; Information; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Accounting Industry

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October 2000
Article

The Equity Share in New Issues and Aggregate Stock Returns

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

The share of equity issues in total new equity and debt issues is a strong predictor of U.S. stock market returns between 1928 and 1997. In particular, firms issue more equity than debt just before periods of low market returns. The equity share in new issues has... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Borrowing and Debt; Stocks; Markets; Debt Securities; Forecasting and Prediction; Accounting Industry; United States

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September 1992 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Summit Distributors (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Amy P. Hutton

Summit Distributors was in danger of violating loan covenants because of slow economic activity and forecasted losses and was faced with a choice. Changing the inventory valuation method from LIFO to FIFO would avoid default but would require higher future income... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Cost Accounting; Cash Flow; Interest Rates; Economic Systems; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Statements; Valuation; Accounting Audits; Financing and Loans; Accounting Industry; Accounting Industry

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19 Nov 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Lazy Prices

Keywords: by Lauren Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy, and Quoc Nguyen; Financial Services

01 Mar 2024
News

The Exchange: Takeaways from the Takedown

Professors Eugene Soltes and Aiyesha Dey; image by John Ritter When Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 of all seven charges against him related to the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the jury needed less than five hours to deliberate after a months-long trial. The... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

June 1995 (Revised May 1996)
Teaching Note

American Express TRS Charge-Card Receivables and Lehman Brothers and the Securitization of American Express Charge-Card Receivables TN

By: Andre F. Perold and Wai Lee

Teaching Note for (9-293-120) and (9-293-121). View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Accounting; Financial Services Industry

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02 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

Companies Choreograph Earnings Calls to Hide Bad News

(reported revenues before they were earned) or otherwise manipulated the books to make their earnings look better, were more likely to cast a call. "If you've been engaging in somewhat shady activity in your accounting books, the last... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

February 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Warnaco Group, Inc. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Restructuring; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

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05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond

percent participated, saving $606 on average. Ten percent were turned away from opening a savings account due to prior bad financial management, i.e., having a bank account... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Financial Services

19 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Expensing Options Won’t Hurt High Tech

(One cure for stock option abuse, say proponents, is to change accounting rules so that option grants are reflected in a company's principal financial statements. High-tech start-ups blister at that idea,... View Details

Keywords: by Zvi Bodie, Robert S. Kaplan & Robert C. Merton

Profile

Dave Vitello

“take the accounting and financial management base I built at Deloitte and pair it with the strategic thinking I gain at HBS.” The environment is perfectly suited to his ambition. “Each class, whether it is... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services

July 1982
Supplement

Vicks Health Care Division: Project Scorpio (C), Student Assignment

Provides a blank five-year profit-and-loss statement for students to complete. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements

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August 2000 (Revised February 2001)
Background Note

Revenue Recognition

By: Paul M. Healy

This case discusses revenue recognition in straightforward situations and then considers revenue transactions that may be more complex to record. Revenue recognition criteria can be implemented for the following situations: 1) Customers pay prior to delivery; 2)... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Revenue Recognition; Decision Making; Financial Statements

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03 Apr 2019
Book

Fintech's Game-Changing Opportunities for Small Business

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data will transform financial services and small-business lending long before they impact driverless cars, predicts Harvard Business School Senior Fellow Karen G. Mills. “As we speak,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Financial Services

April 2016
Teaching Note

The Fall of the 'Fabulous Fab'

By: Eugene F. Soltes

Teaching note for HBS Case#114-063 View Details

Keywords: Management; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Financial Crisis; Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

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January 2022
Background Note

The Florange Law: Encouraging Long-Termism in Equity Markets?

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Tonia Labruyere

This note provides background information on a French law (“the Florange law”) passed in 2014 that the French government said would encourage long-term shareholdings. The note describes the law, what led to it, the reactions it evoked, and similar initiatives in other... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Financial Markets; Investment Activism; Institutional Investing; Corporate Governance; Policy; Rights; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Accounting Industry; France

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02 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Signing at the Top: The Key to Preventing Tax Fraud?

pledge of honesty is a way of effectively linking identity to morality." Testing Honesty The research team conducted a series of experiments in which participants could benefit financially from dishonest self-reporting. In each case, the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Accounting

27 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Following Best Business Practices Can Improve Health Care

Harvard Business School spends a significant amount of research funds each year on the health care industry, answering questions such as: How can the business of health care be made more efficient? What can a business do to motivate employees to take better care of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies