Publications

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July 9, 2018
Editorial

The Real Problem with Stock Buybacks

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

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Article

The Cross Section of Expected Holding Period Returns and Their Dynamics: A Present Value Approach

By: Matthew R. Lyle and Charles C.Y. Wang

We provide a tractable model of firm-level expected holding period returns using two firm fundamentals—book-to-market ratio and ROE—and study the cross-sectional properties of the model-implied expected returns. We find that 1) firm-level expected returns and expected... View Details

Keywords: Expected Returns; Discount Rates; Holding Period Returns; Fundamental Valuation; Present Value; Valuation; Investment Return

2025
Working Paper

Centralized Governance in Decentralized Organizations

By: Lin William Cong, Daniel Rabetti, Charles C.Y. Wang and Yu Yan

We systematically document governance centralization in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and study its drivers and economic implications. Using multiple data sources and granular on-chain transactional data, we compare our findings to those in corporate... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Governance; Voting; Organizations; Financial Services Industry

27 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 27, 2018

(benefits) for firms with weak (strong) nonfinancial performance and disclosure. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54302 Government Incentives and Financial Intermediaries: The Case of Chinese Sell-Side Analysts By: Cao, Sheng, Xianjie... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Apr 2016
First Look

April 5, 2016

paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50873 Economic Uncertainty and Earnings Management By: Stein, Luke C.D., and Charles C.Y. Wang Abstract—In the presence of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Introducing EVA at ISS: A Better Way to Evaluate CEO Performance and Compensation?

By: Jonas Heese, Charles C.Y. Wang and James Weber

In early 2019, Anthony Campagna, the global director of fundamental research at ISS EVA, a unit of the proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), was preparing to release ISS's analyses of public company performance and CEO compensation ahead of Say... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Performance Productivity; Measurement and Metrics; Analytics and Data Science; Value; Business or Company Management; Performance Evaluation; Business and Shareholder Relations

Educators

November 2015
Teaching Note

Alibaba Goes Public (A)

By: Krishna Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and Charles C.Y. Wang

September 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Turkcell

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Charles C.Y. Wang and Esel Cekin

This case centers around the shareholder dispute between three major shareholders of Turkcell, and how its management vied against increasing regulatory intervention and market competition in the absence of a fully-functioning board. The battle for control of the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Performance; Regulatory Environment; Telecommunications; Marketing; Value Added; Pricing; Shareholder; Boards Of Directors; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Shareholder Relations; Telecommunications Industry; Turkey

Educators

Article

Expected Stock Returns Worldwide: A Log-Linear Present-Value Approach

By: Akash Chattopadhyay, Matthew R. Lyle and Charles C.Y. Wang

This study provides the first large-scale study of the performance of expected-return proxies (ERPs) internationally. Analyst-forecast-based ICCs are sparsely populated and not robustly associated with future returns. Earnings-model-forecast-based ICCs are... View Details

Keywords: Expected Returns; Discount Rates; Fundamental Valuation; Implied Cost Of Capital; International Equity Markets; Present Value; Investment Return; Equity; Markets; Global Range

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April 2014
Article

Golden Parachutes and the Wealth of Shareholders

By: Lucian A. Bebchuk, Alma Cohen and Charles C.Y. Wang

Golden parachutes (GPs) have attracted substantial attention from investors and public officials for more than two decades. We find that GPs are associated with higher expected acquisition premiums and that this association is at least partly due to the effect of GPs... View Details

Keywords: Golden Parachute; Acquisitions; Takeovers; Acquisition Takeover; Acquisition Likelihood; Acquisition Premiums; Agency Costs; Managerial Slack; Dodd-Frank; Executive Compensation; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations

March 2025
Case

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

This case examines factors contributing to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, an event as unpredicted as it was quick. SVB funded nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed startups and at the end of 2022 held $173 billion in deposits, largely... View Details

Educators

21 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 21

evaluate policies that change incentives for entry into self-employment. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51676 Short-Termism and Capital Flows By: Fried, Jesse M., and Charles View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2013
Article

Boardroom Centrality and Firm Performance

By: David F. Larcker, Eric C. So and Charles C.Y. Wang

Firms with central or well-connected boards of directors earn superior risk-adjusted stock returns. Initiating a long position in the most central firms and a short position in the least central firms earns an average risk-adjusted return of 4.68% per year. Firms with... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Governing and Advisory Boards; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance

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Article

How Much Should We Trust Staggered Difference-In-Differences Estimates?

By: Andrew C. Baker, David F. Larcker and Charles C.Y. Wang

We explain when and how staggered difference-in-differences regression estimators, commonly applied to assess the impact of policy changes, are biased. These biases are likely to be relevant for a large portion of research settings in finance, accounting, and law that... View Details

Keywords: Difference In Differences; Staggered Difference-in-differences Designs; Generalized Difference-in-differences; Dynamic Treatment Effects; Mathematical Methods

2025
Working Paper

Government-Brokerage Analysts and Market Stabilization: Evidence from China

By: Sheng Cao, Xianjie He, Charles C.Y. Wang and Huifang Yin

We show analysts at government-controlled brokerage firms serve as a market stabilization tool in China. Using earnings forecasts from 2005–2019, we find government-brokerage analysts issue relatively more optimistic—yet less accurate and timely—forecasts during... View Details

Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Forecast Optimism; Forecast Accuracy; Government Incentives; Market Stabilization; Government Ownership; Coordinated Economies; Stocks; Forecasting and Prediction; Business and Government Relations; Emerging Markets