Publications

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10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

with beating Microsoft. His battle was futile. He left the company as Novell began a long downward slide. The fighter pilot mentality of several U.S. airlines led to a price war in which billions of dollars were lost. Even in small... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

December 1990
Article

The Excess Co-Movement of Commodity Prices

By: J. J. Rotemberg and Robert Pindyck

Keywords: Price

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July 1992 (Revised May 1996)
Background Note

Note on Commodity Futures

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Jay O. Light and Nancy Donohue

Describes how commodity futures work, what products and exchanges are available, and who the players in the commodity markets are. Also presents a careful discussion of the pricing of futures in commodity markets, focusing on cost of carry and risk premium approaches,... View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures

Fast Answer

Commodities

How do I find data on futures, options, and commodities? General: In Bloomberg hit the yellow CMDTY button (F9). For FactSet go to FactSet Insert menu > Quotes/Prices> Futures. Global Financial Data features commodity... View Details

1998
Case

Commodity Busters

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Keywords: Price; Goods and Commodities

March 2021
Article

Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products

By: Alberto Cavallo and Diego Aparicio

We study the impact of targeted price controls for supermarket products in Argentina from 2007 to 2015. Using web scraping, we collected daily prices for controlled and non-controlled goods and measured the differential effects on inflation, product availability, and... View Details

Keywords: Prices; Controls; Price Dispersion; Economics; Price; Cost Management; Goods and Commodities; Retail Industry; Argentina

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June 2009 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Australia: The Riches and Challenges of Commodities

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faced a daunting task that he never imagined he would have to face when he was elected two years ago. Australia at that time was poised to enter its 17th year of uninterrupted growth. Commodity exports were booming, largely driven... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Crisis Management; China; Australia

Fast Answer

Commodities Research: data and reports

driving current commodity markets. UN Commodity Trade Statistics provides trade data, while the UNCTDAD View Details

14 Dec 2007
Op-Ed

When Your Product Becomes a Commodity

offshoring are all squeezing margins, increasing customer price sensitivity, and making it harder to sustain inter-brand differentiation. The product life cycle suggests that, as product categories mature, they become more susceptible to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

2001
Working Paper

The Law of One Price Over 700 Years

By: K. A. Froot, M. Kim and K. Rogoff

Keywords: Purchasing Power Parity; Commodities; International Finance; Partners and Partnerships; Goods and Commodities

March 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Hometown Foods: Changing Price amid Inflation

By: Julian De Freitas, Jeremy Yang and Das Narayandas

During the early part of the 2021 Covid-19 pandemic, Hometown Foods, a large seller of flour-based products, thrived as consumers hoarded baked goods and took up baking to pass the time and find comfort. Then, amid growing shortages in commodities, a vaccine arrived,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Consumer Behavior; Supply Chain; Inflation and Deflation; Spending; Price Bubble; Price; Volatility; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2013
Teaching Note

Fonterra (TN)

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

Teaching Note for Fonterra View Details

Keywords: Dairy; Cooperatives; Commodity Prices; Agribusiness; Organizational Structure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; New Zealand

01 Sep 2016
News

Pricing Paradise

The Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, Bilmes began her career at the Boston Consulting Group, focusing on cost structures in large-scale industries where fractional commodity fluctuations result in... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

15 Mar 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products

Keywords: by Alberto Cavallo and Diego Aparicio; Food & Beverage

2007
Working Paper

The Price of Capital: Evidence from Trade Data

By: Laura Alfaro and Faisal Ahmed

We use highly disaggregated data on trade in capital goods to study differences in the price of capital across countries. This strategy is motivated by the fact that most countries import the bulk of machinery equipment from a small number of industrialized countries.... View Details

Keywords: Price; Goods and Commodities; Trade

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January 2013
Teaching Note

Domino's Pizza (TN)

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

Teaching Note for Domino's Pizza View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Commodity Prices; Price Volatility; Agribusiness; QSR; Franchise; Food; Supply Chain Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

16 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases

retail price points. Weaker brands risk private label and generic substitution. Clearly, not all marketers are equally affected by price inflation. Commodities like gasoline,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

March 2001
Background Note

Extracting Information from the Futures and Forwards Markets: The Relation between Spot Prices, Forward Prices and Expected Future Spot Prices

Discounted cash flow valuation calls for using expected future prices of inputs or outputs. This case describes the relationship between spot prices, forward/future prices, and expected future prices. Knowing current forward and future prices alone is not enough to... View Details

Keywords: Price; Cash Flow; Valuation; Futures and Commodity Futures