Professor of Finance and Law
Mihir Desai's academic publications have appeared in leading economics, finance, and law journals. His work has emphasized the appropriate design of tax policy in a globalized setting, the links between corporate governance and taxation, and the internal capital markets of multinational firms. His research has been cited in The Economist, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, and several other publications.
(w/ D. Bergstresser and J. Rauh) Quarterly Journal of Economics 121, no. 1 (February 2006), 157-195.
Managers appear to manipulate firm earnings through their characterizations of pension assets to capital markets and alter investment decisions to justify, and capitalize on, these manipulations.
Read More(w/ M. Veblen) HBS Case 205-095.
How should a multinational firm manage foreign exchange exposures? Examines transactional and translational exposures and alternative responses to these exposures by analyzing two specific hedging decisions by General Motors.
Read Moreby A. Foster and M. Rosenzweig” forthcoming in India Policy Forum, 2006.
Read More(w/ D. Dharmapala) Journal of Financial Economics 79, no. 1 (January 2006), 145-179.
This paper analyzes the links between corporate tax avoidance and the growth of high-powered incentives for managers.
Read More(w/ D. Dharmapala) Taxing Corporate Income in the 21st Century, Cambridge University Press: New York (2007), 345-383.
Legal rules, politics and behavioral factors have all been emphasized as explanatory factors in analyses of the determinants of the concentration of corporate ownership and stock market participation.
Read More(w/ M. Veblen) Harvard Business School Background Note 206-014.
Provides a framework for understanding different types of international tax regimes.
Read More(w/ C. F. Foley and J. R. Hines Jr.) Review of Financial Studies 19, no. 4 (Winter 2006), 1433-1464.
This paper evaluates the impact of capital controls and their liberalization on the activities of U.S. multinational firms.
Read MoreJournal of Economic Perspectives 19, no. 4 (Fall 2005), 171-192. Reprinted in W. DeBondt (ed.), Financial Accounting and Investment Management, Edward Elgar, 2008.
U.S. firms are afforded the opportunity to characterize profits to capital markets and tax authorities in distinct ways.
Read More(w/ J. R. Hines Jr.) National Tax Journal 58, no. 2 (June 2005), 275-278.
Read More(w/ C. F. Foley and J. R. Hines Jr.) American Economic Review 95, no. 2 (May 2005), 33-38.
This paper evaluates evidence of the impact of outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic investment rates.
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Mihir Desai's academic publications have appeared in leading economics, finance, and law journals. His work has emphasized the appropriate design of tax policy in a globalized setting, the links between corporate governance and taxation, and the internal capital markets of multinational firms. His research has been cited in The Economist, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, and several other publications.
Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance, Harvard Business School, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School