Publications

October 2009
Article

Democratizing Entry: Banking Deregulations, Financing Constraints, and Entrepreneurship

We examine entrepreneurship and creative destruction following US banking deregulations using Census Bureau data. US banking reforms brought about exceptional growth in both entrepreneurship and business closures. Most of the closures, however, were the new ventures... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Entry and Exit; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development; Disruptive Innovation

Summer 2020
Article

Tech Clusters

By: William R. Kerr and Frederic Robert-Nicoud

Tech clusters like Silicon Valley play a central role for modern innovation, business competitiveness, and economic performance. This paper reviews what constitutes a tech cluster, how they function internally, and the degree to which policy makers can purposefully... View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Agglomeration; Innovation; Industry Clusters; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Patents

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Article

Entrepreneurship and Urban Growth: An Empirical Assessment with Historical Mines

By: Edward L. Glaeser, Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

We study entrepreneurship and growth through the lens of U.S. cities. Initial entrepreneurship correlates strongly with urban employment growth, but endogeneity bedevils interpretation. Chinitz (1961) hypothesized that coal mines near cities led to specialization in... View Details

Keywords: Industrial Organization; Chinitz; Agglomeration; Clusters; Cities; Mines; Industry Clusters; Urban Development; Entrepreneurship; City; Mining; Mining Industry; United States

February 2020
Case

Supercell (Abridged)

By: William R. Kerr and Sarah Gulick

May 2018
Supplement

Transformation at ING (C): Culture

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

In 2016, ING Group began an overhaul of its company culture, culminating in a code of conduct dubbed "The Orange Code." View Details

Keywords: ING; Company Culture; Cultural Change; Change; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Netherlands

January 2018
Case

Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (A)

By: William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu

Sidar Şahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games, a Turkey-based global mobile gaming company, must decide on the final list of candidates for the critical global marketing director position the company has been trying to fill for over a year. Since its founding in 2010,... View Details

Keywords: Recruiting; Staffing; Emergent Countries; Entrepreneurial Management; Private Sector; Business Strategy; Decision; Growth Management; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Turkey

June 2017
Supplement

Transformation at Eli Lilly & Co. (B)

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Keywords: Eli Lilly; Pharmaceutical Companies; Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Indiana; Indianapolis

June 2017
Teaching Note

TalentCorp Malaysia and the Returning Expert Programme

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-092. View Details

2015
Chapter

Agglomeration and Innovation

By: Gerald Carlino and William R. Kerr

This chapter reviews academic research on the connections between agglomeration and innovation. We first describe the conceptual distinctions between invention and innovation. We then describe how these factors are frequently measured in the data and some resulting... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; City; Innovation and Invention

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September 2013
Case

Homestrings, Inc.: Diaspora-Based Financing and the Crowd Funding of Development

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Homestrings is an online investment platform for overseas diasporas to link financially with their home countries. The founder believes crowd-funding can become a pillar for development, but U.S. regulatory hurdles and resources constraints are substantial. The company... View Details

Keywords: Diasporas; Investments; Regulations; Africa; Crowd-funding; Development Finance; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Financial Services Industry; Africa; United States

June 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

AVA.ph: Growing a Filipino E-Commerce Company

By: William R. Kerr and Henry Motte-Munoz

AVA is a three-year old e-commerce company in the Philippines. From its early start mimicking the Gilt Groupe concept of online flash sales, the company has grown into a broader e-commerce platform for local fashion commerce. Oliver Segovia needs to evaluate where AVA... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Philippines

September 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

micro Home Solutions: A Social Housing Initiative in India

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

mHS is a social enterprise for the provision of affordable housing in India. After India's microfinance industry collapses, mHS needs to reposition itself for continued operations and long-term growth. View Details

Keywords: India; Loans; Development; Micro Finance; Entrepreneurship; Housing; Social Enterprise; Poverty; India

April – May 2010
Article

Banking Deregulations, Financing Constraints and Firm Entry Size

We examine the effect of US branch banking deregulations on the entry size of new firms using micro-data from the US Census Bureau. We find that the average entry size for startups did not change following the deregulations. However, among firms that survived at least... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Entry and Exit; Banking Industry; United States

2009
Working Paper

Financing Constraints and Entrepreneurship

2011
Chapter

Financing Constraints and Entrepreneurship

Financing constraints are one of the biggest concerns impacting potential entrepreneurs around the world. Given the important role that entrepreneurship is believed to play in the process of economic growth, alleviating financing constraints for would-be entrepreneurs... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Investment; Policy; Research

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2007
Chapter

The Rationales and Performance of Public Venturing: Survey Evidence from Belgium and Finland

By: Ant Bozkaya and William R. Kerr

Keywords: Public Sector; Public Ownership; Mission and Purpose; Performance; Belgium; Finland

June 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Can Goodr Fight Food Insecurity at Scale?

By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr

Jasmine Crowe founded Goodr to redirect food waste to people in need. Now a profitable enterprise, she’s searching for Series A funding and encountering pushback. Scaling and contract concerns are also at the forefront of her mind, but so are her values. Feeding... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investor Demand; Food; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Race; Opportunities; Contracts; Mission and Purpose; Financing and Loans

November 2023
Case

Will Fintechs and Central Banks Play in Emtech's Sandbox?

By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr

In February 2023, Emtech’s founder Carmelle Cadet is facing a dilemma. Rapidly running out of cash, Cadet has a term sheet from a leading VC but has a choice of how to structure the investment. The decision will have significant implications for Cadet’s own stake, as... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Currency; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Digital Platforms