Publications

July 2016
Article

Under New Management: Equity Issues and the Attribution of Past Returns

By: Malcolm Baker and Yuhai Xuan

There is a strong link between measures of stock market performance, such as changes in Tobin's Q or past stock returns, and equity issues. Typically, this performance is thought to be a characteristic of the firm, not the CEO who happens to run the firm. In contrast... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Management Teams; Equity

15 Feb 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Replicating Private Equity with Value Investing, Homemade Leverage, and Hold-to-Maturity Accounting

Keywords: by Erik Stafford; Banking; Financial Services

January 2022
Article

Replicating Private Equity with Value Investing, Homemade Leverage, and Hold-to-Maturity Accounting

By: Erik Stafford

The contributions of asset selection and incremental leverage to buyout investment performance are more important than typically assumed or estimated to be. Buyout funds select small firms with distinct value characteristics. Public equities with these characteristics... View Details

Keywords: Replicating Portfolio; Private Equity; Investment Portfolio

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1993
Chapter

International Equity Acquisitions: Who, Where, and Why?

By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Acquisition; Equity; International Finance

August 2017
Article

The First Deal: The Division of Founder Equity in New Ventures

By: Thomas F. Hellmann and Noam Wasserman

We examine the trade-off between efficiency and equality within the context of entrepreneurial founding teams. Using a formal theory where founders may have preferences over relative outcomes, we derive predictions about the antecedents and consequences of dividing... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Entrepreneurship; Equity

October 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Founders First Capital Partners: An Approach to Capital Access Equity

By: Brian Trelstad, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

In June 2021, Kim T. Folsom, the founder and CEO of revenue-based financing firm Founders First Capital Partners (FFCP), must decide whether to issue another loan to OnShore Technology Group, an up-and-coming software validation company. FFCP provided revenue-based... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Instruments; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Investment Return; Revenue; Capital; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

09 Sep 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Disintermediation of Financial Markets: Direct Investing in Private Equity

Keywords: by Lily Fang, Victoria Ivashina & Josh Lerner

December 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Barteca: The Challenge and Opportunity of Private Equity

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Michael S. Kaufman

Andy Pforzheimer and Sasa Mahr-Batuz, co-founders of a highly successful seven-location restaurant brand, had just opened the first location of a new brand. They had mapped out future expansion for both brands but wondered if, rather than lining up an assortment of... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Private Equity; Strategy; Decision Making

2005
Other Unpublished Work

Corporate Financing Decisions When Investors Take the Path of Least Resistance

By: Malcolm Baker, Joshua Coval and Jeremy Stein

We explore the consequences for corporate financial policy that arise when investors exhibit inertial behavior. One implication of investor inertia is that, all else equal, a firm pursuing a strategy of equity-financed growth will prefer a stock-for-stock merger to... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Behavior; Stocks; Mergers and Acquisitions; Policy; Investment; Financial Institutions; Equity; Corporate Finance

August 2012 (Revised July 2015)
Background Note

A Note on Valuation in Private Equity

By: Paul A. Gompers

This note will provide an overview of valuation methodologies in private equity. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Valuation Methodologies; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts

03 May 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership

Keywords: by Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner; Banking; Financial Services

January 2022
Article

Investing Outside the Box: Evidence from Alternative Vehicles in Private Equity

By: Josh Lerner, Jason Mao, Antoinette Schoar and Nan R. Zhang

This paper uses previously unexplored custodial data to examine the use of alternative investment vehicles in private equity (PE) over four decades. We document a steep increase in the capital directed to alternative vehicles, with these vehicles approaching a 40%... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Investment Vehicles; Investment Funds; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Performance

May 2007
Article

Corporate Financing Decisions When Investors Take the Path of Least Resistance

By: Malcolm Baker, Joshua Coval and Jeremy Stein

We explore the consequences for corporate financial policy that arise when investors exhibit inertial behavior. One implication of investor inertia is that, all else equal, a firm pursuing a strategy of equity-financed growth will prefer a stock-for-stock merger to... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Investment; Policy; Corporate Finance

30 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Earnings Quality and Ownership Structure: The Role of Private Equity Sponsors

Keywords: by Sharon P. Katz; Financial Services

March 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Prodigy Network: Democratizing Real Estate Design and Financing

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Katja Hutter and Greta Friar

This case follows Rodrigo Nino, founder and CEO of commercial real estate development company Prodigy Network, as he develops an equity-based crowdfunding model for small investors to access commercial real estate in Colombia, then tries out the model in the U.S. U.S.... View Details

2001
Working Paper

When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity Dependent Firms

By: Malcolm Baker, Jeremy Stein and Jeffrey Wurgler

We use a simple model of corporate investment to determine when investment will be sensitive to non-fundamental movements in stock prices. The key cross-sectional prediction of the model is that stock prices will have a stronger impact on the investment of firms that... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Equity; Stocks; Price; Mathematical Methods; Forecasting and Prediction

2013
Working Paper

The Operational Consequences of Private Equity Buyouts: Evidence from the Restaurant Industry

By: Albert W. Sheen and Shai Bernstein

What, if anything, do private equity firms do with businesses they acquire? We find evidence of significant operational changes in 101 restaurant chain buyouts between 2002 and 2012. Analysis of health inspections conducted for over 50,000 stores in Florida shows that... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Quality; Private Equity; Food; Management Practices and Processes; Leveraged Buyouts; Performance Efficiency; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Florida

02 Sep 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Information Risk and Fair Value: An Examination of Equity Betas and Bid-Ask Spreads

Keywords: by Edward J. Riedl & George Serafeim; Banking

2016
Working Paper

Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership

By: Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner

The economics of partnerships have been of enduring interest to economists, but many issues regarding intergenerational conflicts and their impact on the continuity of these organizations remain unclear. We examine 717 private equity partnerships and show that (a) the... View Details

Keywords: Partnerships; Leveraged Buyout; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Partners and Partnerships; Leveraged Buyouts

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