Publications

May 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Sovereign Wealth Funds: For Profits or Politics?

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

On March 21, 2008, the U.S. government secured an agreement from two leading sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) to adopt a new set of investment principles to govern the Funds' activities. SWFs, broadly defined as an investment fund owned by a national or a government, were... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Sovereign Finance; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; International Relations; State Ownership; United States

May 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Valuing Peloton

By: E. Scott Mayfield

Peloton Interactive, a well-known venture-capital-backed unicorn in the connected fitness space, recently had gone public with a market capitalization of over $8.0 billion. However, in the weeks following its public debut, Peloton’s stock price had fallen by over 25%.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Public Equity; Initial Public Offering; Disruptive Innovation; Business Strategy; Valuation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

April 2002
Article

Internal Capital Markets and Firm-Level Compensation Incentives for Division Managers

By: Julie Wulf

Do multidivisional firms structure compensation contracts for division managers to mitigate incentive problems in their internal capital markets? I find evidence that compensation and investment incentives are substitutes: firms providing a stronger link to firm... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Executive Compensation; Capital Budgeting; Motivation and Incentives; Profit; Decisions; Resource Allocation; Performance; Investment; Contracts

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Vikram S. Gandhi is the Gerald P. Kaminsky Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the General Management Unit. He has developed and teaches two new courses in the Elective Curriculum of the MBA Program. The first is a finance and investing course, Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: financial services

January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Should a Pension Fund Try to Change the World? Inside GPIF's Embrace of ESG

By: George Serafeim

In the fall of 2018, Hiro Mizuno, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of GPIF, the Japanese Government Pension Fund, was reflecting on his efforts to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues into every aspect of GPIF’s portfolio. His efforts ranged... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investment Funds; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Governance; Leading Change; Economy; Performance Improvement; Japan

November 2008
Journal Article

Financial Constraints and Growth: Multinational and Local Firm Responses to Currency Crises

By: Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley and Kristin Forbes

This paper examines how financial constraints and product market exposures determine the response of multinational and local firms to sharp depreciations. U.S. multinational affiliates increase sales, assets, and investment significantly more than local firms during,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Currency; Private Equity; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; United States

SSRN

Jim joined the HBS Faculty in 2019 and teaches the EC courses Entrepreneurial Finance and Tough Tech Ventures and is a faculty affiliate of the Business & Environment Initiative. He is an active investor, and Board director & advisor for... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Adding Value Through Venture Capital in Latin America and the Caribbean

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon, James Tighe and Susana Garcia-Robles

Venture capital (VC) investment has long been recognized as an engine for economic growth and development. Unlike bank loans, where the entrepreneur receives money and is left alone as long as the payments arrive on the pre-arranged schedule, venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Value; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Latin America; West Indies

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July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

Matt Kelly is the CEO of JBG SMITH and a member of the Board of Trustees. Prior to the formation of JBG SMITH, Mr. Kelly served as a Managing Partner of the JBG Companies and was co-head of JBG’s Investments Group and primarily responsible for... View Details

2012
Book

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon and Felda Hardymon

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship stems from a realization that private equity overall—defined in this volume as venture capital and buyouts but excluding hedge funds—has become a vastly more sizable and influential part of the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship

February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Lehman Brothers

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

In 2008, the U.S. financial system was in a state of crisis and Lehman Brothers went from a major Wall Street investment bank to an insolvent institution. It was a swift end for a firm that had its beginnings over 150 years prior. What would be the firm's legacy? And... View Details

Keywords: History; Business History; Development Economics; Business Exit or Shutdown; Investment Banking; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

04 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti; Financial Services

Malcolm P. Baker

Malcolm Baker is the Robert G. Kirby Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches the required course in finance and a short immersive program on investing in life sciences.

His research is in the... View Details

Keywords: investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry

2005
Article

Increasing Exploration: Evidence from International Expansion

By: Juan Alcacer, Heather Berry and Wilbur Chung

While firms balance exploitation and exploration to maximize profits, specifics of how firms pursue this balance are scarce. We focus on how firms increase their exploration after obtaining greater capabilities and experience via sequential international expansion.... View Details

Keywords: Price Bubble; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Industry Growth; Research and Development; Profit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Disruptive Innovation; Five Forces Framework; SWOT Analysis; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; United States

December 2016
Simulation

Venture Capital and Private Equity Game

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Nathaniel Burbank

The Venture Capital and Private Equity Simulation enables groups of students to play the role of either an early or later stage private equity firm. Within the simulation, students raise funds, search for companies to invest in, complete deals, and manage a portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity

Research Summary

International Financial Integration and Entrepreneurship (joint with Andrew Charlton)

By: Laura Alfaro

We explore the relation between international financial integration and the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. Researchers have stressed the role of new firm activity and economic dynamism on growth. Yet, the empirical effects of international capital... View Details

November 2005 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Leading Change at Simmons (A)

By: Tiziana E. Casciaro, Amy C. Edmondson, Stacy McManus and Kate Roloff

Explores the challenge of managing large-scale organizational change at Simmons, an old and established company that manufactures and distributes mattresses. The new CEO, Charlie Eitel, hired to turn the organization's performance around, considers whether to implement... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Employee Relationship Management; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

July 2020
Case

The Second City: The Future of ‘Yes, and…’

By: Francesca Gino and Jeff Huizinga

Leaders from The Second City, the legendary Improv comedy company, reflect on its broad portfolio of activities through the lens of future opportunities and growth. In particular, they discuss ways in which Second City can further invest in its professional arm, Second... View Details

Keywords: Workplace; Collaboration; Growth and Development; Opportunities; Communication; Organizational Culture