Publications

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March 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

WallStreetBets: Democratizing Retail Investing

By: Joseph Pacelli and Alexis Lefort

In summer 2024, Jaime Rogozinski anticipated the launch of a day-trading eSports event, a vision he had nurtured for years. Rogozinski, the founder of the influential subreddit WallStreetBets (WSB), created the forum in 2012 as a space for retail traders to explore... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Emerging Markets; Market Participation; Financial Strategy; Lawsuits and Litigation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry; United States

Web

Harvard Team Wins Second Place in MIINT Impact Investing Competition | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

March 2019 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Accion's Fintech Strategy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Michael Chu and Tricia Gregg

Accion, an NGO, had been a pioneer in microfinance since its entry into that sector in the early 1970s. Its investments in Banco Compartamos paid off, when the microfinance bank went IPO in 2007, leaving an influx of $138 million for Accion. Under a new CEO, Michael... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Impact Investing; Financial Inclusion; Technological Innovation; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Performance Effectiveness; Non-Governmental Organizations; Microfinance; Financial Institutions; Business Growth and Maturation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Industry Growth

February 2021
Case

Measuring Impact at JUST Capital

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Ethan Rouen

JUST Capital is a nonprofit organization that seeks to make public companies more "just" by measuring and ranking their overall impact on society, based on the priorities most important to the average American. This case examines JUST's strategy for influencing... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Ethics; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

01 Jun 2016
News

Fellowships Have Impact

fellowships discuss the impact of that support as they strive to make a difference in the world. (8 min. video) Investing in Fellowships Gifts in any amount to the HBS Fund for Leadership and Innovation help... View Details

October 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: February 2011

By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

David Swensen and the Investments Office staff must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments—hedge funds, private equity, real estate—given the impact of the recent market turmoil. The case explores the risks... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Resource Allocation; Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Property; Private Equity

2017
Working Paper

Investment Timing with Costly Search for Financing

By: Samuel Antill

I develop a dynamic model of investment timing in which firms must first choose when to search for external financing. Search is costly and the arrival of investors is uncertain, leading to delay in financing and investment. Depending on parameters, my model can... View Details

Keywords: Real Options; Search And Bargaining; Time-varying Financial Conditions; Investment; Venture Capital; Mathematical Methods

SSRN

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This Note has two parts. The first part (A) explores how U.S. private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly available... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: February 2015

By: Josh Lerner

David Swensen and the Investments Office staff must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments—hedge funds, private equity, real estate—given the impact of the recent market turmoil. The case explores the risks... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Resource Allocation; Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Property; Private Equity

December 2024
Case

Core Innovation Capital: Investing in Fintech for Good

By: Ray Kluender, Natalia Rigol, Benjamin Roth and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Arjan Schütte, founder of Core Innovation Capital, faced a decision on whether to invest in Hugo Insurance, an auto insurance startup. Core, an early-stage social impact VC firm, focused on “fintech for good,” by investing in financial services for low- to... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Insurance; Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

09 Jul 2019
News

The Road to Impact

private equity, eventually left Lehman to join Oakhill Partners in 1990, and then cofounded an independent investment banking advisory firm, Evercore Partners, in 1995. And while Offensend was building his career in finance, he also... View Details

Keywords: Lisa Scanlon Mogolov; Educational Support Services; Educational Services; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

1976
Book

Nine Investments Abroad and Their Impact at Home: Case Studies on Multinational Enterprise and the U.S. Economy

By: Robert B. Stobaugh and Robert H. Hayes

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; International Finance; United States

Find at Harvard

Web

The Pitch: Roadblocks in Making the Case for Impact Investing | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Web

From Milton Friedman to Larry Fink—The Rise of Impact Investing | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

April 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Foreign Direct Investment and South Africa (A)

By: Eric Werker

Incoming and outgoing foreign direct investment in an environment of politics, geography, globalization, and history. Since the end of apartheid, South Africa had undertaken substantial economic reforms in order to attract more foreign direct investment, but it was... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Macroeconomics; Foreign Direct Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Africa; South Africa

August 2020
Background Note

US Private Equity Firms: ESG and Impact (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Holly Fetter

This is the second part of a two-part note. The first part (A) explores how US private equity firms are incorporating ESG (Environmental, Social, & Governance) factors and impact objectives into their investment strategies and firm practices. It is based on publicly... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2014 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Fresno's Social Impact Bond for Asthma

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In 2014, Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) were quickly gaining popularity as an investment vehicle which joined together private investors and nonprofits to tackle social issues. Although numerous SIB projects and proposals had cropped up across the U.S. following the launch... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Health Care; Marketing; Bonds; Financing; Asthma; Air Pollution; Air Quality; Chronic Disease; Public Health; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Finance; Health Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 2013
Article

Payout Taxes and the Allocation of Investment

When corporate payout is taxed, internal equity (retained earnings) is cheaper than external equity (share issues). If there are no perfect substitutes for equity finance, payout taxes may therefore have an effect on the investment of firms. High taxes will favor... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Investment; Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation