Publications

Find at Harvard

June 2020
Case

Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (A)

By: Laura Huang, Elizabeth Jiang and Brandon Yu

Career Karma is a startup focused on helping individuals looking to transition careers into computer engineering roles or similar fields by preparing them for formal technical training programs, or “coding bootcamps,” that would lead to a successful career pivot upon... View Details

Article

Market Reactions to Sovereign Litigation

By: Faisal Z. Ahmed and Laura Alfaro

Recent rulings in the ongoing litigation over the pari passu clause in Argentinian sovereign debt instruments have generated considerable controversy. Some official-sector participants and academic articles have suggested that the rulings will disrupt or impede... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt; Litigation; Vulture Funds; Argentina; Sovereign Finance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Markets; Argentina

Research Summary

Growth and the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment: Is All FDI Equal? (joint with Andrew Charlton)

By: Laura Alfaro

In this paper we distinguish different qualities of FDI to re-examine the relationship between FDI and growth. Establishing the quality of FDI, however, is a difficult concept. Quality, that is the effect of a unit of FDI on economic growth, is a combination and... View Details

25 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 25

link: http://www.palgrave.com/Products/TitlePrint.aspx?PID=362801 August 2013 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Investors Prefer Entrepreneurial Ventures Pitched by Attractive Men By: Brooks, Alison Wood, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows and Global Imbalances

By: Laura Alfaro

We construct measures of net private and public capital flows for a large cross-section of developing countries considering both creditor and debtor side of the international debt transactions. Using these measures, we demonstrate that sovereign-to-sovereign... View Details

2021
Working Paper

Elusive Safety: The New Geography of Capital Flows and Risk

By: Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Ruth Judson and Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr

A confidential dataset with industry-level disaggregation of U.S. cross-border claims and liabilities, shows U.S. securities to be increasingly intermediated by tax-haven-financial-centers (THFC) and less regulated funds. These securities are risky, in... View Details

Keywords: Tax Havens; Financial Centers; Geography Of Flows; Profit Shifting; Tax Avoidance; Risk; Safe Assets; Hetergeneous Firms; Endogenous Entry; Endogenous Monitoring; Regulatory Arbitrage; Assets; Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Capital; Global Range

Read Now

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Renegotiating NAFTA

By: Laura Alfaro, Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason and Sarah Jeong

January 1, 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Twenty-five years after the landmark trade pact was signed by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, considerable debate surrounded it. Trade and trade agreements were a... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Negotiation; Agreements and Arrangements; Cost vs Benefits; Auto Industry; United States; Mexico; Canada

October 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Drilling Safety at BP: The Deepwater Horizon Accident

By: Stephen P. Kaufman and Laura Winig

Following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico explosion and oil spill on the Deepwater Horizon, public attention focused on BP's safety record, practices, and management culture as the primary cause of the disaster. Drawing on public sources this case traces the circumstances... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Practice; Safety; Energy Industry; Mexico, Gulf of

2010
Working Paper

International Capital Allocation, Sovereign Borrowing, and Growth

By: Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Vadym Volosovych

The key in the investigation of "where" and "why" capital flows, relative to the neoclassical benchmark, is how we measure these flows. The macro literature has been using three main yardsticks: the current account balance, returns to capital, and the volume of net... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Performance Productivity; Capital; Economics

Find at Harvard

10 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 10, 2017

doctrines more narrowly construed. The first decade of the twenty-first century, bookended by 9/11 and a global financial crisis, witnessed the clamorous and urgent return of both “the political” and “the economic” to historiographical... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

relationship, it remains difficult to determine which firms any given piece of legislation will affect, and how it will affect them. By observing the actions of legislators whose constituents are the affected firms, we can gather insights... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 27, 2018

within-firm processes. By doing so, we may be overstating what progress has been made on employment integration and ignoring other avenues of intervention that may give greater leverage for further integrating firms. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Sep 2022
Blog Post

Student Spotlight: Summer Internships in Business & Environment

is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage climate tech start-ups that reduce CO2 emissions by at least 2.5 Gt by 2050. The $110M fund focuses on early-stage companies commercializing novel... View Details

Web

Strategy Execution Online Course | HBS Online

responsibilities Foster successful strategy execution by establishing an environment that communicates which opportunities and behaviors are encouraged and which are out of bounds Who Will Benefit Mid-Level Managers and Professionals... View Details

2017
Report

The American Angel: The First In-Depth Report on the Demographics and Investing Activity of Individual American Angel Investors

By: Laura Huang, Andy Wu, Min Ju Lee, Jiayi Bao, Marianne Hudson and Elaine Bolle

Early-stage financing from angel investors is critical to the success of high-growth startups. Recent estimates suggest that annual US angel investment activity may total as much as $24 billion each year, contributing to the growth and success of more than 64,000... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Geography; Risk; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Demographics; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Read Now

07 Dec 2022
Blog Post

2022 Climate Symposium: Tackling Climate Together

achieve our goals. This year's theme 'Tackling Climate Together' is a nod to COP27 but also to our hopes for open collaboration and communication amid a further polarizing world.” The opening keynote address featured Irina Gerry, CMO of Change Foods, who started off... View Details

October 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Transforming Korea Inc: Financial Crisis and Institutional Reform

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

South Korea, as one of the Asian "tiger" economies, transformed itself into the world's 11th largest economy and major exporter by 1996, emerging from being one of the lowest income countries in the region back in the 1960s. Yet one year later in 1997, Korea was swept... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Financial Crisis; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; South Korea