Publications

October 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Background Note

Structuring Real Estate Deals: An Investor's Perspective

By: Arthur I Segel

Addresses the following questions: What are the portfolio-level implications? What are the asset-level characteristics? How do I invest? With whom do I invest? What do I get for my investment? What protections do I have? When and how do I get out? View Details

Keywords: Property; Negotiation; Contracts; Real Estate Industry

March 2020
Article

Which Early Withdrawal Penalty Attracts the Most Deposits to a Commitment Savings Account?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Harris, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Jung Sakong

Previous research has shown that some people voluntarily use commitment contracts that restrict their own choice sets. We study how people divide money between two accounts: a liquid account that permits unrestricted withdrawals and a commitment account that is... View Details

Keywords: Quasi-hyperbolic Discounting; Present Bias; Sophistication; Naiveté; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Contract Design; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); IRA; Saving; Behavior; Contracts; Design; Interest Rates

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April 2009 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Petrobras in Ecuador (A)

By: Aldo Musacchio, Lena G. Goldberg and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

On October 18, 2007, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa announced his intention to migrate Petrobras' existing participation contracts to exploit oil reserves in Ecuador's Blocks 18 and 31 to servicing agreements under which Petrobras would be paid a production fee and... View Details

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Government Administration; Taxation; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Public Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Brazil; Ecuador

February 2000 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Deep Sight Technology, Inc.

By: Henry B. Reiling and Catherine M. Conneely

The founders of a deep sea technology company must refine their tentative capital structure and founders agreement in response to tax factors. Some parties are conveying partnership assets, others are conveying rights to an invention, another will be primarily... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Capital Structure; Alliances; Taxation; Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry

18 Oct 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Venture Capital’s Disconnect with Clean Tech

MBA students often fall into one of two categories—those hungry to rush into careers as venture capitalists, and those eager to found a venture-funded start-up. For all of them, Harvard Business School professor Joseph Lassiter has some intriguing advice: Spend a few... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities; Financial Services

September 1994 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Forging the New Salomon

By: Lynn S. Paine and Michael Santoro

Describes Salomon Brothers' recovery from the August 1991 Treasury auction scandal. Details the impact of the firm's disclosure of bidding improprieties and describes how the new management team, led by Warren Buffett and Deryck Maughan, guided the company through the... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Ethics; Organizational Culture; Law; Business or Company Management

12 Oct 2017
Blog Post

Why I Spent this Summer Coding

Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, Cloudflare's Matthew Prince). That’s not to say that non-technical business leaders will be less successful, but there’s a compelling argument that coding is becoming the new business literacy. Technology is always the future, View Details

Profile

Sheila Marcelo

Filipino students and met Ron Marcelo, a student at Yale. The pair married and had a son, Ryan, while both remained in college. When the young family moved to Boston, Marcelo deferred her admission to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology; Services

October 2010
Case

Cherie Blair: Inventing Herself

By: Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams and Lindsay Tanne

Cherie Blair was famous, or infamous, in the United Kingdom as first lady from 1997 to 2007. Her marriage to Tony Blair, however, was the result of her own groundbreaking career in law--a career she fought to keep during the 10 years of her husband's tenure as Prime... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Success; Lawsuits and Litigation; Government Administration; United Kingdom

05 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Risky Business? Protecting Foreign Investments

and the emergence of a common law to govern disputes. There can be no common law without an appellate system to resolve conflicting decisions. Even better would be a move on... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Utilities

07 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 7

commit to providing EV reports. Moreover, I document that EV reporting is more widespread in countries with more hostile takeovers, managers that do not avoid volatile income measures, regulators that are less likely to intervene in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Mar 2023
News

SVB Crash Analysis

Global Banking Turmoil Harvard professor and economist Kenneth Rogoff says it's far better to sell a bank than to bail it out. Bailouts for Everyone? Harvard Law School professor Daniel Tarullo, who served... View Details

19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

PublicationsLabor Regulations and European Venture Capital Authors:Bozkaya, Ant, and William R. Kerr Publication:Journal of Economics & Management Strategy Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1997
Case

Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) (Abridged)

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

A new administration takes power in a state in India and cancels a power project agreed upon by the previous state government and a U.S.-based energy company. The project cancellation is based on allegations of irregularities, exorbitant costs, and political pressures. View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Fairness; Cost; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Policy; Government and Politics; Contracts; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation Process; Conflict Management; Energy Industry

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

15 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Rethinking E-Leadership

by transforming" the existing business or creating a new one. An effective e-leader, Hargrove continues, must shift from "being a productivity and efficiency junkie to being an opportunity seeker View Details

Keywords: by Melissa Raffoni

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

Hellenic Bottling Company) and the role of regulation in integrated reporting (Anglo-American). April 2015 American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings Real Effects of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2008
News

Is Market Capitalism Headed for Trouble?

fact is that in many parts of the world, firms are not privately owned, and markets are regulated in various ways in all countries. Still, we found that most people we talked to understood the differences... View Details

30 Jun 2020
Book

Capitalism Is More at Risk Than Ever

The book Capitalism at Risk first appeared in 2011. The problems it identified with social inequality, global trade strife, and environmental degradation have only accelerated by 2020. The new edition of Capitalism at Risk, subtitled How Business Can Lead, is expanded... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2025
Case

Constitutional Fiction: John Miller & the Legitimacy of Family Constitutions

By: Lauren Cohen, Octavian Graf Pilati and Sophia Pan

John Miller sat reviewing his family’s Constitution, grappling with how best to implement and enforce its provisions. Designed to prevent ambiguity in governance, the Family Constitution set out core values and guidelines to promote harmony and cohesion among family... View Details