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December 2022 (Revised June 2023)
Case

KKR at CHI Overhead Doors (A)

By: Dennis Campbell and Ethan Rouen

This case examines the decision by private equity firm KKR to grant equity to every employee at portfolio company CHI Overhead Doors upon purchasing the company in 2015. The case explores whether this initiative will create shared value, growing profits through better... View Details

Keywords: Performance Improvement; Profit Sharing; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture

December 2012
Article

Structural Impediments to African Growth? New Evidence from Real Wages in British Africa, 1880–1965

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

Recent literature on the historical determinants of African poverty has emphasized structural impediments to African growth, such as adverse geographical conditions, weak institutions, or ethnic heterogeneity. But has African poverty been a persistent historical... View Details

Keywords: Living Standards; Real Wages; Labor Market; Colonial Institutions; Economic Growth; Wages; History; Africa

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30 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

the family business. The portrait of the business would also typically represent more than 90 percent of the owners' wealth. “If this transition is not managed well, the family has a higher risk of losing its wealth through bad investment... View Details

Keywords: by Jonathan Pellegrin; Food & Beverage; Retail

27 Aug 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Guts, Gall, and Good Luck: What It Takes To Be An Entrepreneur

become staples of our modern country and economy: beauty products, national sales forces, and corporate social responsibility. Who Owns Space? Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 2021 (Revised January 2024)
Case

The Global Great Depression, 1929-1939

By: Alberto Cavallo, Sophus A. Reinert and Federica Gabrieli

The Great Depression was, by far, the worst economic contraction of the twentieth century, and some of the most important ideas about both fiscal and monetary policy in the second half of the century were developed in response to it. The economic collapse, which... View Details

Keywords: Great Depression; Economic Conditions; Unemployment; Homelessness; Financial Crisis; History; Economy; Policy; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

February 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Barclays Wealth: Reignite WAR or Launch AlphaStream?

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Elisa Farri

In late January 2009, Thomas Fekete, managing director at Barclays Wealth in London, redeemed the most illiquid positions in the so-called Wealth Absolute Return Fund (WAR), one of Barclays Wealth's most promising offshore funds of hedge funds, and halted the Fund's... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Financial Liquidity; International Finance; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; London

Research Summary

Overview

By: Christina R. Wing

Multi-generational wealth creation through family businesses and family offices. Leadership throughout the chapters of your life. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Leadership; Succession Planning

October 2010 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bessemer Trust: Guardians of Capital

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

Henry Phipps, Jr. made his fortune in the steel industry alongside one of America's most celebrated entrepreneurs—Andrew Carnegie. His wealth was administered in the form of trusts, which he hoped would provide a stream of income for his family and their descendants... View Details

Keywords: Wealth; Asset Management; Family Business; Business History; Income; Entrepreneurship; Capital; United States

May 13, 2021
Article

The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership

By: Thomas Dudley and Ethan Rouen

Wealth inequality in the U.S. has been increasing for decades: The richest 1% own a majority of all business wealth, and the top 10% own more than 90%. Companies, which have played a vital role in the growth in inequality can also play one in reducing it. One place to... View Details

Keywords: Wealth; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Employee Ownership; United States

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2011
Working Paper

Big BRICs, Weak Foundations: The Beginning of Public Elementary Education in Brazil, Russia, India, and China

By: Latika Chaudhary, Aldo Musacchio, Steven Nafziger and Se Yan

Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50 percent of the world's population... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Early Childhood Education; Government and Politics; Wealth and Poverty; China; India; Russia; Brazil

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July 2017 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Populism in America: Fake News, Alternative Facts and Elite Betrayal in the Trump Era

By: Rafael Di Tella and Sarah McAra

During the 2016 U.S. election, long-time politician Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and celebrity billionaire Donald Trump, a Republican, faced off in a contentious race for president. In the primaries, candidates from both major political parties used anti-establishment... View Details

Keywords: Populism; Elites; Income Inequality; Government and Politics; Globalization; Political Elections; News; Media; Labor; Prejudice and Bias; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Social Media

08 Mar 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Can the Proposed American Health Care Act Improve on 'Obamacare'?

expanded Medicaid coverage for nearly all low-income individuals with incomes at or below 138 percent of the poverty line, and almost half of the previously uninsured individuals who gained coverage under... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch, Dr. Gordon Moore, and Emily Boudreau

May 2024
Article

Design of Off-Grid Lighting Business Models to Serve the Poor: Field Experiments and Structural Analysis

By: Bhavani Shanker Uppari, Serguei Netessine, Ioanna Popescu and Rowan P. Clarke

A significant proportion of the world's population has no access to grid-based electricity and so relies on off-grid lighting solutions. Rechargeable lamp technology is gaining popularity as an alternative off-grid lighting model in developing countries. In this paper,... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Developing Countries and Economies; Consumer Behavior; Poverty; Logistics; Business Model; Utilities Industry

01 Nov 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Marie Curie: A Case Study in Breaking Barriers

Keywords: Re: Robert Simons

September 2002 (Revised February 2012)
Background Note

Europe: Data Supplement, 1950-2011

By: Huw Pill, Lakshmi Iyer, Marie-Laure Goepfer and Ingrid Vogel

Supplements The Blair Wealth Project: Antecedents and Prospects, Renewing Germany: Kohl's Legacy and Schroder's Dilemma, Italy: A New Commitment to Growth, and The Netherlands: Is the Polder Model Sinking? View Details

Keywords: Data and Data Sets; United Kingdom; Germany; Italy; Netherlands

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April 1992
Case

Malaysia (A)

By: Bruce R. Scott

Riots in 1969 bring martial law and a new, more firmly Malay government which sets out to promote redistribution of opportunity, income, and wealth by race-based quotas. Dr. Mahatherl, a Malay nationalist says Malays have a non-competitive alliance which must be forced... View Details

Keywords: Wealth and Poverty; Change Management; Race; Conflict and Resolution; Power and Influence; Malaysia

September 2003 (Revised May 2004)
Case

New Partnership for Africa's Development, The

By: Laura Alfaro, Debora L. Spar and Cate Reavis

In a world context of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund and their interaction with developing countries, this case looks at an African development initiative to address its own problems: The New Economic... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; International Finance; Investment; Poverty; Africa