Publications

2010
Working Paper

The Empire Struck Back: The Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938 Reconsidered

By: Noel Maurer

The Mexican expropriation of 1938 was the first large-scale non-Communist expropriation of foreign-owned natural resource assets. The literature generally makes three assertions: the U.S. government did not fully back the companies, Mexico did not fully compensate them... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Governance Controls; Business History; Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Energy Industry; Mexico; United States

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April 2013 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Norway: The Embarrassment of Riches

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Senny Munthe-Kaas

In early 2013, Norway was by many accounts the world’s most developed country; it topped various indices for everything from democracy to happiness, had a comprehensive welfare state, and massive oil revenues endowed it with a substantial, and growing, Sovereign Wealth... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Welfare State; Natural Resources; Internationalization; Dutch Disease; Happiness; Macroeconomics; Energy Sources; Values and Beliefs; Sovereign Finance; Immigration; Welfare; Energy Industry; Norway

15 Dec 2024
News

Forward Thinking

You can ask the internet anything, but getting an answer via generative artificial intelligence consumes about 10 times more electricity than a traditional Google search. Consequently, the data centers where AI tools are trained and run are guzzling more and more... View Details

Keywords: Janine White; Illustrations by Richard Borge; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

May 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Background Note

Upstream Oil and Gas Private Equity

By: Victoria Ivashina, Graham Patton and Tyler Todd

Keywords: Private Equity; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Sources

March 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Norway: An Embarrassment of Riches

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Jens-Henrik Munthe-Kaas

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Welfare State; Internationalization; Dutch Disease; Macroeconomics; Energy Sources; Values and Beliefs; Sovereign Finance; Immigration; Welfare; Natural Resources; Happiness; Energy Industry; Norway

November 1984 (Revised December 1988)
Case

Gulf Oil Corp.--Takeover

Gulf Oil was pressured into liquidation while under attack by Boone Pickens of Mesa Petroleum Co. Gulf management was unsure whether to sell out or take the firm private. A suitor, Standard Oil of California, tries to decide how much, if anything, to bid for the... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; United States

September 2011
Article

The Empire Struck Back: Sanctions and Compensation in the Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938

By: Noel Maurer

The Mexican expropriation of 1938 was the first large-scale non-Communist expropriation of foreign-owned natural resource assets. The literature makes three assertions: the U.S. did not fully back the companies, Mexico did not fully compensate them for the value of... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Assets; Value; Motivation and Incentives; Government and Politics; Strategy; Interests; Revenue; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; Mexico; United States

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September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; China

20 Oct 2016
News

Uncharted Territory

(Uncharted Play) (Uncharted Play) Jessica Matthews’s (MBA 2014) startup Uncharted Play made headlines when it debuted Soccket, a soccer ball that captures kinetic energy to power a lamp. The simple idea could change life in poor, rural... View Details

01 Mar 2019
News

The Blue-Green Revolution

emissions grows ever more urgent. The prospect of a clean energy source that could serve double duty as a carbon-capture technology has proven irresistible to investors, who have sunk hundreds of millions of... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; illustration by Eric Nyquist

April 2008 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Flying J (A)

By: Rohit Deshpande and Lauren Barley

The largest retailer of diesel fuel in the U.S., Flying J, is rethinking its growth strategy as the economy goes into a recession. Its major customer base, owner-operated truck drivers, are facing increasing costs of doing business. Yet Flying J is considering whether... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Price; Consumer Behavior; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

October 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

OAO YUKOS Oil Company

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Joshua N. Rosenbaum

This case presents the history and current position of Russia's second-largest oil company, YUKOS, as it seeks listing on the NYSE as an ADR and attempts to rid itself from a punishing "governance discount" by the capital markets. This is a company with a history of... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Capital Markets; Corporate Governance; Developing Countries and Economies; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Russia

January 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

First Solar: CFRA's Accounting Quality Concerns

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Ian McKown Cornell

The case relates to accounting quality analysis conducted by the leading research firm Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA) on companies in the solar industry with a focus on First Solar Inc. In 2009, CFRA was concerned that First Solar, like much of the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Quality; Financial Accounting; Financial Statement Analysis; Accounting Fraud; Accounting Red Flags; Accounting Scandal; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Earnings Management; Valuation; Crime and Corruption; Financial Statements; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Accounting Industry; Energy Industry

February 2024
Supplement

ReNew (B): A New Direction

By: Gunnar Trumbull and Malini Sen

The global renewables sector was in a slump, but the Indian market was booming. India’s largest renewable electricity generator, ReNew, faced a dilemma: it traded on the Nasdaq in New York, but saw huge opportunity in the Indian market. In response, CEO Sumant Sinha... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Trends; Transformation; Private Ownership; Environmental Sustainability; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Energy Industry; Asia; India

October 1999
Case

Argentina's YFP Sociedad Anonima (E): A New Era

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In June 1999, Spain's former state-owned oil giant Repsol, acquired 97% of YPF, despite opposition from YPF management. The case describes the status of the two companies at the time of the acquisition and highlights concerns expressed by industry analysts on the deal. View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; State Ownership; Acquisition; Decisions; Profit; Privatization; Corporate Strategy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Argentina; Spain

01 Sep 2015
News

An Unconventional Suggestion

toward alternative energy options. “Unconventional gas and oil represents perhaps the single largest source of competitive advantage and economic opportunity for the United States over the next decade or... View Details

Keywords: April White; Natural Gas Distribution; Utilities

July 2009
Teaching Note

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Strategy (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note for [809004]. View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development; Financing and Loans; Investment; Emerging Markets; Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Singapore; Kuwait; China

October 2014
Article

Industrial Policy and the Creation of New Industries: Evidence from Brazil's Bioethanol Industry

By: Santiago Mingo and Tarun Khanna

Industrial policy programs are frequently used by governments to stimulate economic activity in particular sectors of the economy. This study explores how an industrial policy program can affect the creation and evolution of an industry and, ultimately, the long-term... View Details

Keywords: Economic Sectors; Policy; Economic Growth; Government and Politics; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Brazil