Publications

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Private Capital Project

Private equity has become an integral part of the financial landscape, gaining increasing relevance over time. Today, the global private equity sector has surpassed $4.5 trillion. Harvard Business School's... View Details

16 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Employment

Keywords: by Steven J. Davis, John C. Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, Josh Lerner & Javier Miranda

16 Nov 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and COVID-19

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan, and Vladimir Mukharlyamov; Financial Services

24 Jun 2021
Video

Industry Spotlight: Private Equity

January 2016
Case

Sentient Jet: The Uber of Private Jets

By: Anat Keinan and Sandrine Crener

Founded in 1999 in the Boston area, Sentient Jet had become a leading private aviation company in the United States. Its success was built on the introduction of a groundbreaking membership program that offered business travelers the flexibility and convenience of... View Details

July 2022
Article

Private Equity and COVID-19

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey more than 200 private equity (PE) managers from firms with $1.9 trillion of assets under management (AUM) about their portfolio performance, decisionmaking and activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Given that PE managers have significant incentives to... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Private Equity; Management; Investment Portfolio; Performance; Decision Making; Value Creation

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Awards

FPD Academy Award

By: William R. Kerr

Winner of the 2012 FPD Academy Award for Best World Bank Research in Finance and Private Sector Development. View Details

12 Dec 2019
News

From Private Equity to Private Debt: Key Trends in Alternative Investments

Private Equity: A Casebook

This book is a collection of cases and notes that have been used in Private Equity Finance, an advanced corporate finance course offered in the second year of the Harvard Business School’s MBA curriculum, over several years. The goal of the book is to provide a... View Details

January 2013 (Revised March 2016)
Case

The Private Company Council

By: Karthik Ramanna and Luis M. Viceira

Financial Accounting Foundation chairman Jack Brennan is under pressure from private-company interests to set up a new body—the Private Company Council—to determine separate GAAP for private companies. PCC advocates—including the US Chamber of Commerce—argue that... View Details

Keywords: FASB; Lobbying; Political Economy; Accounting; Government and Politics; Leadership; Financial Markets; Accounting Industry; Financial Services Industry; Public Administration Industry

April 2017
Article

Private Equity and Industry Performance

By: Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, Morten Sorensen and Per Stromberg

The growth of the private equity industry has spurred concerns about its potential impact on the economy more generally. This analysis looks across nations and industries to assess the impact of private equity on industry performance. Industries where PE funds have... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Markets; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Economy

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August 2012
Course Overview Note

Introduction to Private Equity Finance

By: Paul A. Gompers and Paul A. Gompers

This note will aid in introducing students to the Private Equity Finance course. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Valuation; Financing; Capital Structure; Finance; Private Equity

January 2004 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Montagu Private Equity (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Describes the dilemma facing Chris Masterson, the head of HSBC's private equity division, in negotiating this team's buyout of its organization from HSBC, its corporate parent since 1992. Discusses the pros and cons of being a captive fund and the delicate balance... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Balance and Stability; Asset Pricing

2020
Working Paper

Private Equity and COVID-19

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey more than 200 private equity (PE) managers from firms with $1.9 trillion of assets under management (AUM) about their portfolio performance, decisionmaking and activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Given that PE managers have significant incentives to... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Private Equity; Management; Investment Portfolio; Performance; Decision Making; Value Creation

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Article

Private Enterprise for Public Health

By: Michael Chu and David E. Bloom

By many measures, the world today is a healthier place than ever before, yet a daunting set of deficits and disparities remains to be tackled. For various reasons, it is not clear that the traditional tandem of government and civil society are up to those challenges.... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Public Sector; Private Sector; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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December 2016
Simulation

Venture Capital and Private Equity Game

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Nathaniel Burbank

The Venture Capital and Private Equity Simulation enables groups of students to play the role of either an early or later stage private equity firm. Within the simulation, students raise funds, search for companies to invest in, complete deals, and manage a portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity

August 2018
Case

Enfoca: Private Equity in Peru

By: Victoria Ivashina and Jeffrey Boyar

This case follows Enfoca, Peru’s largest local private equity firm and its portfolio company Maestro, a leading player in Peru’s hardware retail market. Peru’s GDP growth between 2008 and 2014 was the highest of any Latin American country. Growth of the Peruvian middle... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Emerging Markets; Capital Markets; Transition; Strategy; Peru