Publications

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11 May 2018
Video

Finance Club

Research Summary

Entrepreneurial Finance

By: William A. Sahlman

William A. Sahlman is examining the investment and financing decisions made at all stages in the development of entrepreneurial ventures. Related lines of inquiry concern the role of financial institutions in providing risk capital, and the role of government policy in... View Details

19 Mar 2014
News

Canada Names New Finance Minister

Keywords: Canada; finance minister; natural resources; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

13 Nov 2014
Blog Post

Finance Conference Recap

On October 25th, 2014, the Finance Conference took place at Harvard Business School, with the theme of Finance in the New Era of Growth. This was the first year of a joint-hosting for the event between the... View Details

TeachingInterests

Finance I

By: Archie L. Jones

This course examines the role of finance in supporting the functional areas of a firm, and fosters an understanding of how financial decisions themselves can create value.

Topics covered include:

Basic analytical skills and principles of... View Details

01 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Financing Innovation

Keywords: by William R. Kerr & Ramana Nanda

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

2025
Working Paper

With a Little Help from My Family: Informal Startup Financing

By: Brian K. Baik, Johan Ludvig S. Karlsen and Katja Kisseleva

Using Norwegian administrative data, we identify family equity investments in startups and examine their effects on investor returns and firm behavior. Informal investors earn lower returns than external individuals, and the firms they back are less likely to secure... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage Finance; Informal Investment; Household Finance; Risk Taking; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Personal Finance; Family and Family Relationships; Business Startups; Investment; Norway

SSRN

Fall 2011
Article

A Brief Postwar History of U.S. Consumer Finance

By: Gunnar Trumbull and Peter Tufano

In this brief history of U.S. consumer finance since World War II, the sector is defined based on the functions delivered by firms in the form of payments, savings and investing, borrowing, managing risk, and providing advice. Evidence of major trends in consumption,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Finance; Consumer Credit; U.s. History; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Credit; Trends; History; United States

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July 6, 2015
Editorial

Lessons From Greece as Controversial Finance Minister Exits

By: George Serafeim

Keywords: Europe; Eurozone; Finance; Sovereign Finance; Leadership; European Union; Greece

Awards

PROSE Award for Excellence in Business, Finance & Management

Won the 2010 PROSE Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in the Business, Finance & Management category for his book with Michael Krzus, One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy (John Wiley and Sons, 2010). This award is given by the... View Details

March 2022
Technical Note

Space Financing

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Nicole Tempest Keller and Brendan L. Rosseau

This note provides an update on the space financing state of play in 2021. View Details

June 2014 (Revised July 2014)
Background Note

An Overview of Project Finance and Infrastructure Finance—2014 Update

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Carla Chavich and Aldo Sesia

Provides an introduction to the fields of project finance and infrastructure finance, and gives a statistical overview of project-financed investments over the years from 2009 to 2013. Examples of project-financed investments include the Kashagan oil field development... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Capital Expenditures; International Finance; Data; Financial History; Economic Development; Corporate Governance; Contracts; Industry Analysis; Banking; Capital Investments; Municipal Finance; Project Finance; Infrastructure; Investment; Projects; Trends

2021
Working Paper

Two Case Studies on the Financing of Forest Conservation

By: Andrew Baxter, Connor Cash, Josh Lerner and Ratnika Prasad

A variety of factors is leading to fresh approaches to the ownership and management of forestland, with an emphasis on the combination of conservation goals and private investments. But the barriers to successfully achieving attractive financial returns and desirable... View Details

Keywords: Financing; Forestry; Environmental Management; Natural Resources; Financing and Loans

SSRN

March 2011
Background Note

Financing New Ventures

By: William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda

Aid in understanding of financing entrepreneurship. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans

April 2011
Module Note

Financing International Trade

By: C. Fritz Foley

This module note summarizes the key insights covered in the Financing International Trade module of the International Financial Management course. It also provides a framework that guides decisions about which financing terms should be used in which situations. View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Finance; Decisions; Situation or Environment; Framework; Globalization

2003
Chapter

Equity Financing

By: Paul Gompers and Joshua Lerner

Equity financing for entrepreneurial firms has attracted increasing attention in both the popular press and academic literature. The dramatic growth in the venture capital industry in the past two decades has been accompanied by new academic research that explores... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Financing and Loans; Equity; Venture Capital; Business Startups