Publications

10 Sep 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations

Keywords: by Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim; Financial Services

Research Summary

Profitable Souls: Foreign Investment and the Fate of Human Rights

By: Debora L. Spar

This is a project about foreign investment, about what happens when big multinational firms invest in small, poor, and often nasty places. Typically, most observers assume that this is a largely negative relationship: that multinationals exploit the local population,... View Details

January 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Teaching Note

Leslie Brinkman at Versutia Capital (TN)

By: Julie Battilana and Robert Steven Kaplan

Teaching Note for [407089]. View Details

Keywords: Management; Investment; Financial Services Industry

June 2011
Case

Shelley Capital and the Hedge Fund Secondary Market

By: Luis Viceira, Elena Corsi and Ruth Dittrich

An advisory company has to decide how to sell their client's hedge fund holdings in the secondary market, and thinks about their future. Shelley Capital was a a European advisory company operating in the hedge fund secondary market, a market that boosted in 2008 with... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Funds; Marketing Strategy; Financial Crisis; Sales; Leadership Development; Financial Markets; Crisis Management; Business Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Services Industry; Service Industry; Europe

December 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Teaching Note

Adams Capital Management: Fund IV (TN)

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

Keywords: Financial Management; Investment

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

28 Feb 2020
News

Filling the White Space

At Able Partners, Amanda Eilian (MBA 2006) and Lisa Blau (MBA 2003) have focused primarily on women-led wellness companies, including businesses such as Goop, Moon Juice, and Daily Harvest. Now the New York–based investment firm has... View Details

Keywords: venture capital; pharmaceutical research; innovative investing

October 1996 (Revised April 2011)
Module Note

Venture Capital and Private Equity: Module I

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

Provides an overview of a module that focuses on how private equity funds are raised and structured. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds

Article

The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities

By: John D. Macomber

Three trends will drive urban investment, development, and entrepreneurship in the next two decades. This article provides tools to identify the situations and circumstances that will be most favorable for private sector involvement in consideration of these trends.... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Demographics; Private Sector; Investment; City; Infrastructure; Opportunities; Urban Development

Find at Harvard

July 2008
Case

Aurora Capital Group - Douglas Dynamics

Aurora Capital, a U.S. Private Equity firm, contemplates whether to acquire Douglas Dynamics, the leading U.S. maker of snow plows. Does a business that is highly dependent on the weather, and is seasonal, make a good LBO candidate? This case provides a good... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Value Creation

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Martin Smith: July 2012

By: Josh Lerner and Felda Hardymon

Martin Smith, a recently hired general partner at a Brazil-based venture capital firm, must decide among three deal opportunities. Each has different strengths (management, market, and technology) but each has its own weaknesses as well. He must also consider each deal... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Deal Choice; Venture Capital; Investments; Career Management; Management Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Brazil

13 Oct 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Fencing Off Silicon Valley: Cross-Border Venture Capital and Technology Spillovers

Keywords: by Ufuk Akcigit, Sina T. Ates, Josh Lerner, Richard Townsend, and Yulia Zhestkova; Financial Services

December 1999 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Capital Alliance Private Equity: Creating a Private Equity Leader in Nigeria

Describes the creation of the first private equity fund in Nigeria and the fund's potential first investment in GS Telecom, a Nigerian telecommunication service company. The fund's managers are keenly aware that a bad first investment could create a vicious circle for... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Telecommunications Industry; Nigeria

September 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and Lighthouse Capital Partners

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Ann Leamon

In fall 2008, a venture lender must decide whether to make a loan to Avid, a small but promising venture-backed life sciences firm. In reviewing her proposal, Cristy Barnes considers the company's characteristics and how they differ from a typical investment. At the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry

October 1996 (Revised May 2011)
Module Note

Venture Capital and Private Equity: Module II

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

Provides an overview of a module that focuses on the interaction between private equity investors and the firms they finance. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations

2023
Working Paper

The Equity Market Implications of the Retail Investment Boom

By: Philippe van der Beck and Coralie Jaunin

This paper quantifies the impact of Robinhood traders on the US equity market. Within a structural model, we estimate retail and institutional demand curves and derive aggregate pricing implications via market clearing. The inelastic nature of institutional demand... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Investing; Financial Markets; Price; Financial Instruments

SSRN

02 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

point to a surprising explanation: their gut. “If they relied solely on pro-con lists, or what the hard numbers look like for the company at their current state, probably none of these investments would be made,” Huang says. “Gut feel is... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

February 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Pushing Past the Boundaries of ESG Investing: AQR Capital Management

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Richard B. Evans, Umit G. Gurun and Quoc H. Nguyen

Cliff Asness was facing a dilemma into how he would plunge his hedge fund into the hottest investment area worldwide—ESG Investing. Founder and managing principal of AQR—one the most storied quantitative hedge funds in the world—Asness knew anything less than a big... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Hedge Fund; Investment; Equity; Green Technology