Publications

October 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Compound: Lending on the Blockchain

By: Marco Di Maggio, George Gonzalez and Richard Dulude

This case critically examines Compound, an innovative decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. Focusing on Compound’s blockchain-based borrowing and lending protocol, the case explores its automated, intermediary-free system using Ethereum smart contracts. This system... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Disruptive Innovation; Borrowing and Debt; Financing and Loans; Organizational Design; Technological Innovation

September 2007
Article

Related Lending and Economic Performance: Evidence from Mexico

By: Noel Maurer and Stephen Haber

Related lending, a widespread practice in LDCs, is widely held to encourage bankers to loot their banks at the expense of minority shareholders and depositors. We argue that neither looting nor credit misallocation are necessary outcomes of related lending. On... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; History; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Mexico

Find at Harvard

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Kendle International Inc.

By: Dwight B. Crane, Paul W. Marshall and Indra Reinbergs

Candace Kendle and Christopher Bergen, the CEO and COO of Kendle International, Inc., are reviewing ways to finance the growth of their privately-owned company. Kendle is a contract research organization that conducts clinical drug trials for pharmaceutical and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financing and Loans; Venture Capital; Stock Options; Banks and Banking; Debt Securities; International Finance; Financial Strategy; Management Skills; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

2020
Working Paper

Mortgage Prepayment, Race, and Monetary Policy

By: Kristopher Gerardi, Paul Willen and David Hao Zhang

Over the period 2005 to 2015, Black borrowers paid more than 40 basis points higher mortgage interest rates than Non-Hispanic white borrowers. We show that the main reason is that Non-Hispanic white borrowers are much more likely to exploit periods of falling interest... View Details

Keywords: Mortgages; Consumer Behavior; Race; Ethnicity; Equality and Inequality; Policy; United States

Read Now

06 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 6, 2018

contracted their credit to all small firms throughout the United States. However, healthy banks expanded their operations and entered new banking markets. The market share gain of these banks was a standard deviation above the long-run... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

What Would It Take to Unlock Microfinance's Full Potential?

In the 50 years since modern microfinance was introduced as a tool to fight poverty, institutions have distributed hundreds of millions of loans to people in developing countries. Such loans are repaid at... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Financial Services

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

evidence that the Shield AI team should ask their newest potential customer for a contract 50 to 60 times more than their only two contracts to date? Would asking for what a system of coordinated, exploring... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

Supplements case 712-424. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/search/713436-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 113-084 Apartheid in South Africa A short history of Apartheid in South Africa. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/search/113084-PDF-ENG Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 12, 2018

Moneylender Debt in India and the Philippines By: Karlan, Dean, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Benjamin Roth Abstract—A debt trap occurs when someone takes on a high-interest rate loan and is barely able to pay back the interest, and thus... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 May 2023
In Practice

After Silicon Valley Bank's Flameout, What's Next for Entrepreneurs?

roughly one third of our portfolio of over 200 companies had some relationship with the bank. The startup ecosystem has benefited in recent years from a combination of low interest rates and expanded credit. The contraction of credit to... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Technology; Financial Services

12 Apr 2022
Book

Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

participation in the empire. Churchill’s wartime government announced the Colonial Development and Welfare Act, committing £55 million in grants and loans for its subjects’ material improvements. But universal rights and self-rule were... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51989 forthcoming Review of Financial Studies The Political Economy of Financial Innovation: Evidence from Local Governments By: Vallée, Boris, and Christophe Perignon Abstract—We examine the toxic View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

for a large publicly traded company (although much faster prepackaged or prenegotiated bankruptcies are sometimes possible) —creditors are temporarily held at bay, and are not able to exercise remedies normally available to them when there is a default, such as calling... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

Research Summary

Overview

The overarching goal of my research is to produce works that are influential and informative to both academics and practitioners in the field of operations management. To accomplish this, I collaborate with industry partners who provide knowledge about their field,... View Details

August 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

DexAI

By: Jo Tango and Christina Wallace

During a challenging fundraising environment, the DexAI founders received two term sheets with nearly identical economic terms but very different legal ones. The entrepreneurs had to navigate: representations and warranties (their personal guarantees that the company's... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital Term Sheet; Term Sheet; Term Sheets; Founders; Legal Aspects Of Business; Seed Financing; Founders' Agreements; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Intellectual Property; Entrepreneurial Finance; Contracts; Business Startups; Agreements and Arrangements

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles