Publications

2011
Working Paper

Fractionalization and the Municipal Bond Market

We study the impact of ethnic and religious fractionalization on the U.S. municipal debt market and find that issuers from more ethnically and religiously fractionalized counties pay higher yields on their municipal debt. A two standard deviation increase in religious... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity Characteristics; Bonds; Financial Markets; Investment Return; Geographic Location; City; Religion; United States

Read Now

April 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Background Note

Note: Disclosure, Regulation, and Taxation of Hedge Funds versus Mutual Funds in the U.S.

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Robert C. Pozen and Melissa Anne Hammerle

This note provides students with an explanation of the regulatory and tax framework for hedge funds vs. mutual funds in the U.S. View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Taxation; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Can Families Conquer Private Equity? Pritzker Private Capital

By: Lauren Cohen and Sophia Pan

Anthony (Tony) Pritkzer, Paul Carbone, and the Pritzker Private Capital (PPC) team wondered how to approach the firm’s next phase of growth. PPC was a private equity firm that offered a differentiated approach to the family capital market. Back in 2016, the partners... View Details

14 Apr 2014
News

The Puzzle of Life

really? It's just a school. But they were right. HBS didn't change who I am as a person, but it opened doors and showed me things that I didn't even know existed." Farquharson explains that InCube Ventures follows the model of a typical venture capital fund, with... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; crowdfunding; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

01 Jun 2025
News

Origin Story: Mary Chen (MBA 2026)

impact investing at Bain Capital where I focused on climate and sustainability.” Why HBS: “I see it as an opportunity to really pressure-test some hypotheses of what I want to do and build confidence around it. I want to follow my... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photo by Leah Fasten; climate finance; MBA; student life

Profile

David A. Frankel

important realization. “Three years into it, it became clear to me that I wasn’t made to be a corporate guy and work for a boss,” he said. With his sudden wealth, Frankel had begun investing in South African startups as an angel investor.... View Details

03 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance

As waves of globalization wash across the business world, tremendous new opportunities for financing and investment present themselves to savvy enterprises. In a new casebook, HBS professor Mihir A. Desai discusses the numerous challenges... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

July 2025
Teaching Note

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu and Charles C.Y. Wang

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 125-094. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Standards; Bank Runs; Financial Accounting; Financial Reporting; Social Media; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Investment Portfolio; Interest Rates; Debt Securities; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Statements; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

01 Sep 2005
News

Making History, Starting Over

partner. In what proved to be a fortuitous stroke, Cohen then recruited Alan Patricof, a pioneering venture capitalist based in New York, to join the partnership. Under Patricof’s influence, the firm shifted focus from advising to View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

Profile

Lauren Booker

management, and supervising people." Transitioning into investing and economic development While her work at Goldman was satisfying, Lauren "wanted to transition within financial services to View Details

01 Oct 1998
News

Going Against the Flow

startup evolve into Banco Pactual, which today is a full-service investment bank with a net worth of $700 million. Jakurski has found contrarian skepticism useful for analyzing emerging-market turbulence. "The government will enact a... View Details

Keywords: Dun Gifford, Jr.

April 2004
Case

D-Wave Systems: Building a Quantum Computer

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Ajay Agrawal and Rebecca Henderson

D-Wave Systems is a start-up seeking to commercialize a quantum computer. Its business model is unique: as of 2003, it had very few technical resources within the firm. Instead, it financed a series of projects undertaken at universities and government labs. In return... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Engineering; Investment; Intellectual Property; Product Development; Research and Development; Commercialization; Computer Industry