Publications

22 May 2019
News

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Leads to Better Jobs, Stronger Consumers

September 1984 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Higgins v. Commissioner

By: Henry B. Reiling

Discusses the issue of whether an activity is a trade or business. The Court held that the taxpayer's very substantial stock and bond portfolio management activities were not a trade or business, whereas the taxpayer's real estate activities did constitute a trade or... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Courts and Trials; Investment Portfolio; Property; United States

August 1990
Case

Legacy Fund, Inc.

By: Jeffry A. Timmons and James Weber

Two young HBS graduates propose to create a new venture capital fund in 1989. The case focuses on: 1) evaluation of the venture capital industry; 2) whether there is an opportunity for a new specialized fund; 3) the structuring of risks and rewards in the fund; 4)... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Product Design; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

June 2010
Article

A Gap-Filling Theory of Corporate Debt Maturity Choice

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson and Jeremy C. Stein

We argue that time-series variation in the maturity of aggregate corporate debt issues arises because firms behave as macro liquidity providers, absorbing the large supply shocks associated with changes in the maturity structure of government debt. We document that... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Government and Politics

March 2000
Background Note

Venture Capitalist as Entrepreneur, The

By: Robert J. Robinson and Noam T. Wasserman

Introduces students to negotiations between venture capitalists (VCs) and the limited partners who provide the VCs' capital. Also discusses negotiations between VCs and other VCs, including those within a VC firm itself. Explores interests, sources of negotiating... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Venture Capital; Capital; Negotiation Tactics; Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

August 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Electronic Arts Introduces The Sims Online

By: Youngme E. Moon

Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent game publisher, is preparing to launch an online, subscription-based version of the most popular PC game in history: The Sims. The new game is called "The Sims Online" and it differs from the original game in two... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Decision Making; Price; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Internet; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

MedImmune Ventures

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Lane

Ron Laufer is the new Senior Managing Director of MedImmune Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of AstraZeneca, a leading pharmaceuticals firm. Laufer has to decide whether to pursue a high-potential, but very risky, early-stage investment. The decision Laufer... View Details

Keywords: MedImmune; MedImmune Ventures; AstraZeneca; NeuProtect; Corporate Venturing; Biotechnology; Venture Investing; Venture Capital; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Australia; Europe; London

March 2014
Editorial

Limits on Use of Health Economic Assessments for Rare Diseases

By: Hanna I. Hyry, Ariel Dora Stern, Jonathan CP Roos and Timothy M. Cox

Funding of expensive treatments for rare ('orphan') diseases is contentious. These agents fare poorly on 'efficiency' or health economic measures, such as the QALY, because of high cost and frequently poor gains in quality of life and survival. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 1999
Case

Sendwine.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Charmaine C Ess and Ann A. O'Hara

Sendwine.com, an online retailer of premium gifts of wine by the bottle, faced decisions about its growth strategy in mid-1999. Mike Lannon, president and founder, had established his company as a prominent player in an increasingly crowded field. But with success came... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Luxury; Diversification; Internet; Web Services Industry

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Marv Tseu at Active Reasoning

By: William A. Sahlman and Christina Darwall

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of an early-stage software company. The company has made considerable progress in developing its software but will need additional capital to move forward. Unfortunately, conditions in the capital market are... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Financing and Loans; Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

March 2017
Supplement

eBay vs. Carl Icahn, 2014: Interview with John Donahoe, eBay CEO 2008-2015

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Tom Ryder

This video, a supplement to HBS Case No. 717-417, features an interview with former eBay CEO John Donahoe, providing his perspective on eBay's response to activist investor Carl Icahn's attack on eBay, which began in January 2014. After giving some of his own... View Details

Keywords: Activist Shareholder; Activist Investors; Technology; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

August 2003
Article

When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity-Dependent Firms

By: Malcolm Baker, Jeremy Stein and Jeffrey Wurgler

We use a simple model of corporate investment to determine when investment will be sensitive to non-fundamental movements in stock prices. The key cross-sectional prediction of the model is that stock prices will have a stronger impact on the investment of firms that... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price; Investment; Equity; Forecasting and Prediction; Rank and Position; Markets

Read Now

04 Oct 2019
News

GPIF’s Hiromichi Mizuno’s Term Is Extended for Six Months

April 2017
Supplement

Imprimis (C)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel

This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A & B). Set in 2015, it first describes Imprimis’s decision to introduce its own line of compounded eye drop medication called LessDrops. The case then examines the moral dilemma faced by CEO Mark Baum, who was struck by the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Moral Sensibility; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

August 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Prudential Financial - General Motors Pension Risk Transfer: Back to the Future?

By: Luis M. Viceira and Emily A. Chien

In November 2012, Prudential Financial and General Motors closed on a $25.1B pension risk transfer (PRT) transaction, the largest of its kind to date by an order of magnitude both in the U.S. market and globally. In exchange for an in-kind transfer of $25.1B in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Asset Management; Insurance; Retirement; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry

Web

Initiatives & Projects - Faculty & Research

difference in the world. Behavioral Finance and Financial Stability The Behavioral Finance and Financial Stability Project supports research collaborations across Harvard University to understand, predict,... View Details

November 2006 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Li Ka-Shing and the Growth of Cheung Kong

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo and Mark Benson

Events in the history of Cheung Kong's growth reveal how Li Ka-Shing applied his skills as a "first-class noticer" to complex political and socioeconomic environments. While Li's determination to succeed is legendary, so are his skills in reading and responding to the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Portfolio; Business History; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Hong Kong