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(2,052)
- Faculty Publications (760)
- January 2024
- Supplement
Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (B)
By: Tiona Zuzul and Susan Pinckney
In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading natural wine vineyards. Its founder, Frank Cornelissen, faced weather related conditions that forced him to have to decide between staying true to the tenets of the natural wine... View Details
Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Business Earnings; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Startups; Family Business; For-Profit Firms; Small Business; Change Management; Transition; Communication; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Values and Beliefs; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Profit; Revenue; Spending; Global Strategy; Goods and Commodities; Innovation Strategy; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth Management; Success; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Cognition and Thinking; Reputation; Adoption; Expansion; Weather; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; Italy
Zuzul, Tiona, and Susan Pinckney. "Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 724-398, January 2024.
- January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
- Case
PortageBay and ESG Analytics
By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Radhika Kak
In 2023, sustainable investors faced several challenges. The first was the lack of access to standardized and vetted environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, and equally, the interpretation of this data into investment-useful insights. Reducing reliance on... View Details
Keywords: ESG Ratings; Investment Funds; Governance; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Gandhi, Vikram S., and Radhika Kak. "PortageBay and ESG Analytics." Harvard Business School Case 324-065, January 2024. (Revised May 2024.)
- September 2023
- Article
Customer Churn and Intangible Capital
By: Scott R. Baker, Brian Baugh and Marco Sammon
Intangible capital is a crucial and growing piece of firms’ capital structure, but many of its distinct components are difficult to measure. We develop and make available several new firm-level metrics regarding a key component of intangible capital – firms’ customer... View Details
Keywords: Customer Base; Transaction Data; Customer Churn; Intangible Capital; Capital Structure; Measurement and Metrics; Customers
Baker, Scott R., Brian Baugh, and Marco Sammon. "Customer Churn and Intangible Capital." Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics 1, no. 3 (September 2023): 447–505.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Financial and Informational Integration Through Oracle Networks
By: Lin William Cong, Eswar Prasad and Daniel Rabetti
Oracles are software components that enable data exchange between siloed blockchains and external environments, enhancing smart contract capabilities and platform interoperability. We find that oracle integration is positively associated with total value locked and... View Details
Keywords: Decentralized Finance; Blockchain; Smart Contract; International Economy; Interoperability; Risk Sharing; Applications and Software; Financial Markets; Economics; Risk Management
Cong, Lin William, Eswar Prasad, and Daniel Rabetti. "Financial and Informational Integration Through Oracle Networks." Working Paper, December 2023.
- November 2023 (Revised June 2025)
- Case
Aviva plc: Examining Net Zero
By: Peter Tufano, Brian Trelstad and Matteo Gasparini
The board of Aviva Plc, one of the world’s largest insurers, must review its climate risk exposures and evaluate next steps. Risk experts at the firm have conducted a robust set of analyses prepared for its regulator, the Bank of England, simulating how various climate... View Details
Keywords: Analysis; Climate Change; Insurance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Risk Management; Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; Europe; United Kingdom
Tufano, Peter, Brian Trelstad, and Matteo Gasparini. "Aviva plc: Examining Net Zero." Harvard Business School Case 324-008, November 2023. (Revised June 2025.)
- 2024
- Working Paper
What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?
In recent years, impact investors – private investors who seek to generate simultaneously financial and social returns – have attracted intense interest and controversy. We analyze a novel, comprehensive data set of impact and traditional investors to assess how the... View Details
Keywords: ESG; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment Decisions; Public Goods; Impact Investment; Investment; Private Equity; Venture Capital
Cole, Shawn, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol, and Benjamin N. Roth. "What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-028, November 2023. (Revise and Resubmit, Review of Financial Studies.)
- October 2023
- Case
Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love
By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger
Bob Hall, President of Green Gables Partners, evaluated whether to angel invest into an up-and-coming ski brand. As the son-in-law of the founder of Vera Bradley and having retired from a lengthy career on Wall Street, Hall was well-versed in both direct investing and... View Details
Keywords: Family Office; Angel Investors; Direct Investment; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Small Business; Financial Strategy; Personal Finance; Investment Portfolio; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty; Consumer Products Industry; Montana; United States
Cohen, Lauren, and Grace Headinger. "Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love." Harvard Business School Case 224-018, October 2023.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Interest-Rate Risk and Household Portfolios
By: Sylvain Catherine, Max Miller, James Paron and Natasha Sarin
How are households exposed to interest-rate risk? When rates fall, households face lower future expected returns but those holding long-term assets—disproportionately the wealthy and middle-aged—experience capital gains. We study the hedging demand for long-term assets... View Details
Keywords: Portfolio Choice; Social Security; Interest Rates; Investment Portfolio; Equality and Inequality; Welfare
Catherine, Sylvain, Max Miller, James Paron, and Natasha Sarin. "Interest-Rate Risk and Household Portfolios." Working Paper, October 2023. (Reject and Resubmit, American Economic Review.)
- September 2023 (Revised October 2024)
- Case
Forecasting Climate Risks: Aviva’s Climate Calculus
By: Mark Egan and Peter Tufano
In late 2021, Ben Carr, Director of Analytics and Capital Modeling at Aviva Plc (Aviva)—a leading insurer with core operations in the UK, Ireland and Canada,—was preparing for an upcoming presentation before the company's board which included its CEO, Amanda Blanc,... View Details
Keywords: Climate Risk; Climate Finance; Forecasting; Insurance; Risk Measurement; Climate Change; Risk Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Insurance Industry; United States
Egan, Mark, and Peter Tufano. "Forecasting Climate Risks: Aviva’s Climate Calculus." Harvard Business School Case 224-025, September 2023. (Revised October 2024.)
- September 2023 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
ReMo Energy: Sizing Up Investors
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Tom Quinn
In 2023, executives with ReMo Energy (founded 2020) were deciding which size ammonia plant to build as their first project. Their innovative model produced ammonia—useful for making fertilizer and for energy storage—from renewable energy, and they had received funding... View Details
Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Startups; Cost vs Benefits; Design; Energy Conservation; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Goods and Commodities; Size; Infrastructure; Risk and Uncertainty; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Technological Innovation; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Boston
Bussgang, Jeffrey J., and Tom Quinn. "ReMo Energy: Sizing Up Investors." Harvard Business School Case 824-027, September 2023. (Revised March 2024.)
- September 2023
- Case
Diamond Standard
By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger
Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The... View Details
Keywords: Tokenization; Fintech; Cryptocurrency; Liquidity; Digital; Rare Earth Minerals; Decentralized; Crypto Economy; Financial Product; Metals; Diamonds; Commodity; Assets; Financial Instruments; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Investment; Technological Innovation; Natural Resources; Business Startups; Currency; Financial Services Industry; United States
Cohen, Lauren H., Zhaoheng Gong, and Grace Headinger. "Diamond Standard." Harvard Business School Case 224-009, September 2023.
- 2023
- Working Paper
The Stock Market and Bank Risk-Taking
By: David S. Scharfstein and Antonio Falato
Using confidential supervisory risk ratings, we document that banks increase risk after they go public compared to a control group of banks that filed to go public but withdrew their filings for plausibly exogenous reasons. The increase in risk increases short-term... View Details
Scharfstein, David S., and Antonio Falato. "The Stock Market and Bank Risk-Taking." Working Paper, September 2023.
- August 2023
- Article
Can Security Design Foster Household Risk-Taking?
By: Laurent Calvet, Claire Célérier, Paolo Sodini and Boris Vallée
This paper shows that securities with a non-linear payoff design can foster household risk-taking. We demonstrate this effect empirically by exploiting the introduction of capital guarantee products in Sweden from 2002 to 2007. The fast and broad adoption of these... View Details
Keywords: Financial Innovation; Household Finance; Structured Products; Stock Market Participation; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Household; Personal Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Market Participation
Calvet, Laurent, Claire Célérier, Paolo Sodini, and Boris Vallée. "Can Security Design Foster Household Risk-Taking?" Journal of Finance 78, no. 4 (August 2023): 1917–1966.
- July 2023 (Revised May 2024)
- Case
Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service
By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer
The Germany-based startup Vytal operated the largest digital-native reusable packaging-as-a-service network globally, having raised nearly €15 million, established a large network of restaurant partners, and prevented the use of millions of single-use take-out food... View Details
Keywords: Climate Risk; Digital; Platform Strategies; Data; Packaging; Sustainability; Start-up; Startup; Entrepreneur; Impact; Circular; Growth Strategy; Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Startups; Resource Allocation; Risk Management; Adoption; Strategy; Performance Productivity; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Distribution; Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Green Technology Industry; Service Industry; Retail Industry; Germany; Europe
Serafeim, George, Michael W. Toffel, Lena Duchene, and Daniela Beyersdorfer. "Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service." Harvard Business School Case 124-007, July 2023. (Revised May 2024.)
- 2023
- Working Paper
The Market for Sharing Interest Rate Risk: Quantities and Asset Prices
By: Ishita Sen, Umang Khetan, Jane Li and Ioana Neamtu
We study the extent of interest rate risk sharing across the financial system using granular positions and transactions data in interest rate swaps. We show that pension and insurance (PF&I) sector emerges as a natural counterparty to banks and corporations: overall,... View Details
Keywords: Interest Rates; Investment Funds; Banks and Banking; Insurance; Investment Banking; Risk and Uncertainty
Sen, Ishita, Umang Khetan, Jane Li, and Ioana Neamtu. "The Market for Sharing Interest Rate Risk: Quantities and Asset Prices." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-052, February 2024.
- June 2023 (Revised July 2023)
- Case
Social Media Background Screening at Fama Technologies
By: Joseph Pacelli, Jillian Grennan and Alexis Lefort
Fama Technologies is an online screening company that uses AI to analyze job applicants' publicly available online content for signs of risk and culture fit. The case opens with Ben Mones, founder and CEO, looking to secure funding from venture firms. He is running... View Details
Keywords: Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; AI and Machine Learning; Social Media; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; United States
Pacelli, Joseph, Jillian Grennan, and Alexis Lefort. "Social Media Background Screening at Fama Technologies." Harvard Business School Case 123-010, June 2023. (Revised July 2023.)
- June 2023
- Case
Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman
By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details
Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Sustainability; Decarbonization; Performance; Risk Assessment; Opportunities; Environmental Sustainability; Carbon Footprint; Business Analysis; Investing; Regulation; Asset Management; Investment Strategy; Climate Change; Transition; Analysis; Product Positioning; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry; Energy Industry
Serafeim, George, and Benjamin Maletta. "Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman." Harvard Business School Case 123-092, June 2023.
- June 2023
- Article
Regulatory Limits to Risk Management
By: Ishita Sen
Variable annuities, the largest liability of U.S. life insurers, are investment products containing long-dated minimum return guarantees. I show that guarantees with similar economic risks are treated differently by regulation and these differences impact insurers’... View Details
Keywords: Interest Rate Risk; Variable Annuities; Capital Regulation; Reinsurance; Derivatives; Risk Management; Interest Rates; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
Sen, Ishita. "Regulatory Limits to Risk Management." Review of Financial Studies 36, no. 6 (June 2023): 2175–2223. (Lead Article and Editor's Choice, Winner of the RFS Rising Scholar Award 2024.)
- May 2023
- Technical Note
Dynamic Pricing: Timing is Everything
By: Elie Ofek
This note provides a comprehensive exposition to the topic of dynamic pricing (whereby the fee customers are charged is time-dependent). It covers the motivation for firms to engage in dynamic pricing, provides a typology of the main formats dynamic pricing can take,... View Details
Ofek, Elie. "Dynamic Pricing: Timing is Everything." Harvard Business School Technical Note 523-110, May 2023.
- April 2023
- Case
Elliott Management: Capital Allocation in Biopharma
By: Amitabh Chandra, Paul Clancy and Lauren Gunasti
The case explores the intersection of capital allocation and shareholder activism in the biopharmaceutical industry. As many biopharma companies face looming patent expirations for key medicines, the case asks the question of whether investing in R&D and M&A is an... View Details
Keywords: Finance; Strategy; Capital Allocation; Biopharmaceutical Industry; Shareholder Activism; Investment Activism; Resource Allocation; Research and Development; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry
Chandra, Amitabh, Paul Clancy, and Lauren Gunasti. "Elliott Management: Capital Allocation in Biopharma." Harvard Business School Case 623-045, April 2023.