Publications

December 2009 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Phreesia: The Patient Intake Company

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Sunaina Yarlagadda and Brian L. Walker

How should the co-founders of an organization that provides patient sign-in and billing services scale their company after five years of successfully targeting small private physician practices? Phreesia had deployed a direct mail and sales force strategy that resulted... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Social Entrepreneurship; Revenue; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

companies in the S&P 400 Index. Some 70 percent of the PE-backed firms hired new CEOs when they were acquired, and about two-thirds of those new CEOs were outsiders to the company (though many had... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

March 2007
Article

Local Company Politics: A Proposal

By: Raymond Fisman and Eric D. Werker

Corrupt politicians, and poor government more generally, are commonly viewed as a primary barrier to economic progress. The roots to these problems run deep in many political systems across the developing world, and attempts at reform have rarely found much success.... View Details

Keywords: Behavior

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July 2010
Article

Board Interlocks and the Propensity to Be Targeted in Private Equity Transactions

By: Toby E. Stuart and Soojin Yim

In this paper, we examine the propensity for U.S. public companies to become targets for private equity-backed, take-private transactions. We consider the characteristics of 483 private equity-backed deals in the 2000-2007 period relative to public companies, and find... View Details

Keywords: Board Interlocks; Board Networks; Social Networks; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Public Ownership; Market Transactions; Governing and Advisory Boards; United States

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10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Privatization and the New European Economy

markedly, and in 1998 the company recorded its first profit in forty years. Reutlinger sees Sabena's shift from state to private ownership as part of a major and growing trend in the transportation and other... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Air Transportation; Transportation

13 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The Color of Private Equity: Quantifying the Bias Black Investors Face

Black venture capital and growth investors have a much harder time getting funding than white investors, because—despite efforts to bring more racial diversity to financial services—private equity’s gatekeepers remain mostly white, according to new research. Very few... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Financial Services

13 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Public Companies Underinvest in the Future

Financial data on US companies is easy to come by—if they are listed on the stock market. More than 99 percent of them are not, presenting a challenge for researchers intent on studying how privately held... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

05 Feb 2018
What Do You Think?

Should Companies Disclose Employee Compensation?

narrow target pay range for every position in the company can be made transparent without revealing the exact pay for any person. This can help employees in their career planning and ambitions." Tahoegrrl reminded us: "There are... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

20 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Are Company Founders Underpaid?

research with 1,200 executives at 500 companies concludes founder pay is on average $30,000 less than that of non-founder executives. (The pay discrepancy disappears as the business matures.) What's the reason for such founder discounts?... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Financial Services; Technology

2025
Working Paper

Private Equity and Workers: Modeling and Measuring Monopsony, Reallocation, and Trust

By: Kyle Herkenhoff, Josh Lerner, Gordon M. Phillips, Francisca Rebelo and Benjamin Sampson

We measure the real effects of private equity buyouts on worker outcomes by building a new database that links transactions to matched employer-employee data in the United States. To guide our empirical analysis, we derive testable implications from three theories in... View Details

Keywords: Monopsony; Market Power; Productivity; Private Equity; Employment; Wages; Employees

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December 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Loblaw Companies Ltd.: The Road Ahead

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

After 24 years at the helm of Loblaw Companies, Canada's largest food retailer, Richard Currie is trying to decide on a strategy for the company's future. The firm's current emphasis on one-stop shopping for everyday household needs has been phenomenally successful.... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Distribution; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Canada

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28 Aug 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Private Equity Ownership on Portfolio Firms’ Corporate Tax Planning

Keywords: by Brad Badertscher, Sharon P. Katz & Sonja Olhoft Rego; Financial Services

April 2017
Case

China Hospitals Inc.: The Growth of Private Hospitals in China

By: Kevin Schulman, Xiao Yu and Ariel Hwang

This case examines the privatization of hospitals in China. China Hospitals, Inc. has become the largest for-profit hospital company in China, purchasing government owned hospitals in Tier 2 cities. The case profiles CEO Frank Hu. To build his company, he has to... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; For-Profit Firms; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Health Industry; China

27 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

In Strange Company: The Puzzle of Private Investment in State-Controlled Firms

Keywords: by Mariana Pargendler, Aldo Musacchio & Sergio G. Lazzarini; Banking; Financial Services

24 Mar 2002
Lessons from the Classroom

Case Study: A Lesson in Private Venture Financing

security services to companies in South Africa, other African countries, and parts of Europe. In the case, Gray has recently undergone a financial restructuring with the help of private equity firm Brait... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

May 2025
Case

The Future of the BBC: Public Ownership vs. Privatization

By: Henry McGee

With viewership of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in decline, the country’s Culture Minister must recommend a new funding model for the venerated public institution which will allow the broadcaster to succeed in an increasingly competitive media environment. View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Cooperative Ownership; State Ownership; Privatization; Public Ownership; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United Kingdom

01 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Company Town: Fixing Corrupt Governments

consider becoming candidates. This is not a call for privatization of services (like trash pickup), which is already widespread. Instead, it's a suggestion that the job of mayor itself be awarded by voters to a View Details

Keywords: by Eric Werker

30 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Earnings Quality and Ownership Structure: The Role of Private Equity Sponsors

Keywords: by Sharon P. Katz; Financial Services

July 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Berkshire Partners: Purchase of Rival Company (A)

Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm in Boston, was pleased with their recent investment in the Holmes Group, a home comfort consumer electronics company. The portfolio company was exceeding key financial targets and Berkshire Partners was confident that it would... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Capital Structure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry; Boston