Publications

20 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 20

capacity and new products only when attractive, low-risk opportunities are identified and can be funded internally. The firm's culture of risk aversion extends to financing decisions with a clear preference for equity View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 18, 2008

professional relationships may "bridge" the asymmetric information. This bridge may be particularly strong if both firms were financed by the same venture capital firm. Third, geographic proximity may also reduce the asymmetric... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 27

finance a new venture? In this note, I will try to help answer this question by addressing the following topics: 1) Types of funding. The two major types of startup capital are equity funding and debt... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Oscar de la Renta

By: Bharat N. Anand, Elizabeth Lea Carpenter and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti

Over three decades, Oscar de la Renta (ODLR) had established itself as one of the premier luxury brands in America. Its mainstay business had always been producing and marketing high-priced, couture/ready-to-wear luxury goods. Now, in September 2003, it faced a series... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Borrowing and Debt; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Production; Family Ownership; Luxury; Competition; Diversification; Expansion; United States

08 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, August 8, 2017

Barry Abstract—Many markets, including the markets for IPOs and debt issuances, are syndicated, in that a bidder who wins a contract will often invite competitors to join a syndicate that will fulfill the contract. We model syndicated... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 8

but real differences in corporate finance and investment through two different channels: a "more money" effect arising from the debt coinsurance feature of conglomerates and a "smarter... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2008 (Revised November 2011)
Case

The International Monetary Fund in Crisis

By: Rawi Abdelal, David Moss and Eugene Kintgen

When Dominique Strauss-Kahn became the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in late 2007, he faced a number of significant changes. The organization had lost much of its legitimacy over the previous decade, and countries seemed increasingly reluctant to... View Details

Keywords: History; Globalized Economies and Regions; Problems and Challenges; Developing Countries and Economies; Borrowing and Debt; Government and Politics; Financial Institutions; Business Strategy; Macroeconomics; Financial Services Industry

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

financing proposals to pursue. A straight equity issue will dilute his principal shareholders' ownership, but seems like the safer alternative in an industry that is notorious for its high failure rate. On the other hand, a convertible... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

negotiations with a potential acquirer's CEO. Instead, we researched who the CEO would turn to regarding acquisitions. Of course, his CFO would be pivotal. Continuing to map backward, we turned up an analyst in the finance department whom... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

when the costs of financing a reorganization are greater than financing costs to a potential acquirer. Consistent with a senior creditor liquidation bias, the greater use of secured View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Shared Decision Making

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Karen Sepucha and Laura Feldman

The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making has created an interactive videodisc system that provides patients with customized support regarding medical treatment or screening decisions when they face a choice between two equally effective courses of action.... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Product Marketing; Distribution Channels; Production; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Information Technology

26 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 26, 2007

shown to be associated with a 24% increase in US investors' equity FPI holdings. These results are robust to various controls, are not evident for debt capital flows, and are confirmed using an instrumental variables analysis. The use of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 25

their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search as a means to entrepreneurship through acquisition and describes the path to buy and run a business using debt and equity as a means of View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein

In March 2020, Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal were in the midst of preparing the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup, Juno. Both current MBA students at Harvard Business School, the duo founded Juno in 2018 to leverage student bargaining power... View Details

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Juno (C): Leveraging Student Power

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein

In May 2020, Juno co-founders Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal decided to hold the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup. Five lenders submitted bids, and the co-founders ultimately opted to select Eager Bank as their partner for the 2020-2021... View Details