Publications

February 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Equity Bank: Challenging a Giant

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Michael Chitavi and Spencer C. N. Hagist

Equity Bank and CEO Dr. James Mwangi must find a way to advance from their hard-fought ascension to second largest bank in Kenya by toppling financial giant Safaricom. Doing so means developing a new strategy and tackling technological frontiers no institution in the... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Finance; Strategy; Information Technology; Banks and Banking; Kenya

April 1988 (Revised October 1988)
Case

Equity Management, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Investment; Management

Find at Harvard

March 1996 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Global Equity Markets: The Case of Royal Dutch and Shell

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Andre F. Perold

Royal Dutch and Shell common stocks are securities with linked cash flow, so that the ratio of their stock prices should be fixed. In fact, the ratio is highly variable, moving with the markets where the securities are intensively traded. Royal Dutch trades more... View Details

Keywords: International Equity Markets; International Cost Of Capital; Cross-border Valuation; International Finance; Equity; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Cash Flow

27 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Labor Regulations and European Private Equity

Keywords: by Ant Bozkaya & William R. Kerr

June 1985 (Revised December 2002)
Background Note

Basic Ratio Analysis and Equity Valuation

By: David F. Hawkins

Describes the use of common financial ratios to analyze a firm's performance and financial condition. Discusses fundamentals of equity valuation. Based on an earlier note by the same author. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Financial Condition; Equity

August 2006
Background Note

Factors that Influence Cross-Border Equity Investment

Introduces students to factors that impact global equity flows, including institutional friction, investor protection, firm visibility, firm understanding, and culture. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Equity

2009
Working Paper

Labor Regulations and European Private Equity

By: Ant Bozkaya and William R. Kerr

European nations substitute between employment protection regulations and labor market expenditures (e.g., unemployment insurance benefits) for providing worker insurance. Employment regulations more directly tax firms making frequent labor adjustments than other labor... View Details

Keywords: Employment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Taxation; Insurance; Investment; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Europe

April 2006 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

The Role of Private Equity Firms in Merger and Acquisition Transactions

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Explores the importance of private equity firms in merger and acquisitions activity around the globe. In many countries, these firms now account for one quarter of the total merger and acquisition activity of all firms. The larger private equity firms generate fees for... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Value Creation

16 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Weighing Digital Tradeoffs in Private Equity

When private equity (PE) firms buy a company, they typically follow a standard playbook to create value—streamlining operations, restructuring debt, changing management, and cutting costs. However, as digital technologies and artificial... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

April 2000
Case

Financing of Project Achieve, The (A)

By: Mihir A. Desai

An entrepreneur is forced to analyze the tradeoffs between different equity providers through a detailed analysis of venture financing terms and cash flow forecasts. The founder of a Web-based IMS for schools must negotiate a term sheet, determine funding needs, value... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation

13 Jan 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Industry Performance

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, Morten Sørensen & Per Strömberg

2012
Book

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon and Felda Hardymon

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship stems from a realization that private equity overall—defined in this volume as venture capital and buyouts but excluding hedge funds—has become a vastly more sizable and influential part of the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship

Find at Harvard

2009
Working Paper

Labor Regulations and European Private Equity

By: Ant Bozkaya and William R. Kerr

European nations substitute between employment protection regulations and labor market expenditures (e.g., unemployment insurance benefits) for providing worker insurance. Employment regulations more directly tax firms making frequent labor adjustments than other labor... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Insurance; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Taxation; Employment; Europe

Read Now

April 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Infosys: Financing an Indian Software Start-Up

Describes the financing and growth of Infosys, an Indian software start-up. Infosys defies a number of stereotypes about barriers to entrepreneurship in India. The company was founded by a small group of entrepreneurs with little equity and without backing from a large... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Applications and Software; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; India

July 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Société Internationale de Plantations et de Finance (SIPEF)

By: David Hawkins

Management of a company with extensive palm oil tree plantations questions the usefulness to management and investors of IAS41's requirement to value palm oil trees at their fair value. View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; International Financial Reporting Standards; International Accounting Standards; Biological Asset Accounting; IAS41; Historical Cost; Equity Valuation; Financial Ratios; Plant-Based Agribusiness; International Accounting; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Fair Value Accounting; Equity; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

June 2019
Technical Note

Valuing Employee Equity at Early Stage Ventures

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Stanton and Sanchali Pal

The note introduces a framework to consider factors that influence the value of employee equity at early stage ventures. Valuing equity is complex, and it important to account for expected dilution, assess exit potential, and acknowledge the high rate of failure in... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Equity; Valuation; Business Startups

2024
Working Paper

Long-run Returns to Impact Investing in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

By: Shawn Cole, Martin Melecky, Florian Mölders and Tristan Reed

We provide the first evidence on the long-run returns to private equity in emerging and frontier markets using the cash flows from every equity investment made by the International Finance Corporation across 130 countries over 58 years. Risk-adjusted returns are... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Return