Publications

2008
Working Paper

Inexperienced Investors and Bubbles

By: Robin Greenwood and Stefan Nagel

We use mutual fund manager data from the technology bubble to examine the hypothesis that inexperienced investors play a role in the formation of asset price bubbles. Using age as a proxy for managers' investment experience, we find that around the peak of the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Stocks; Information Technology; Price Bubble; Asset Management; Experience and Expertise

SSRN

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (C)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

The global economy entered a crippling recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 and Dow lost its primary source of funding for its planned acquisition of Rohm and Haas. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Chemical Industry

January 2025
Case

North Forty: Managing Liquidity Through Change

By: Luis M. Viceira and Brad Towne

This case explores the interaction between spending and investment decisions at a family office, specifically the family office of Jeff and Tricia Raikes, with special emphasis on the management of spending, portfolio investments, and asset liquidity in the presence of... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Forecasting and Prediction; Asset Management; Financial Liquidity; Financial Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Spending; Planning

November 1994
Case

Electrical Distributors, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

The owner of a small electrical supply firm has grown beyond his ability to fund growth with internally generated funds. He seeks a bank loan, which falls short of his needs. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Find at Harvard

October 2002
Case

A Father's Love: Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Bradley Campbell

John Crowley, CEO of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, a start-up biotechnology firm developing an orphan drug to treat a rare lysosomal storage disorder from which his children suffer, must choose between a partnership and a buyout to have sufficient funds and support to get... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Sales; Price; Product Development; Motivation and Incentives; Decision Choices and Conditions; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

May 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Friendly Cards, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves analysis of a major capital investment proposal, an acquisition of another company, an estimate of the funds required for these two possible outlays, and a recommended course of management action. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment

15 Jul 2015
News

Greece bailout includes a €50 billion asset fund. Here’s how to avoid wasting it

24 Mar 2015
News

Paid Parental Leave, Olympics Reversal & Anniversary Of Back Bay Fire

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

By: David E. Bell and Brian Matthew Milder

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation joined together to form a new organization, AGRA, to tackle the historic challenge of increasing agricultural production in Africa. Launched with much fanfare and led by former U.N.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

investor, I feel powerless to control or even understand how my mutual funds operate." Anupam Bordia comments, "the mutual fund scandal will shift public trust towards index funds." There is... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2016 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Saudi Aramco and Corporate Venture Capital

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Nathaniel Burbank

Saudi Aramco launched an internal venture capital arm in 2011, which promptly became the world's largest investor in energy related startups. In choosing to proceed, the company's New Business Development unit (NPD) wrestled with a number of challenges. How should the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry; Saudi Arabia

16 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Government Incentives for Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Josh Lerner

12 Jan 2015
News

Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria Visits Asia

07 Dec 2011
News

Cautious capitalism

25 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

To Pay or Not to Pay: Argentina and the International Debt Market

Costa Rica, recommends a course of action sure to anger banks and fund managers: absolute sovereign immunity, which is the way things were done before 1976. Argentina's escalating financial crisis is taking on the look and feel of 2002,... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro

April 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Hamilton Financial Investments: A Franchise Built on Trust

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Provides a vehicle for students to evaluate risk management in the fast-paced mutual funds industry. A new risk manager has been hired to install new management controls and procedures. A series of decisions will determine how much business and franchise risk the... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Funds; Performance Evaluation; Corporate Strategy; Change Management; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry

13 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Diversity in Innovation

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang; Financial Services; Education

March 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Next Street, LLC

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Next Street Financial, LLC was a modern merchant bank that provided high quality advisory services and capital to small- and mid-sized inner city businesses. Next Street was a for-profit business that aimed to increase the growth, profitability and success of its... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Capital; Commercial Banking; Investment Funds; Urban Development; Financial Services Industry