Publications

2002
Other Unpublished Work

Market Liquidity as a Sentiment Indicator

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeremy Stein

We build a model that helps to explain why increases in liquidity—such as lower bid–ask spreads, a lower price impact of trade, or higher turnover—predict lower subsequent returns in both firm-level and aggregate data. The model features a class of irrational... View Details

Keywords: Price; Financial Liquidity; Trade; Valuation; Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Equity; Stock Shares; Investment Return

Read Now

December 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Case

TXU (A): Powering the Largest Leveraged Buyout in History

By: Trevor Fetter, Erik Snowberg and Rebecca M. Henderson

This case is designed to support a lively discussion about the relative merits of shareholder vs. stakeholder perspectives in the context of a company that provides a vital public service that has important environmental implications. The 2007 purchase of TXU, the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Generation; Non-Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Texas

December 2012 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Crafting a Founder Agreement at HealthCraft

By: Noam Wasserman, Janet Kraus and Yael Braid

HealthCraft's three founders are about to craft their founding agreement and split the equity among themselves. Uncertainty lingers over each member's future contributions, though—how is the team to devise a durable and effective split? Ever since consultant Kevin... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry

October 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Innova Capital: The Transition

By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

The partners at Innova Capital, a leading mid-market private equity investor in Poland, must negotiate a transition of power between the two ex-patriate founders and three talented young Polish partners. If they fail to find an accomodation, the entire firm will... View Details

Keywords: Firm Structure; Career Management; Emerging Market; Succession; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Negotiation; Investment; Restructuring; Transition

May 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Investment Technology Group

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

Investment Technology Group (ITG) CEO Robert Gasser wondered if the financial crisis had permanently affected the firm's business model. A leader in trade analytics and execution for institutional equity investors, ITG had grown since its establishment in 1987 in step... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Financial Crisis; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; New York (city, NY)

January 2015
Case

Brentwood Associates: Exiting Zoës Kitchen

By: Joan Farre-Mensa and Stephanie Siu

The case discusses the trade-offs associated with the different exit options that private equity firm Brentwood Associates contemplated for its investment in Zoës Kitchen during the summer of 2013: an IPO, a sale to a strategic or financial acquirer, or waiting a few... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurship; Food and Beverage Industry; California

10 Apr 2015
News

General Electric looks to get out of the banking business

01 Oct 2010
News

'Delay and pray' won't work for commercial real estate

February 2011 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Gemini Investors

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Gemini Investors was a private equity firm focused on small and lower middle market businesses. Gemini's target investment size was between $4 million and $6 million and a typical portfolio company had revenue of between $8 million and $30 million. In early 2015,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Investment Funds; Markets; Size; Financial Services Industry; United States

2003
Article

Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Course Overview

By: Josh Lerner

This paper describes a course exploring the private equity industry, "Venture Capital and Private Equity". The goals of this article are two-fold: to make the structure and content of the class available to a broader audience beyond the audience of MBAs and executives... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity

Find at Harvard

2009
Working Paper

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

By: Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo and Robert C. Merton

The confluence of three trends in the U.S. residential housing market—rising home prices, declining interest rates, and near-frictionless refinancing opportunities—led to vastly increased systemic risk in the financial system. Individually, each of these trends is... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Mortgages; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; Mathematical Methods; Real Estate Industry; United States

12 Jun 2019
News

Busy IPO Market Offers Lifeline to Troubled Retailers

31 May 2023
Video

The Case for a New Climate Workforce and New Training Methods

09 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

How Should US Bank Regulators Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis?

Keywords: by Michael Blank, Samuel G. Hanson, Jeremy C. Stein, and Adi Sunderam

22 Dec 2010
News

Carlyle in talks to buy AlpInvest

October 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Kinetic Concepts, Inc.

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Dwight B. Crane and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about how the nature and function of a board changes as a company moves from ownership by its employees, including the founder, to ownership by a private equity firm, Fremont Partners, culminating in a highly successful IPO. Gives students the opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Initial Public Offering; Behavior; Organizations; Employee Ownership; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

September 2017
Article

The Real Effects of Capital Controls: Firm-Level Evidence from a Policy Experiment

By: Laura Alfaro, Anusha Chari and Fabio Kanczuk

Emerging-market governments adopted capital control taxes to manage the massive surge in foreign capital inflows in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Theory suggests that the imposition of capital controls can drive up the cost of capital and curb... View Details

Keywords: Capital Controls; Discriminatory Taxation; International Investment Barriers; Exports; Debt; Cost of Capital; Taxation; Investment; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Brazil

Find at Harvard

Read Now

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Spyder Active Sports, Inc. and CHB Capital Partners (A)

By: John A. Davis, Louis B. Barnes and Peter K. Botticelli

After establishing a small but profitable skiwear business, an entrepreneur decides to sell a minority stake in the firm to outside investors. His goal is to acquire the capital needed to grow the business, even though this will entail a substantial transformation of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Private Equity; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry