Investor Protection - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Problem with Hedge Funds

the fund grows or declines. The investor is further away from the actual management of his or her fund than during the Internet bubble. The outcome is not likely to be much better. Despite the temptation to think so, an View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs

IRS argues that the difference in stock price is actually income to the entrepreneur. # 9: Issuing founder shares without vesting. Simply put, vesting protects the members of the founding team who take the venture forward. If people... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

30 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

How to Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

love the product? Or investors who believed in the founder and her dream? Many entrepreneurs rightly want to protect the interests of these constituencies, Eisenmann says, and will strive to do so by keeping... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

employees and lower-level managers to report problems. With customers and investors more attentive than ever to corporate social responsibility, firms that act ethically will have a competitive advantage, Nelson says. “You have more... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

20 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 20

12, 2012, BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced an offer to buy Media General's (MEG) newspaper division for $142 million in cash and provide debt financing to the struggling firm. Reactions from View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

lab, and a pharmacy. Could they convince rural Indians to leapfrog from local healers to telemedicine? And could they convince investors that their capital intensive, bundled offering was a high-growth, self-sustaining venture?... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 18

entering this market would present unique challenges for Vanguard. Vanguard had a philosophy espousing low-turnover investing, while ETFs enabled short-term trading. The company would also need to develop a distribution network for ETFs. Finally, since Vanguard's... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Aug 2021
Op-Ed

Dispensing Justice: The Case for Legalizing Cannabis Nationally

services. Institutional investors, such as endowments and pension funds, often have “vice clauses” prohibiting investments in Schedule I industries. Even private investors are dissuaded by the industry’s lack of access to bankruptcy... View Details

Keywords: by Ashish Nanda and Tabatha Robinson

18 Sep 2019
Op-Ed

WeWork—The IPO That Shouldn’t?

more recently floated, as low as potentially $15 billion. This would constitute a “down round,” and typically prior venture investors receive extra shares to protect their ownership percentage in a down... View Details

Keywords: by Nori Gerardo Lietz; Financial Services; Real Estate

20 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms

percent more than when executives who share the political views of their colleagues depart. “The stock price drops a lot, suggesting that investors actually view these executives as very valuable and that those departures are not in the... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

25 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

A Macroeconomic View of the Current Economy

certain strategic assets that are important for building critical military equipment. One can be too cautious about reliance on foreigners. In the early 19th century, the British thought their grain supply was strategic, and they View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

24 Feb 2022
Op-Ed

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

investors. If these results were replicated in health care, in the short term, patients could select hospitals with more adequate surge capacity arrangements and investors in hospital debt and equity would reward them. In the longer run,... View Details

Keywords: by Regina Herzlinger and Richard Boxer; Health

20 Jul 2021
Research & Ideas

Bankruptcy Spells Death for Too Many Businesses

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is supposed to allow companies to shed debt and get a fresh start. Ideally, creditors recover most of what they’re owed as the restructured firm begins turning a profit. Yet, more companies are liquidated... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

18 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

After the 'Crypto Crash,' What's Next for Digital Currencies?

Bitcoin, Terra, and Celsius has renewed calls for regulators to protect consumers from fly-by-night currency operators, scammers, and theft. How vulnerable are crypto investors, particularly the retail-level amateur investors? Kominers: I... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Financial Services; Technology

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

filed since the coronavirus started rocking the US economy in mid-March, including Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, Dean & DeLuca, CMX Cinemas, and Gold’s Gym. The latest: JCPenney on May 15 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after 118... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

06 Dec 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Doing Business in Emerging Markets

protections has done little to manage the risk in many of these politically unstable environments. Professor Louis T. Wells, coauthor of a new book on making foreign investment safe, discusses the current landscape. Key concepts include:... View Details

22 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 22, 2006

argues that legal origin determines both the extent of investor protections and level of financial market development (La Porta, Lopez de Silanes, Shleifer and Vishny, 1997, 1998, 2000). I test three... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 May 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Thinking About Global

landscape. Key concepts include: Although property rights protections for investors in developing nations have improved since 1980, the new instruments are failing to satisfy the interests of either host... View Details

02 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

The Role of Government When All Else Fails

making certain types of public risk management less necessary. How this pans out is something that I plan to pay close attention to in the coming years. Q: Your book seems particularly timely given all the recent debate as to the government's role in View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

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