Publications

December 2003
Case

Sale of Hephaestus, Inc. to Vulcan Ventures, Inc.

Henry Hephaestus founded Hephaestus, Inc. in 1895. Its first product was a tapered roller bearing for use with horse-drawn wagons and carriages. It reduced friction on the axle and reduced the force necessary to move a heavy load, thereby enabling one horse to do the... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Family Ownership; Manufacturing Industry

15 Feb 2017
Op-Ed

What Africa Can Teach the United States About Funding Infrastructure Projects

care, security, and more). These are valid reasons. But there are workarounds that work. At Harvard Business School, my research looks at ways that the private sector can finance and deliver public... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction

1999
Other Unpublished Work

Executive Ownership and Control in Newly Public Firms: The Role of Venture Capitalists

By: Malcolm Baker and Paul Gompers

We study the implications of CEO equity ownership for incentives and control in a sample of 1,011 newly public firms. Before an initial public offering, equity investments by venture capitalists reduce CEO ownership by about half, from an average of 35 percent to 19... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Ownership; Motivation and Incentives; Initial Public Offering; Investment; Venture Capital; Managerial Roles; Cost Management; Governance Controls; Executive Compensation

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February 2022
Supplement

SpartanNash Company: The Amazon Warrants (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

18 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Payout Taxes and the Allocation of Investment

Keywords: by Bo Becker, Marcus Jacob & Martin Jacob

Career Coach

Veni Arora

Veni worked in private equity and management consulting before HBS and spent her summer at eBay working with the Product team. While looking for her summer internship, she spent time evaluating multiple... View Details

20 Aug 2020
Blog Post

“Business as Usual, In a Different Way” – Creating an Impactful Remote Internship at Actis

For Nikki Mason, Rachael Henley, and their team at Actis, it was never a matter of if they should continue their Global Summer Associate Programme in 2020, but how they would do it well. The Actis Internship Program Actis is a global emerging markets View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity; Venture Capital / Private Equity

February 2009 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Fannie Mae: Public or Private?

By: David A. Moss, Cole Bolton and Kimberly Hagan

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan established the President's Commission on Privatization to identify federal government functions that could be shifted to the private sector. One agency that the Commission considered was the Federal National Mortgage Association, or... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Financial Institutions; Mortgages; Government and Politics; Business History; Privatization; Private Sector; Laws and Statutes; United States

February 2010
Article

Global Currency Hedging

By: John Y. Campbell, Karine Serfaty-de Medeiros and Luis M. Viceira

Over the period 1975 to 2005, the US dollar (particularly in relation to the Canadian dollar) and the euro and Swiss franc (particularly in the second half of the period) have moved against world equity markets. Thus these currencies should be attractive to... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Equity; Financial Markets; International Finance; Investment Return; Globalized Markets and Industries; Risk Management

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November 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Background Note

Accounting for Marketable Securities and the "Recycling" of Income

Gives an overview of accounting for equity investments less than 20%. Uses this accounting to introduce the issue of amounts included in the statement of comprehensive income during a different time period from its inclusion in net income (sometimes called "recycled... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Investment; Equity

December 2003 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Building Hedge Funds at Prospero Capital

This case discusses the issues facing a relatively new and small equity hedge fund as it attempts to expand its investor base. View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Business Startups; Finance; Financial Services Industry

Keywords: Finance

November 2012
Case

Ahold versus Tesco—Analyzing Performance

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Penelope Rossano

The case relates to understanding and comparing the performance of two leading retail companies—Ahold and Tesco. The case introduces the tools of Dupont and Modified Dupont Decomposition. While performance as measured by return on equity has been similar for the two... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Retail Industry

January 2002 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Renationalization of Railtrack?

Railtrack faces bankruptcy five years after its privatization. Railtrack's performance deteriorated since its privatization in 1996, exhibited by its weakening financial health, unsatisfactory services, poor safety record, and mismanaged investment program. In October... View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Privatization; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; State Ownership; Rail Industry; United Kingdom

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January 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

The Galaxy Dividend Income Growth Fund's Option Investment Strategies

By: W. Carl Kester

This case is designed to provide an elementary introduction to options and option pricing for beginning finance students. Analysis of the case requires students to compare the prices of put and call options with various exercise prices and maturity dates on two... View Details

Keywords: Options; Option Contract; Option Pricing; Derivatives; Mutual Funds; Call Options; Put Options; Stock Options; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility; Financial Services Industry; United States

14 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Cost of Capital for Alternative Investments

Keywords: by Jakub W. Jurek & Erik Stafford

March 2025
Case

Taylor Guitars: Making Employee Ownership Work the Taylor Way

By: Dennis Campbell, Petros Kusmu and Stacy Straaberg

In 2013, guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars’ co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug were considering several exit options including selling to a competitor or to a private equity firm. The co-founders decided, instead, to embark on a seven-year process to transfer 100%... View Details