Publications

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

sample of private firms for which there is financial data available in the years before and after their initial public offering (IPO), I differentiate between those that have private equity sponsorship (PE-backed firms) and those that do... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Micro Insurance Agency: Helping the Poor Manage Risk

By: Michael Chu and Jean Hazell

The notable success of insurance products for low-income clients of its microfinance network leads Opportunity International to launch the first global specialized microinsurance company, the Micro Insurance Agency (MIA). Building on the experience in 10 countries... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Cost Management; Microfinance; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Infrastructure; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America

15 May 2017
Sharpening Your Skills

The Promises and Limitations of Big Data

Source: peterhowell Although many people claim we have entered the era of big data, research firms tell us that most collected information is never used. It sits uncleaned, unanalyzed, unused in databases. But when data analytics is used successfully, organizations... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services

November 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Technical Note

Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets

By: Ramana Nanda, Robert F. White and Alexey Tuzikov

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Initial Coin Offering; ICO; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

2025
Working Paper

Tax Planning, Illiquidity, and Credit Risks: Evidence from DeFi Lending

By: Lisa De Simone, Peiyi Jin and Daniel Rabetti

This study establishes a plausible causal link between tax-planning-induced illiquidity and credit risks in lending markets. Exploiting an exogenous tax shock imposed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on cryptocurrency gains, along with millions of transactions in... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Taxation; Financial Liquidity; Credit; Financing and Loans; Financial Markets

Read Now

21 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 21

ratings play an important role in the financial system, but investors and regulators who use ratings cannot easily verify their quality, and ratings are paid for by the firms whose bonds are rated. The provision of quality ratings is at... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 May 2019
News

Tracy P. Palandjian, MBA 1997

others. That was her north star,” says the Harvard College graduate and former McKinsey consultant. Palandjian’s embodiment of her forebearers’ values is a theme in all aspects of her life, including her leadership of Social Finance, a thriving nonprofit that develops... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Profile

Cait Haught

finance." Yet Cait didn't neglect her desire for social impact. She created a partnership with Citizen Schools, a Boston afterschool program, to bring in outside experts who "spoke to the students on topics they wouldn't learn in the classroom, like View Details

Keywords: Financial Services

February 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

The Rise Fund: TPG Bets Big on Impact

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Sarah Mehta

It is March 2017, and TPG, a global alternative investment firm with $74 billion assets under management, has recently launched its inaugural impact-investing fund—the $2 billion Rise Fund. In an effort to “take the religion out of impact investing,” Maya Chorengel,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Impact Measurement; Equity; Investment; Measurement and Metrics; Financial Services Industry; California; San Francisco

August 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Pinnacle Ventures

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes a prospective "venture debt" loan to a new venture from the perspective of Patrick Lee, a principal at Pinnacle Ventures. Forces students to grapple with the nature of financial risk in the start-up firm and assess the prospective risks and returns to a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry

Web

Teacher Profiles - Case Method Project

Paltz High School New Paltz, NY MA Pat Kiley Marlborough High School Marlborough, MA Subjects: College Prep/Honors U.S. History, AP/Honors Economics, Financial Literacy CA Teresa Kim Vista Unified School District Vista, CA NJ Amethyst... View Details

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

Media.) Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-039.pdf From Social Control to Financial Economics: The Linked Ecologies of Economics and Business in Twentieth Century America Authors:Marion Fourcade and Rakesh Khurana... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2023
Teaching Note

Ava Labs: Navigating the Next Blockchain

By: Marco Di Maggio and Wenyao Sha

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 223-027. View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Decentralized Finance; Alternative Assets; Financial Instruments; Assets; Decisions; Financing and Loans; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry