Publications

03 May 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership

Keywords: by Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner; Banking; Financial Services

March 1999 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Saevig Corporation

By: Henry B. Reiling and Mark Pollard

The taxpayer purchased land and later transferred it to a family controlled corporation in return for an earn out. When funds were eventually received, the IRS treated them as dividends, whereas the individual and corporate taxpayers contended they were sums paid on... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Debt Securities; Taxation; Outcome or Result; Financial Reporting; Family Business; Assets; Business and Stakeholder Relations

Web

Entrepreneurship

with access to leading entrepreneurship faculty, curated programs, funding opportunities, and a network of knowledgeable and experienced experts. New Venture Competition/Demo Day Application is Live! Apply Here (must be current HBS... View Details

2023
Working Paper

Flow-Driven ESG Returns

By: Philippe van der Beck

I show that the recent returns to ESG investing are strongly driven by price impact from flows towards ESG funds. Using data on institutional trades, I estimate the market’s ability to accommodate the demand of ESG funds, which is given by the elasticity of... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Markets; Investment Return

Read Now

September 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Norway Sells Wal-Mart

By: Robert C. Pozen and Aldo Sesia

In June 2006, Norway's Pension Fund decided to divest its position in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. after an investigation by the Fund's Ethics Council. According to a spokesperson of Norway's Finance Ministry, "The recommendation to exclude Wal-Mart cites serious and... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Ethics; Insurance; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Government and Politics; Rights; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Power and Influence; Retail Industry; Norway

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

policy, community engagement, and new funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. He explains the U.S. EPA’s role in balancing climate action with economic development, while promoting environmental... View Details

Guhan Subramanian

Guhan Subramanian is the Joseph Flom Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and the Douglas Weaver Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School. He is the first person in the history of Harvard University to hold... View Details

March 2024
Supplement

Miracle Therapeutics (B)

By: Satish Tadikonda, William Marks and Wendi Yajnik

Supplements the (A) case. Following on the negotiations detailed in the Miracle Therapeutics (A) case, Beth Sharp and Jennifer Brilliant from Miracle Therapeutics face new challenges with their company's funding and intellectual property (IP) after several missteps.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Intellectual Property; Problems and Challenges; Business or Company Management

Book Review

Review of One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, by Kevin Kruse

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

One Nation under God provides a powerful and timely creation story for conservative public religion in postwar America. It contributes to a growing field of historical scholarship on corporate funding for free enterprise politics and religious interpretations of... View Details

Find at Harvard

January 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Portugal: Can Socialism Survive?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Portugal was not ready to join the European Monetary Union in 1999. With strong unions, weak competitiveness, and a legacy of socialism, it could not compete with north-European countries. After borrowing extensively to fund deficits, Portugal went into debt crisis in... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Financial Crisis; Economic Systems; Portugal

December 1999 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Capital Alliance Private Equity: Creating a Private Equity Leader in Nigeria

Describes the creation of the first private equity fund in Nigeria and the fund's potential first investment in GS Telecom, a Nigerian telecommunication service company. The fund's managers are keenly aware that a bad first investment could create a vicious circle for... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Telecommunications Industry; Nigeria

15 Oct 2014
News

The Next Generation of Social Networks

June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin

The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Investment; Profit; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

July 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (A), The

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

The CFO of General Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, Shanghai General Motors (SGM), wants to refinance almost $900 million of project finance it raised to begin operations. The highest priority is improving the terms of the financing with regard to costs and specific... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Joint Ventures; Financing and Loans; Auto Industry; Shanghai

January 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

OhmConnect: Energizing the Future

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Jennifer Fonstad and Nicole Tempest Keller

Founded in 2013, OhmConnect was a free consumer web app that alerted customers about peak hours of electricity demand, and paid them to lower their energy use at home during these periods. The company sold the aggregated reductions generated by thousands of households... View Details

Keywords: App Development; Renewable Energy; Electricity Usage; Regulations; VC; Technology; Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC); Scalability; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business Model; Venture Capital; Energy Industry; United States; California; Texas; Europe

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details