Publications

December 1997 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Valuing Capital Investment Projects

By: W. Carl Kester

A collection of problems that introduces students to the application of discounted cash flow analysis in the evaluation of capital budgeting problems. View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Capital; Cash Flow; Investment; Valuation

Research Summary

Globalization of Human Capital

By: Nitin Nohria

One of the most significant dimensions of the current wave of globalization is the globalization of human capital. Whether it is low cost, skilled manufacturing workers in China, software and customer service professionals in India, or highly skilled employees in... View Details

19 May 2022
News

Cost of Capital

February 2023
Teaching Note

Collab Capital

By: Natalia Rigol

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 821-067. View Details

December 2021
Case

Grace Capital

By: Sara Fleiss, Robin Greenwood, Eren Kuzucu and Denise Han

In March 2020, the global pandemic was delivering a dose of volatility to the U.S. economy. Catherine Faddis, the CIO of Grace Capital, a Boston-based long-only equity manager, analyzed movements in her portfolio while eyeing previously shelved opportunities to invest... View Details

Keywords: Preferred Stock; COVID-19 Pandemic; Economy; Health Pandemics; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Strategy; Decision Making; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2019 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Rent-a-Center/Vintage Capital

By: Guhan Subramanian and Caeden Brynie

Christopher Korst, General Counsel for Rent-A-Center (RAC), looked at the time. It was late in the evening on December 17, 2018, yet no notice of extension had come from Vintage Capital. In June, Vintage had agreed to buy RAC for $15 per share in cash, amounting to... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Communication; Decision Making

09 Dec 2010
News

Reinventing Capitalism

07 Dec 2011
News

Cautious capitalism

01 Dec 2004
News

Capitalizing Poetry

Barr Photo courtesy Poetry Foundation In 2002, pharmaceutical heiress Ruth Lilly made a gift in excess of $100 million to the Modern Poetry Association (now the renamed Poetry Foundation). Tapped in February to figure out what to do with the foundation’s windfall was... View Details

Keywords: poetry; Arts, Entertainment; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

April 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Columbia Capital Corporation: Summer 1998

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Justin D. Wasik

In August 1998, the partners of Columbia Capital in Arlington, Va. made a decision about whether or not to raise an outside fund for venture capital investing. Columbia had begun in 1988 as a boutique investment bank focused on the telecommunications industry, but had... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Partners and Partnerships; Investment Funds; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

2012
Working Paper

Leviathan in Business: Varieties of State Capitalism and Their Implications for Economic Performance

By: Aldo Musacchio and Sergio G. Lazzarini

In this paper we document the extent and reach of state capitalism around the world and explore its economic implications. We focus on governmental provision of capital to corporations—either equity or debt—as a defining feature of state capitalism. We present a... View Details

Keywords: State Capitalism; State-owned Enterprises; Development Banks; Sovereign Wealth Funds; Economic Systems; State Ownership; Sovereign Finance; Business and Government Relations; Investment

Read Now

August 2000 (Revised July 2002)
Background Note

Fundamental Enterprise Valuation: Invested Capital

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

A technical note that defines invested capital (IC). View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Valuation; Capital

March 2014
Article

Do Analysts Follow Managers Who Switch Companies? An Analysis of Relationships in the Capital Markets

By: Francois Brochet, Gregory S. Miller and Suraj Srinivasan

We examine the importance of professional relationships developed between analysts and managers by investigating analyst coverage decisions in the context of CEO and CFO moves between publicly listed firms. We find that top executive moves from an origin firm to a... View Details

Keywords: Management Turnover; Analyst Coverage; Capital Market Relationships; Capital Markets; Relationships

SSRN

February 2002
Article

Market Timing and Capital Structure

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

It is well known that firms tend to raise equity when their market values are high relative to book and past market values. We document that the resulting effects on capital structure are very persistent. As a consequence, current capital structure is strongly related... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Equity; Capital Structure; Theory; Market Timing; Financial Markets

Read Now

How has China's economic model evolved, and what kind of capitalism does China practice? In this essay, three scholars of China's political economy describe the system as "party-state capitalism," in which China's economy is organized around the regime's political... View Details

July 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

York Capital and Enovix

By: William Vrattos, Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In June 2020, Jeremy Blank prepared for a meeting with his fellow partners at York Capital to discuss an investment he had championed in Enovix, a company developing a state-of-the-art, silicon-based battery. Early-stage technology companies, like Enovix, were not... View Details

Keywords: Investment Evaluation; Partners and Partnerships; Investment Portfolio; Judgments; Opportunities

April 2014
Case

Don Valentine and Sequoia Capital

By: Felda Hardymon, Tom Nicholas and Liz Kind

Don Valentine participated in the beginnings of two significant milestones: the birth of the silicon chip and the development of the venture capital industry. From humble beginnings, Valentine became a legendary salesman at Fairchild Semiconductor and National... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Semiconductor Industry

2014
Chapter

Firms and Global Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter forms part of the two-volume Cambridge History of Capitalism, a definitive new reference work that traces the history of capitalism from its origins to the present day. The chapter focuses on the role of business enterprises as powerful actors in... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; American History; Economic History; Business History; Labor History; Slavery; Numeracy And Quantification; Science And Technology Studies; History Of The Book; International Investment; International Business; International Marketing; Globalization; History

January 1994 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Aberlyn Capital Management: July 1993

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

Aberlyn Capital Management, a venture leasing firm specializing in providing capital to biotechnology firms, proposes to introduce a new product. Aberlyn will base a lease on an intangible product: the patent of a biotechnology firm. This poses a series of short and... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Valuation; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Patents; Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry