Publications

2019
Chapter

From Coast to Hinterland: Fiscal State Formation in British and French West Africa, c. 1880–1960

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

This chapter contrasts and compares the ways different colonial states in West Africa developed local fiscal capacity. We show that per capita revenues were higher in the more commercialised coastal export economies than in remote parts of the interior. We argue that... View Details

Keywords: Fiscal Capacity; Public Debt; French West Africa; British West Africa; Geography; History; Africa

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May 2025
Case

stc Group: DARE to Transform

By: Sunil Gupta and Sadika El Hariri

Established as a government-owned entity in 1998, stc Group was the sole telecommunications operator in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Soon after it was privatized in 2003, regional players started entering the Saudi market. To deal with the competition and to... View Details

May 2025
Case

The Micro-Family Office: Aamir Rehman

By: Lauren Cohen and Sophia Pan

With a successful career and strong academic credentials, Aamir Rehman sought to design a life grounded in autonomy. For him, this meant serving on boards, continuing his professorship, and ensuring a secure and comfortable life for his family. While he didn’t possess... View Details

29 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 29, 2018

for firms from industrialized economies and negative effects for firms in other emerging economies, which are less export-intensive and more import-intensive. Motivated by... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Sep 2014
News

The Changing Nature of Research

the globe. As a leader in management education, Harvard Business School has a strong commitment to improving the practice of management and to advancing a world that is more sustainable View Details

12 Apr 2023
News

Step Change

office on the African continent came in tandem with news the firm would partner with the IT Industry Development Agency over the course of three years to offer startup boot camps for seed-stage companies, a View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

2021
Working Paper

International Evidence on the Effects of a Local Presence by U.S. Credit Rating Agencies

By: Liran Eliner, Michael Machokoto and Anywhere Sikochi

Major U.S. credit rating agencies are criticized for failing to understand developments in other economies and thereby impeding capital access by assigning lower ratings. Consistent with this, we find that Moody's and S&P credit ratings are more favorable after the... View Details

Keywords: Credit Rating Agencies; Credit Ratings; Rating Adjustments; Rating Disagreement; Geographic Proximity; Soft Information; Credit; Geographic Location; Local Range

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January 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Note on Corporate Strategy

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

Introduces students to the study of corporate strategy. Focuses on questions of scope and ownership. Examines both horizontal and vertical integration. Underscores the point that economies of scope, or the existence of relationship-specific investments, are... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Contracts; Ownership; Corporate Strategy; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration

02 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2006

What can we do to make performance reviews more productive and less distasteful? Should their objectives be scaled back to just one or two? Should they be disengaged from the determination View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Choice Hotels International, 1995

By: Tarun Khanna and Israel Yellen Ganot

Illustrates the various ways in which Choice Hotels, the franchiser for seven mid-market hotel chains, can realize economies of scope across its multiple products. Also provides an opportunity to discuss the benefits and limitations of various organizational forms... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Competition; Franchise Ownership; Accommodations Industry; United States

01 Jun 2008
News

The Prophet of Start-Ups

prophet of this new “Start-up Nation,” the leader of a social and economic crusade that democratized the clubby world of finance. More than any... View Details

Keywords: Spencer E. Ante; George Doriot; Charles F. Kettering; Lawrence Lowell; F. Warren Hellman; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

April 1992
Supplement

Prelude Corp.: Afterthoughts

By: Norman A. Berg

Commentary by an executive familiar with the industry on what went wrong at Prelude and what the difficulties are in creating economies of scale in the lobster fishing industry. View Details

Keywords: Management; Problems and Challenges; Cost Management; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Jun 2025
News

Alumni and Faculty Books

turning-point story of an important, yet little-known, woman in US history. Faculty Books After the Idea: What It Really Takes to Create and Scale a Startup By Julia Austin,... View Details

01 Dec 2016
News

Alumni Books of 2016

insurgent's clear mission and purpose, an unambiguous owner mindset, and a relentless obsession with the front line) can resolve the predictable crises of growth. Scalability... View Details

July 2007
Article

Geographical Segmentation of U.S. Capital Markets

Demographic variation in savings behavior can be exploited to provide evidence on segmentation in US bank loan markets. Cities with a large fraction of seniors have higher volumes of bank deposits. Since many banks rely heavily on deposit financing, this affects local... View Details

Keywords: Age; Economy; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Local Range; United States

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October 2020
Case

HOPE and Transformational Lending: Netflix Invests in Black Led Banks

By: John D. Macomber and Janice Broome Brooks

Following the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day in 2020, the large US corporation Netflix elected to make a "transformational deposit" of $10 million into Hope Credit Union (HCU), a small Black led community development finance institution (CDFI) based in... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Rural Entrepreneurship; Economic Development; Black Entrepreneurs; Economic Growth; Credit; Banks and Banking; Entrepreneurship; Rural Scope; Development Economics; Race; Investment; Decision Making; Banking Industry