Publications

Find at Harvard

June 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

The Role of Real Estate in Endowment Portfolios: The Case of Christ Church, Oxford

By: David Chambers, Elroy Dimson, Arthur I Segel and Eva Steiner

The case centers on Christ Church's Treasurer, James Lawrie, who is contemplating his options for investing a portion of the College's endowment in real estate. Approximately 1/3 of the total $690 million endowment was allocated towards real estate, much higher than... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Endowment Management; Endowments; United Kingdom; Oxford; Portfolio Allocation; Higher Education; Investment Portfolio; Property; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

2018
Working Paper

Corporate Tax Cuts Increase Income Inequality

By: Suresh Nallareddy, Ethan Rouen and Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato

This paper studies the effects of corporate tax changes on income inequality. Using state corporate tax rate changes as a setting, we show that cutting state corporate tax rates leads to increases in income inequality. This result is robust to using regression and... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Taxation; Income; Equality and Inequality; United States

SSRN

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May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson

By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communication; Integrated Strategy; Brand; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Communication; Brand Differentiation; Brand Building; Brand Management; E-Commerce Strategy; Ecommerce; App; App Development; Applications; COVID; COVID-19; Pandemic; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Subscription Model; Subscription; Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; B2B Vs. B2C; B2B; Health ＆ Wellness; Wellbeing; Digitization; Commoditization; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Healthcare; Mobile Marketing; Digital Brand; Digital Health; Consumer Health; Apps; Online Business; Online Competition; Online Community; Online Entertainment; Entertainment And Leisure; Meditation; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Partners and Partnerships; Health; Well-being; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communication; Communication Strategy; Disruption; Consumer Behavior; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Communications Industry; United States; North America; United Kingdom

February 2018
Case

Root Capital and the Efficient Impact Frontier

By: Shawn Cole and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

In 2015 Root Capital, a pioneer in the impact investing space, began to explore how to more systematically integrate impact and financial management. After much deliberation, Root Capital landed on ex-ante rating system for any potential investment that produced a... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Finance; Performance Efficiency; Boston

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 10 Nov 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Impact Investing: Challenges and Opportunities

Never has there been a time when so many believed in both the ability and responsibility of the private sector to combat the world's greatest social challengesfrom poverty to climate change to accessible health care. Recent years have seen the creation of thousands of... View Details

27 Sep 2011
News

Harvard's Pozen: U.S. Would Profit From Changing Tax Code

15 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 15

prevailing research norm. The Role of Finance and Private Investment in Developing Sustainable Cities Author:John D. Macomber Publication:Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 23, no. 3 (summer 2011) Abstract Three trends will drive urban... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Career Coach

Thoba Grenville-Grey

Thoba wants to help students interested in investing careers from international backgrounds break into US roles by highlighting the nuances of the process and the potential resources and strengths students can lean into. Having worked in... View Details

25 Apr 2014
Video

Randy Hawthorne - Making A Difference

Mohammed Al Barwani

Keywords: Oil; Gas; Mining Exploration; Diversified

Research Summary

Islamic Financing Practices

By: Samuel L. Hayes

Samuel L. Hayes III is examining (with faculty of Harvard University's Law School and Center for Middle Eastern Studies) Islamic banking and investment practices. Because the Koran prohibits the payment of fixed interest and guarantees on funds invested either with... View Details

March 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Floodgate: On the Hunt for Thunder Lizards

By: Rory McDonald, Alix Burke, Emma Franking and Nicole Tempest

Founded in 2008, Floodgate pioneered the “micro-VC” category, a new type of investment firm that raised smaller funds and made earlier, smaller investments in technology startups than traditional venture-capital firms. By 2015, Floodgate had raised three funds totaling... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Business Models; Angel Investors; Crowdfunding; Incubators; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy

January 2025
Case

Apax Partners: Deciding Whether to Bid for Trader Corp.

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

Apax Partners’ investment committee was schedule to meet on March 21, 2011, to decide whether to invest in Trader Corporation, a Canadian classified advertising business for used automobiles with both print (magazines) and digital (website) distribution. What made this... View Details

March 2016
Article

The Role of Investor Gut Feel in Managing Complexity and Extreme Risk

By: Laura Huang

Securing financial resources from investors is a key challenge for many early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Given the inherent uncertainty surrounding a decision to invest in these ventures, prior research has found that experienced investors rely heavily on their... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Gut Feel; Intuition; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Complexity; Decision Making

Find at Harvard

16 May 2018
HBS Seminar

Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, Duke University, Economics

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 private capital... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity; Other Financial Services

25 Apr 2014
Video

Raj Bhatt - Making A Difference

July 2019
Teaching Note

Arlan Hamilton and Backstage Capital

By: Laura Huang

Teaching Note for HBS No. 419-029. Frustrated by an inability to convince existing venture capital firms to invest in companies led by women, people of color, and LGBT founders, Arlan Hamilton started her own firm, Backstage Capital, in 2015. Hamilton understood the... View Details

Keywords: Black Leadership; LGBTQ; People Of Color; Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Diversity; Gender; Race