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Finance

Finance

  • Faculty
  • Curriculum
  • Seminars & Conferences
  • Awards & Honors
  • Doctoral Students
Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students
    • September 2023
    • Case

    Cost of Capital at DraftKings

    By: Malcolm Baker, Sebastian Hillenbrand and James Barnett

    • September 2023
    • Case

    Cost of Capital at DraftKings

    By: Malcolm Baker, Sebastian Hillenbrand and James Barnett

    • September 2023
    • Case

    Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption

    By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey Barkas

    Founded by a formerly incarcerated job seeker, Honest Jobs' mission is to be the hub where people with criminal records come to build careers and employers come to find great talent. Honest Jobs faced early challenges as a two-sided platform for justice-involved job seekers and employers, but by 2022, the organization had partnered with 1,200+ employers and supported 40,000+ job seekers who were reintegrating with society. As 2023 approached, founder and CEO Harley Blakeman looked to raise a Series A round to supplement the $3M+ that had been raised in prior rounds. The decision Blakeman faced was whether to pursue impact-oriented VC firms or traditional firms and how much money to raise given hiring needs and expansion plans.

    • September 2023
    • Case

    Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption

    By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey Barkas

    Founded by a formerly incarcerated job seeker, Honest Jobs' mission is to be the hub where people with criminal records come to build careers and employers come to find great talent. Honest Jobs faced early challenges as a two-sided platform for justice-involved job seekers and employers, but by 2022, the organization had partnered with 1,200+...

    • September 2023
    • Case

    Diamond Standard

    By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger

    Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The commodity currency would be backed by a fungible resource, being the first in its field to have a physical-digital combination. Following the recent crypto-market crash, Kinney wondered if this was the right opportunity to launch his product. Although Kinney saw Carats as the best of both gold and other decentralized currencies, his advisors were wary of the potential regulatory risks that could ensue, in addition to the current dreary landscape of the crypto-market. Should Diamond Standard pursue Kinney’s vision of Carats, or focus its limited resources on other diamond-backed financial products?

    • September 2023
    • Case

    Diamond Standard

    By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger

    Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The commodity currency would be backed by a fungible resource, being the first in its...

About the Unit

Our strategy is to assemble and nurture a faculty whose interests and skills complement each other, and who work well together:

a) to produce a broad range of finance-related research that is published in top-tier scientific and practitioner journals, and that addresses issues of present and future importance to managers (including regulators and policy makers);

b) to develop highly-relevant and intellectually rigorous MBA and executive education courses; and

c) to mentor future academics through the Business Economics doctoral program.

Our applied focus and access to business organizations are major advantages which are reinforced by our students and our case-based approach. We have a faculty with broad expertise, and we have resources, field contacts, and institutional support, all of which we can leverage to do richer work and be more productive than we could at other institutions.

Recent Publications

Cost of Capital at DraftKings

By: Malcolm Baker
  • September 2023 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Related
Baker, Malcolm. "Cost of Capital at DraftKings." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 224-708, September 2023.

Cost of Capital at DraftKings

By: Malcolm Baker, Sebastian Hillenbrand and James Barnett
  • September 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Educators
Related
Baker, Malcolm, Sebastian Hillenbrand, and James Barnett. "Cost of Capital at DraftKings." Harvard Business School Case 224-007, September 2023.

Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey Barkas
  • September 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Founded by a formerly incarcerated job seeker, Honest Jobs' mission is to be the hub where people with criminal records come to build careers and employers come to find great talent. Honest Jobs faced early challenges as a two-sided platform for justice-involved job seekers and employers, but by 2022, the organization had partnered with 1,200+ employers and supported 40,000+ job seekers who were reintegrating with society. As 2023 approached, founder and CEO Harley Blakeman looked to raise a Series A round to supplement the $3M+ that had been raised in prior rounds. The decision Blakeman faced was whether to pursue impact-oriented VC firms or traditional firms and how much money to raise given hiring needs and expansion plans.
Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Recruitment; Employment Industry; United States; Colorado; Ohio; Texas
Citation
Educators
Related
Gompers, Paul A., and Jeffrey Barkas. "Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption." Harvard Business School Case 224-010, September 2023.

Diamond Standard

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Zhaoheng Gong and Grace Headinger
  • September 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Cormac Kinney, Founder and CEO of Diamond Standard, was on a mission to transform the U.S. diamond market through unlocking the precious gems as market-traded assets. As a serial FinTech entrepreneur, he hoped to add an additional service to his vault: Carats. The commodity currency would be backed by a fungible resource, being the first in its field to have a physical-digital combination. Following the recent crypto-market crash, Kinney wondered if this was the right opportunity to launch his product. Although Kinney saw Carats as the best of both gold and other decentralized currencies, his advisors were wary of the potential regulatory risks that could ensue, in addition to the current dreary landscape of the crypto-market. Should Diamond Standard pursue Kinney’s vision of Carats, or focus its limited resources on other diamond-backed financial products?
Keywords: Tokenization; Fintech; Cryptocurrency; Liquidity; Digital; Rare Earth Minerals; Decentralized; Crypto Economy; Financial Product; Metals; Diamonds; Commodity; Assets; Financial Instruments; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Investment; Technological Innovation; Natural Resources; Financial Services Industry; United States
Citation
Educators
Related
Cohen, Lauren H., Zhaoheng Gong, and Grace Headinger. "Diamond Standard." Harvard Business School Case 224-009, September 2023.

Raya Partners: Profitability and Purpose

By: Arthur Segel and Ephraim Mernick
  • August 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Raya Partners, a private equity firm, faces a crucial decision regarding Asa Specialty Coatings Company (ASCC). The dilemma involves shifting ASCC's manufacturing operations to Mexico, a move that would boost profitability and reduce emissions but result in significant layoffs in Vermont, impacting employees and the local community. Adrienne, Raya Partners' Chief Investment Officer, grapples with balancing financial gains, social responsibilities, and environmental considerations. The decision also tests Raya Partners' commitment to its ESG policy. Adrienne must devise a transparent communication strategy, explore fair severance packages, and consider ways to alleviate the financial burden. Ultimately, the choice made will define Raya Partners' values and shape ASCC's future.
Citation
Educators
Related
Segel, Arthur, and Ephraim Mernick. "Raya Partners: Profitability and Purpose." Harvard Business School Case 224-014, August 2023.

Viking Global Investors: Public Heritage, Private Opportunities

By: Luis M. Viceira, Ryan Gilland, Ashutosh Panchang and Tanner Crouch
  • August 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Educators
Purchase
Related
Viceira, Luis M., Ryan Gilland, Ashutosh Panchang, and Tanner Crouch. "Viking Global Investors: Public Heritage, Private Opportunities." Harvard Business School Case 224-019, August 2023.

Italy at a Crossroads

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Dante Roscini and Arthur I. Segel
  • August 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Educators
Related
Reinert, Sophus A., Dante Roscini, and Arthur I. Segel. "Italy at a Crossroads." Harvard Business School Case 724-013, August 2023.

Targeting, Personalization, and Engagement in an Agricultural Advisory Service

By: Susan Athey, Shawn Cole, Shanjukta Nath and Jessica Zhu
  • 2023 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
ICT is increasingly used to deliver customized information in developing countries. We examine whether individually targeting the timing of automated voice calls meaningfully increases engagement in an agricultural advisory service. We define, estimate, and evaluate a novel recommendation system that customizes contact times to individual characteristics. This system generates significant gains, up to an 8% increase over the baseline pickup rate of 0.31. Our approach, delivered at scale, is well-suited for developing country settings. We show how to optimize around resource constraints, measure equity-efficiency trade-offs when targeting vulnerable groups, and evaluate the robustness of recommendations to technology or preference shocks.
Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Knowledge Dissemination; Customization and Personalization; Performance Effectiveness
Citation
Read Now
Related
Athey, Susan, Shawn Cole, Shanjukta Nath, and Jessica Zhu. "Targeting, Personalization, and Engagement in an Agricultural Advisory Service." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-006, August 2023.
More Publications

In the News

    • 18 Sep 2023
    • Bloomberg

    MBAs Are Spurning McKinsey to Buy Small Companies

    Re: Royce Yudkoff & Richard Ruback
    • 12 Sep 2023
    • HBS Working Knowledge

    How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

    Re: Marco Di Maggio
    • 17 Aug 2023
    • HBS Working Knowledge

    ‘Not a Bunch of Weirdos’: Why Mainstream Investors Buy Crypto

    Re: Marco Di Maggio
→More Faculty News

HBS Working Knowledge

    • 12 Sep 2023

    How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

    Re: Marco Di Maggio
    • 17 Aug 2023

    ‘Not a Bunch of Weirdos’: Why Mainstream Investors Buy Crypto

    Re: Marco Di Maggio
    • 18 Jul 2023

    Will Global Demand for Oil Peak This Decade?

    Re: Joseph B. Lassiter & Lauren H. Cohen
→More Working Knowledge Articles

Harvard Business Publishing

    • March 2012
    • Article

    How to Make Finance Work

    By: Robin Greenwood and David S. Scharfstein
    • August 2023
    • Case

    Viking Global Investors: Public Heritage, Private Opportunities

    By: Luis M. Viceira, Ryan Gilland, Ashutosh Panchang and Tanner Crouch
    • 2017
    • Book

    HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company

    By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
→More Harvard Business Publishing

Seminars & Conferences

Sep 27
  • 27 Sep 2023

Tania Babina, Columbia Business School

HBS Finance Unit/Harvard Economics Department Seminars
→More Seminars & Conferences

Faculty Positions

Harvard Business School seeks candidates in all fields for full time positions. Candidates with outstanding records in PhD or DBA programs are encouraged to apply.
→Learn More

Contact Information

Finance Unit
Harvard Business School
Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
financeunit@hbs.edu

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