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New research from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including entrepreneurship, new business ventures, and startup financing.
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Government Incentives for Entrepreneurship

by Josh Lerner

Even though many public policy efforts on entrepreneurship are well intentioned, the success rate has been disappointing. This essay explores these policies, focusing on financial incentives to entrepreneurs and the intermediaries who fund them.

Financial Distancing: How Venture Capital Follows the Economy Down and Curtails Innovation

by Sabrina T. Howell, Josh Lerner, Ramana Nanda, and Richard Townsend

Common wisdom holds that VC investment and VC-backed startups are relatively insulated from downturns. This study shows that the relative quantity and quality of innovation declines more for VC-backed firms than for other types of firms during downturns.

How Anchor Investors Help Impact Funds Succeed

by Sean Silverthorne

3Questions A startup fund's ability to attract a major first investor is a signal to others that the investment pool is just fine for entering. Shawn Cole and Rob Zochowski answer questions about anchor investors. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Coronavirus Careers: Cloud Kitchens Are Now Serving

by Lena Ye and Geoffrey Jones

Cloud kitchens are restaurants built around food delivery rather than sit-down service, and they are increasing in popularity as COVID-19 disrupts the industry, write Lena Ye and Geoffrey Jones. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Targeting High Ability Entrepreneurs Using Community Information: Mechanism Design in the Field

by Reshmaan Hussam, Natalia Rigol, and Benjamin N. Roth

Based on a field experiment involving 1,345 microentrepreneurs in India, this study provides insight into the depth and breadth of social knowledge contained in rural and peri-urban social networks. Harnessing community information directly from a microentrepreneur’s peers helps to identify high-growth microentrepreneurs and predict their returns to capital.

The Key to Powerful Social Change: Small Villages

by Dina Gerdeman

When institutions let us down, look for leadership outside of hierarchies, says Rosabeth Moss Kanter. These leaders "don’t wait to be asked; they just get moving." Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How Are Small Businesses Adjusting to COVID-19? Early Evidence From a Survey

by Alexander Bartik, Marianne Bertrand, Zoë B. Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Christopher Stanton

This survey of 5,819 small businesses in the United States shows that the pandemic has already caused massive dislocation among small businesses. Many businesses think they will not be able to survive if the crisis persists for the coming months. The immediacy of new funding will likely impact medium-term outcomes.

Contractual Restrictions and Debt Traps

by Ernest Liu and Benjamin N. Roth

Microfinance has failed to catalyze entrepreneurship in developing countries, despite abundant evidence of high return on investment opportunities. What can account for this? This study presents a theory in which firms that borrow from an informal lender may see their growth stalled and remain in the relationship indefinitely, even though they would have continued to grow in the absence of a lender.

How Small Businesses Can Survive the Coronavirus Outbreak

by Danielle Kost

COVID-19 will put many small businesses on life support. Karen G. Mills, who has been advising policymakers on aid options, offers guidance to owners on the brink of ruin. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Impact Investing: A Theory of Financing Social Entrepreneurship

by Benjamin N. Roth

The author provides a formal definition of organizational sustainability and characterizes the situations in which a social enterprise should be sustainable. The analysis then delineates when an investment in a social enterprise delivers superior impact to a grant.

Global Ocean Trust: Protecting the Blue Planet in New Ways

Re: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Following a successful career in finance, Torsten Thiele has devoted himself to the challenging cause of ocean conservation and stewardship. Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Thiele discuss strategy for solving one of the world's biggest problems. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

by Julia Austin

Identifying a customer's pain points is the first step for entrepreneurs in developing a new product. Julia Austin offers tips for choosing the right "job to be done." Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Why Backstage Capital Invests in ‘Underestimated’ Entrepreneurs

Re: Laura Huang

Laura Huang discusses VC Arlan Hamilton’s strategy of backing entrepreneurs who have been ignored because of stereotypes, biases, and preconceptions. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Tech Clusters

by William R. Kerr and Frederic Robert-Nicoud

We are witnessing a major transformation of business to achieve strategic positions in powerful tech hubs, but most workers and consumers will always be far away. The authors describe the spatial concentration of tech activity in the United States and explore the economics of tech clusters with an eye to the future of innovation and economic geography.

Can the Robin Hood Army Grow with Zero Financial Resources?

Re: Susanna Gallani

Over just a few years, volunteer-based Robin Hood Army had served meals to more than 9 million people around the world. Susanna Gallani discusses with founder Neel Ghose the challenges of growing while being a zero-funds organization. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How to Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

by Danielle Kost

It’s hard to call it quits on a business venture, but entrepreneurs can wind down a struggling startup while keeping their reputations and sanity intact, says Tom Eisenmann. The first step is knowing when to accept defeat. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Goldman Sachs’ $500 Million Bet on Small Businesses

Re: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Launched during the financial crisis in 2009, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program provided free business education, support, and access to capital for small businesses, graduating 7,300 participants. Len Schlesinger discusses the program's impact. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Field-Level Paradox and the Co-Evolution of an Entrepreneurial Vision

by Ryan Raffaelli and Richard DeJordy

Swiss watchmaking embodies the classic strategic paradox created by the introduction of new technology: the choice between resisting and defending, or embracing and prospecting. This paper offers a model for how fields and organizational leaders experiencing similar paradoxes can adapt to environmental change while still preserving valuable aspects of their past success.

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

by Dina Gerdeman

Using business to create social change has been at the center of many entrepreneurial efforts by Harvard Business School alumni. Howard Stevenson discusses their pragmatic approaches to overcoming long odds. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Incubators Take Notice: Your Entrepreneurs Are Networking with the Wrong People

by Danielle Kost

Startup incubators used by cities and companies to jump-start innovation have a problem to overcome. Attendees tend to network with people they already know, says research by Rembrand M. Koning. Open for comment; 0 Comments.