WEFI Lecture Series

A review of the economics of discrimination with a focus on the unique ways it manifests itself in firm formation and financing decisions. The presentation will cover the recent advances in testing alternative explanations for differential treatment by race and propose a framework for future research in the area.

An overview of the methodologies used to evaluate private equity performance. The presentation will feature key facts about returns, risks, and data sources at the fund level. Investment-level data will also be discussed.

A overview of a research agenda studying the connections between startups and incumbent firms. Those connections are multi-dimensional and link to broad economic subfields. For example, those connections can be in the form of market competition (industrial organization), labor mobility (labor), innovation competition and sharing, financial and strategic alliances, and asset allocation. We will build a framework to conceptualize those interactions and review key findings in the literature.

The vast majority of firms in the U.S. and across the world—including virtually all startups—are privately held. This presentation will begin by comparing the regulatory and information environments surrounding private firms and their more commonly-studied publicly listed counterparts. We will then discuss the differences between the financing, investment, and innovation policies of public and private firms, and we will try to connect these differences to their choice of listing status.

The debate around whether and how private equity add values is a perennial debate among both academic and policy-makers. This lecture will review the economics of private equity -- the sources of any possible value-add -- and the large academic literature documenting its effects.

This presentation focuses on the legal context, conceptual framework, and important empirical findings in small business bankruptcy. The discussion will focus on both the ex-ante effect of the bankruptcy institution--i.e., how it may affect innovation and entrepreneurtship; and the ex post resolution of small business cases.

The entrepreneurial firm plays a unique role in the production and dissemination of innovation. This presentation will present the major facts about small vs. large firm innovation and spillovers between the two.

The decision to enter entrepreneurship is determined by the assessment of return and risks, the evaluation of personal skills, and potentially non-pecuniary benefit in the utility function. These connect to discussions in behavioral economics and decision-making. This lecture will will connect topics in entrepreneurship research to the major themes of behavioral economics.