AMES, Iowa -- Josh Lerner recently led an international team of scholars in a study of the economic impact of private equity for the World Economic Forum. The Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at the Harvard Business School, Lerner will share what he learned from that research when he visits Iowa State University on Wednesday, April 23, as part of the F. Wendell Miller Lecture Series.
He will present a talk titled "The Great Debate: Private Equity and Its Impact on the Global Economy" at 10:45 a.m. in Room 2117 of the Gerdin Business Building. The event is free and open to the public.
"Private equity has attracted unprecedented attention the past two years," Lerner said. "These funds -- which use equity and debt to buy, restructure, and sell companies -- have been both lauded as long-run investors who heal firms, and criticized for their myopic outlook and outsized profits. This talk will explore who these shadowy actors are, how they work, and what their impact on the larger economy is."
Much of Lerner's research focuses on the structure and role of venture capital and private equity organizations. It has been published in two books he co-authored titled "The Venture Capital Cycle" and "The Money of Invention," as well as top academic journals. He also examines technological innovation and how firms are responding to changing public policies -- research that was discussed in the book "Innovation and Its Discontents."
Lerner founded, raised funding for, and continues to organize two groups at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) -- Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy, and the Economy Group -- and is a research associate in its Corporate Finance and Productivity Programs. He serves as co-editor of NBER's publication, Innovation Policy and the Economy.
Prior to earning his Ph.D. from Harvard's economics department, Lerner worked for several years on issues concerning technological innovation and public policy at the Brookings Institution for a public-private task force in Chicago, and on Capitol Hill.
Additional information on Lerner can be found at http://www.people.hbs.edu/jlerner/.
The F. Wendell Miller Lecture Series is an annual slate of university-wide speakers funded by the Miller Endowment Trust. In 1995, Iowa State University received part of an estate bequeathed by F. Wendell Miller, an Iowa attorney and farm manager. Revenue from the endowment is used to improve undergraduate teaching at ISU and enhance the intellectual vitality of the campus.
This lecture is also supported by the Committee on Lectures and funded by the Government of the Student Body.
Additional information on this event is available at http://www.bus.iastate.edu/outreach/miller_lecture.asp.
