Dr Henry Lahr

Professional biography

Before joining the Open University Business School, Henry was a research fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Business Research (CBR). He received his PhD on the pricing of listed private equity from Technical University Munich and has previously worked on several projects concerned with financing activities of innovative firms, the consequences of venture capital and private equity financing in small and large enterprises and the success factors of incubators and accelerators in the UK. His research at the CBR, TU Munich and the Open University was funded by the European Commission’s FP7 programme, the UK Innovation Research Centre, the German Federal Ministry of Finance and German State Media Authorities, as well as the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BEIS).

Research interests

• Financial constraints to investment and innovation
• Innovation dynamics in entrepreneurial firms, financing of research and development
• Listed private equity, venture capital and fund pricing
• Efficient capital markets, perception of risk by financial market participants
• Earnings management, financial reporting
• Quantitative methods in economics and finance

Ad-hoc reviews

Papers reviewed for: Research Policy; Journal of Corporate Finance; Journal of Business Finance and Accounting; Journal of Business Venturing; Financial Management; European Journal of Finance; Journal of Business Research; Financial Review; Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance; Journal of Small Business Management; Borsa Istanbul Review; Industrial and Corporate Change; Economics of Innovation and New Technology; Industry and Innovation; Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development; Emerging Markets Finance and Trade.

Teaching interests

Teaching (past and present)

• Qualification Lead for the MSc in Finance
• External examiner for banking and finance qualifications

Modules:

• B126 - Business data analytics and decision making (BSc Accounting & Finance)
• B815 - Financial markets and organisations (MSc in Finance)
• BB831 - Corporate finance (MBA)
• B874 - Finance for strategic decision-making (MBA)
• B859 - Financial strategy: valuation, governance and ethics (MSc in Finance)
• B860 - Research methods for finance (MSc in Finance)
• B861/B818 - Investment and portfolio management (MSc in Finance)
• B862/B819 - Derivatives and risk management (MSc in Finance)

PhD supervision

Prospective doctoral students with an interest in private equity (e.g., angel investing, VC, buyout, crowdfunding), innovation finance or behavioural finance and strong quantitative skills who want to pursue an academic career are encouraged to get in touch with Henry. Please send your CV and research proposal, which should outline your main research question and proposed methods or datasets, to henry.lahr@open.ac.uk.