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Is Rooftop Solar Finally Good Enough to Disrupt the Grid?

Harvard Business Review

The costly and complex operations of transporting energy have made utilities natural monopolies, while regulatory barriers and the high fixed costs of building and maintaining regional electrical grid infrastructure have also kept much competition at bay.

Energy 8
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Joint Ventures Reduce the Risk of Major Capital Investments

Harvard Business Review

For instance, the cost of building and equipping a leading-edge semiconductor fab has climbed to $7 billion, as the technology required to make more advanced chips is getting more complex. Driven by economies of scale, container ship size has been increasing for decades, with the largest ships now costing roughly $200 million.

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How to Know If a Spin-Off Will Succeed

Harvard Business Review

The diverging fortunes of two recent spin-offs in the energy industry illustrate how financial markets value autonomy from the parent. For example, after its spin-off from International Paper, Arizona Chemical drastically changed its market approach from a drive for volume to margin optimization.