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Guy L.F. Holburn

Professor, Business, Economics and Public Policy

Ivey Alumni Association Toronto Chapter Professorship in Business Leadership

Guy L.F. Holburn

Contact Information


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Expertise

  • Strategy
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Globalization
  • Regulation
  • Sustainability
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
  • Corporate Governance

Research Publications

  • To search for publications by a specific faculty member, select the database and then select the name from the Author drop down menu.

Guy Holburn is Professor of Business, Economics and Public Policy at the Ivey Business School. His areas of expertise are strategy, corporate governance, stakeholder management, corporate social responsibility and regulation. He has published widely in top peer-reviewed academic journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Energy Policy, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Management Science, Organization Science, Public Choice, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategy Science. He has authored numerous reports on provincial and federal energy policies, and is a regular contributor to local and national media.

Dr. Holburn is the founder and former Director of the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre, Canada’s leading university-based centre for applied research on energy sector policy. He is also a board member of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, a member of the Council for Clean and Reliable Energy, and a director of London Hydro, a Canadian utility.

Dr. Holburn has served as an expert consultant and advisor to corporations and governments in Canada and the U.S, including Altalink, BC Hydro, Bell Canada, Bruce Power, Competition Bureau of Canada, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Government of Nunavut, GlaxoSmithKline, Hydro One, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Invenergy, London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors, NextEra, Southwest Ontario Economic Alliance, and Toronto Hydro. He has provided advice on corporate governance, economic impact assessments, merger/acquisition strategy, electricity regulation, pipeline regulation, and regional economic development strategy. He testified as an expert witness on utility regulation and corporate governance issues at the Muskrat Falls Inquiry, and he has also testified in court as an expert witness on business strategy issues in commercial litigation.

Dr. Holburn joined Ivey in 2001 and teaches both degree and executive development programs. Previously, he worked for several years as a management consultant for Bain and Company in England and in South Africa, and for the California Public Utilities Commission. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. Hons. (First Class) from Cambridge University.

Programs Taught

  • MSc
  • PhD
  • Executive Education

Education

  • BA Hons, First Class - Cambridge University
  • MA, University of California - Berkeley
  • PhD, University of California - Berkeley

Recent Refereed Articles

  • Holburn, G. L. F.; Maxwell, J.; Bonardi, J. P., (Forthcoming), "Safe Bets, Long Shots and Toss-Ups: Strategic Engagements between Activists and Firms.", Management Science
  • Fremeth, A.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Piazza, A., 2022, "Activist Protest Spillovers into the Regulatory Domain: Theory and Evidence from the U.S. Nuclear Power Generation Industry", Organization Science, May 33(3): 1163 - 1187.
  • Fremeth, A.; Holburn, G. L. F., 2020, "The Impact of Political Directors on Corporate Strategy for Government-Owned Utilities: Evidence from Ontario's Electricity Distribution Sector", Energy Policy, August 143
  • Jiang, F. J.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Beamish, P. W., 2020, "Repeat Market Entries in the Internationalization Process: The Impact of Investment Motives and Corporate Capabilities", Global Strategy Journal, May 10(2): 335 - 360.
  • Guerello, A.; Page, S.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Balzarova, M., 2020, "Energy for off-grid homes: Reducing costs through joint hybrid system and energy efficiency optimization", Energy and Buildings, January 207
  • Jiang, G. F.; Holburn, G. L. F., 2018, "Organizational performance feedback effects and international expansion", Journal of Business Research, September 90: 48 - 58.
  • Holburn, G. L. F.; Raiha, D., 2017, "Startups Are Turning Customers into Lobbyists", Harvard Business Review
  • Fremeth, A.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Vanden Bergh, R., 2016, "Corporate Political Strategy in Contested Regulatory Environments", Strategy Science, December 1(4): 272 - 284.
  • Jiang, F.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Beamish, P. W., 2016, "The Spatial Structure of Foreign Subsidiaries and MNE Expansion Strategy", Journal of World Business, April 51(3): 438 - 450.
  • Fremeth, A.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Richter, B. K., 2016, "Bridging Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Organizational Research: Applications of Synthetic Control Methodology in the U.S. Automobile Industry", Organization Science, March 27(2): 462 - 482.
  • Jiang, G. L. F.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Beamish, P. W., 2014, "The Impact of Vicarious Experience on Foreign Location Strategy", Journal of International Management, September 20(3): 345 - 358.
  • Holburn, G. L. F.; Vanden Bergh, R., 2014, "Integrated Market and Nonmarket Strategies: Political Campaign Contributions around Merger and Acquisitions Events in the Energy Sector", Strategic Management Journal, March 35(3): 450 - 460.
  • Fremeth, A.; Holburn, G. L. F.; Spiller, P. T., 2014, "The impact of consumer advocates on regulatory policy in the electric utility sector", Public Choice, January 161: 157 - 181.
  • Holburn, G. L. F., 2012, "Assessing and Managing Regulatory Risk in Renewable Energy: Contrasts between Canada and the United States Energy Policy", Energy Policy, May 45: 654 - 665.
  • Fremeth, A.; Holburn, G. L. F., 2012, "Information Asymmetries and Regulatory Decision Costs: An Analysis of U.S. Electric Utility Rate Changes 1980-2000", Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, February 28(1): 127 - 162.

For more publications please see our Research Database

Experience

  • Consultant, Bain & Company, London, U.K. and Capetown, South Africa (1993-1995)
  • Research Fellow, California Public Utilities Commission (1999-2000)

Research/Course Development

  • Competitive strategy
  • Regulation
  • Energy, utilities and infrastructure
  • Stakeholder management

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