Advanced Corporate Governance (SFI)

Prerequisites

Master students can take the course if they have passed “Introductory Corporate Governance” class with a minimum grade of “6” in the final exam. Interested Ph.D. students are invited to take this class as an advanced course as part of their curriculum. A basic knowledge of econometrics and capital markets is required to successfully participate in this course.
Objectives

This course gives students a better understanding on how corporate governance can be of value for an investor. On the one hand it discusses the direct impact of corporate governance on company performance and whether this information is efficiently reflected in asset prices. On the other hand it shows how corporate governance creates trading opportunities for investors.

Description / Program

The course is structured into three parts. The first part is an introduction to the relation between corporate governance and asset prices. In this introduction we recapitulate basic econometrics, the concept of market efficiency, the capital asset pricing and its empirical implementation in STATA. In the second part we discuss academic articles presented by students (45 minutes including 15 mins discussion). Finally, the third part is a term paper.

Learning Method / Style of Lessons
Seminar style, lectures, PC exercises, student presentations, classroom discussions.

Exam Style

The exam consists of a graded presentation and a small empirical study carried out in a term paper where the newly acquired knowledge from the first and second part is applied. Both count roughly 50% and class participation will be recognized too.

Readings/Textbooks

Reading list distributed in class.