90456 - The Law and Economics of Corporate Governance

Learning outcomes

The course introduces the students to the economic principles of financial transactions and financial contracts. In a financial transaction, a buyer and a seller exchange an asset for payment. The course will use the principles of financial economics and corporate finance to teach the students the main characteristics of financial transactions, particularly in the presence of asymmetric information, agency problems, holdouts and transaction costs, and the incentive schemes produced by the main legal remedies and contract clauses typically adopted in financial contracting. At the end of the course, the student will know the main contingencies pertaining to specific types of financial transactions (purchases, loans, mortgages, etc.) will have the ability to map the risks associated to those contingencies, and prioritize them. The student will also be able to apply economic techniques to correct those risks.

Course contents

1. Economic theories of the firm

a) the firm as authority

b) the firm as a nexus of contracts

c) the firm and specific investment

3. Law and finance

4. International perspective: Italy, Germany, UK, USA, Japan

Readings/Bibliography

Oliver Hart: Firms, contracts and financial structure, Ch 2. OUP

Material distributed in class (see "Virtuale" button at the righ hand side)

Teaching methods

Lctures + students' presentations

Assessment methods

Written test, one hour long

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Alberto Franzoni