Corporate Finance   [Archived Catalog]
2015-2016 School of Law Bulletin (Archived Copy)
   

LAWS 605 - Corporate Finance


Credits: 3

This seminar will explore legal and regulatory options for addressing global climate change. We will begin with materials examining the scientific evidence and projections of climate change, then move on to attempts at international legal and quasi-legal mechanisms, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol,and the Copenhagen Accord. We will also cover U.S. domestic climate policy options, including regulation under the Clean Air Act and at state level,and contrast these policies with those in place in other developeA. This is a course in financial economics as applied to legal problems. Topics will likely include economics of valuation (including consideration of risk and return and the capital asset pricing model), the efficient market hypothesis and the accuracy of stock prices more generally (theories, evidence, and limits), the mechanics and economics of the stock market through which firms raise equity capital, the role of stock prices in capital allocation and corporate governance, event studies, option theory, dividends and share repurchases, debt and leverage, and the theory of the firm. Overall, the course can be seen as a financial­ economics-based survey of some of the more prominent advanced-level topics in corporate and securities law.

Prerequisites: Business Corporations or Corporations

Basis of Grade: Exam performance, with slight adjustments based on in-class participation and performance. Class may involve both a midterm and a final exam.

Form of Grade: Letter