Empirical Corporate Governance

Identification number: 03.996.1320, advanced course, 6 ECTS, two hours per week lecture and two hours per week exercise, 1h exam, winter term

The course is offered in the winter term in the English language.

The course objectives are as follows. (1) Develop an understanding of the fundamental agency problem in corporate governance and discuss in an international context how mechanisms like monitoring by the board or by shareholders can solve this problem.(2) Learn empirical techniques for identifying the causal effects of corporate governance mechanisms on firm performance. (3) Comprehend and evaluate contemporary research on board effectiveness and shareholder activism. Derive implications for practice and regulation.

The first section of the course makes you familiar with the key concepts and mechanisms of corporate governance. The second section introduces modern econometric techniques for the empirical analysis of corporate governance mechanisms. The third section discusses contemporary research on the boards of directors and the role of shareholders and in corporate governance. The final section concludes and recaps.

After successfully registering for the course you can download the course materials via the Moodle.