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2013/2014  KAN-IBS_IB49  International Corporate Governance

English Title
International Corporate Governance

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course period Spring
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Therese Strand - Department of International Economics and Management (INT)
Steen Thomsen er ikke fagansvarlig for IB49
Main academic disciplines
  • Economics, macro economics and managerial economics
Last updated on 02-07-2013
Learning objectives
The aim of this course is to gain an in-depth understanding of corporate governance and how corporate governance influences corporate behavior and performance. The course will introduce the students to corporate governance issues and teach them to analyze how different corporate governance mechanisms – like ownership and board structure, legal systems and incentives – contribute to the solution of agency problems and influence corporate economic performance. Using this framework the course will then study the impact of corporate governance on corporate performance depending on company specific factors. The course will enable students to undertake a corporate governance review of an individual company including an assessment of how ownership, board structure, managerial incentives and system characteristics influence company performance.

More specifically students will upon completion (within the practical limitations of a single course) be able to:
  • Identify and analyze corporate governance (agency) problems using agency theory and competing perspectives
  • Analyze how corporate governance mechanisms like law, ownership, boards and compensation mitigate agency problems
  • Analyze how the corporate governance of a particular company is likely to influence its economic behavior and performance.
  • Identify how the governance, behavior and performance of individual companies are shaped by the national governance system, in which they operate.
Course prerequisites
The course builds on and extends a basic undergraduate understanding of management, strategy, accounting, law and finance.
Examination
IB49 International Corporate Governance:
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 5 pages
Assignment type Case based assignment
Duration 48 hours to prepare
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period April and May/June
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure
Individual exam; 48-hour case (max. 5 pages per student). The regular exam takes place in March/April. Make-up/ re-exam takes place in June.
Course content and structure

Corporate Governance can be defined as the “operating system” for company managers. Governance in this sense includes company law, ownership structure, boards and management incentives. As governance differs from company to company and from country to country, international managers need a professional understanding of these differences. The course introduces students to the mechanisms of governance in different systems such as the US, Japan, Germany, and Scandinavia. The course covers the mechanisms of governance and comparative systems of governance.
Teaching methods
Dialogue-based lectures and case discussions.
Expected literature

Steen Thomsen & Martin Conyon. Corporate Governance; Mechanisms and Systems. McGraw Hill 2012

Supplemented by additional readings uploaded on LEARN).
Last updated on 02-07-2013