This is an advanced course in corporate finance. Its goal is to bring students to the frontier of knowledge in the field so that they can prepare them to begin conducting research. During the semester, we focus primarily on the following topics in applied corporate finance: 1. Accounting irregularities and misreporting 2. Internal control quality and audit quality 3. CEOs’ early-life extreme experiences, educational backgrounds, early career experiences, and management styles 4. The fetal origins hypothesis in finance: prenatal environment, gender gaps, and investor behavior 5. Climate change risks and opportunities; the impact of pollution on investor behavior and corporate policies; and greenwashing versus brownwashing 6. Exploring natural capital opportunities, risks and exposure 7. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies 8. Token-based platform finance and B2B financing 9. Innovation 10. Entrepreneurship 11. Intergenerational persistence of occupational choice 12. Trending topics, including water quality

C. COURSE OBJECTIVES Whether or not you are considering an academic career in finance or accounting, by the end of this course you will be equipped with a range of financial concepts essential for conducting professional-level research and analysis. Specifically, the learning objectives of the course are to enable students to: 1. Analyze accounting irregularities and financial misreporting. 2. Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of internal control. 3. Assess challenges in the existing literature on the relationship between CEOs’ early-life experiences, educational backgrounds, early career experiences, and management styles. 4. Examine the long-term effects of fetal origins on socioeconomic and non-health outcomes. 5. Analyze the impact of pollution on investor trading behavioral biases, equity analysts’ forecasting biases, and corporate policies. 6. Assess the effects of climate change risks and opportunities on stock performance and firm policies. 7. Evaluate opportunities, risks, and exposure related to natural capital. 8. Analyze the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies on stock performance and corporate decision-making. 9. Analyze token-based platform finance and B2B financing models. 10. Investigate the drivers of innovation and entrepreneurship. 11. Analyze intergenerational persistence in occupational choices. 12. Explore issues related to water pollution. D. LEARNING OUTCOMES On successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Critically evaluate empirical research in corporate finance. 2. Explain key issues related to accounting irregularities and financial misreporting. 3. Critically evaluate the quality and effectiveness of internal control. 4. Critically assess challenges in the literature on the relationship between CEOs’ early-life experiences, educational backgrounds, early career experiences, and management styles. 5. Explain the fetal origins hypothesis in finance, including the roles of prenatal environments, gender gaps, and investor behavior. 6. Assess the policy implications of CO₂ emission reductions for corporate strategy. 7. Assess asset pricing models related to carbon risk and climate risk. 8. Evaluate opportunities, risks, and exposures related to natural capital. 9. Evaluate whether investors and workers value sustainability 10. Compare token-based platform finance with B2B financing models. 11. Explain key issues related to innovation and entrepreneurship. 12. Analyze the drivers of intergenerational occupational persistence.

Prior coursework in financial accounting, statistics, and corporate finance is preferred. Given the structure of the 16-week semester and the fact that the course topics require a foundational understanding of corporate finance, undergraduate students in their first or second year are strongly advised to defer enrollment in ECON5222 until they have completed introductory coursework in economics or financial management. Students may consider taking ECON5222 in their third or fourth year. Please note that Advanced Corporate Finance (ECON5158) is not a prerequisite for this course.

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