Courses
Business & Government Courses at Harvard University 2012-2013
Harvard University offers many courses that explore the business-government relationship, at Harvard Kennedy School (as part of the "Business, Government, and Policy Concentration" as well as other HKS courses), Harvard Law School, and Harvard Business School.
Harvard Kennedy School Courses in the Business, Government, and Policy Concentration
BGP-100: The Business-Government Relationship in the United States
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Roger Porter
This survey course is designed to help students think analytically about the ways in which government and business interact with one another in a mixed economy. It examines: (1) how business and government are organized and how they seek to influence one another; (2) how government policies affect the competitive positions of individual firms and industries and how firms and industries compete to influence such policies; (3) the ways in which government policies affect economic growth and the ways in which governments seek to achieve a variety of noneconomic objectives; and (4) how to define national economic interest in an increasingly integrated global economy. Although the focus is on U.S. business-government relationships, comparisons are made to ways in which government and business interact in other nations.
BGP-150Y: Seminar: Business and Government
Semester: Year
Faculty: John Haigh, Philip Hanser
This seminar structures and directs students' efforts on a Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) in the area of business and government. The students receive guidance from the seminar leader and a faculty advisor from their area of concentrated substantive policy development work. The objective of the seminar is to help students select their topics and advisors, to help students refine their research activities and approach to addressing a specific policy problem, and to create a supportive social infrastructure for students working on their PAE. Students will be matched with individual advisors (apart from the faculty leading this seminar) who are specialists in the area in which the student is doing the PAE and who are in the best position to give customized advice. The early part of the seminar is organized around topic/client selection, matching students with advisors, and research design. The latter part focuses on how to organize the materials gathered for the PAE. Students will give each other feedback and present their findings to the seminar. Open to MPP2 students only. Taught jointly with ITF-150Y.
BGP-200: Strategy, Competition, and Regulation
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Erich Muehlegger
Regulation is one of the primary means by which the government affects firm decisions. Through a combination of lecture and case discussions, this course provides a framework for understanding strategic firm behavior and the objectives, consequences, and design of government regulation. Designed for students interested in the intersection of business and government, topics include competitive strategy, collusion, cartels, antitrust regulation, natural monopoly, environmental regulation, international trade, and health and safety regulations. In addition, the course examines the political economy of existing and prospective policies, introducing questions of fairness and justice, the influence of politics, and competition between jurisdictions.
BGP-201: Industry Structure, Strategy, and Public Policy
Semester: Spring
Faculty: F. M. Scherer
Provides a systematic economic and historical framework for evaluating industrial policies such as agricultural crop price supports, international dumping and subsidy rules, energy policy, technology policy, competition policy (antitrust), public regulation, and corporate bailouts. It proceeds through a series of 10 industry case studies, in order: agriculture, crude petroleum, petroleum refining, steel, integrated circuits, computers, the Internet, automobiles, pharmaceuticals (domestic and international), and beer. Grading will be on the basis of two short “policy papers” and a final examination. A longer industry study can be substituted for the final exam.
BGP-204M: Food Policy and Agribusiness
Semester: Spr Mod4
Faculty: Ray Goldberg
This course deals with public and private management of an industry sector that encompasses half the world's labor force, half the world's assets, and 40% of consumer purchases. The public policy issues of economic development, trade, nutrition, food safety, the environment, maintaining limited natural resources, protecting plant and animal diversity, intellectual property, genetics, and social and economic priorities will all be developed in case study format. Positioning public agencies and private firms within the developed and developing economies will be an integral part of the course. Wherever possible, the CEO or leading government official involved will be a guest at the class. Students may do a reading and research report for an additional one-half credit. Grading for the course is based on class participation (65%) and two written analyses of case studies (35%).
BGP-230M: Corporate Social Responsibility
Semester: Spr Mod3
Faculty: John Ruggie, Jane Nelson, Steven Lydenberg
This module provides an overview of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and responsible investment, focusing on today's interplay between large corporations and governments, intergovernmental institutions, investors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Over the past several decades many factors have contributed to increased expectations for corporations to adopt CSR programs as governments have reduced their regulatory and ownership roles in favor of market-based approaches. Advocates have seen CSR as a means of addressing governance gaps where government is weak. Critics have seen CSR as an intrusion of corporate interests in the public sphere where government is strong. During its evolution, CSR has progressed from traditional philanthropy to encompass not only what companies do with their profits, but also how they make them. Through their stakeholder relations and business models, companies can help address environmental concerns, human rights public policies and practices. Companies can also identify opportunities for innovative products, technologies and business models aimed at solving social or environmental challenges. CSR has also become a tool for investors, to mitigate emerging social, environmental and governance risks and to identify opportunities for aligning financial performance with social, environmental and governance (ESG) performance. In addition, CSR has become a lever for civil society organizations to influence corporate practice and public policy. The course focuses on large multinational corporations and examines tools used to improve corporate social risk management, accountability and transparency and tools used to enhance corporate social innovation and shared value. What has worked, what hasn't, and why? What are CSR's limits? What is the future of CSR? The module surveys the literature and examines topical examples drawn from today's US and global experiences.
BGP-254: Global Strategic Management
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Jordan Siegel
Do you aspire to be a leader in an international organization or to occupy a policy role in which you seek to attract or otherwise regulate foreign direct investment? This course is unique not only in providing tools and frameworks for understanding what leads global multinationals to make different strategic investment decisions. This class is also useful for those who may in the future take on regulatory and/or development promotion roles in which one has to deal with global multinational firms. The idea is that in order to attract foreign direct investment or to regulate foreign direct investment, one needs to understand what makes multinationals tick. The course is organized around Prof. Siegel's Top Ten Strategies of Global Multinationals. These strategies range widely, including everything from product strategy recombination to borrowing/renting foreign institutions to arbitraging labor market differences. At the end of the semester, we apply the lessons of the course towards a real problem of a global multinational company in a kind of project laboratory. Overall, this course is unique in its focus on global strategy formulation and execution while at the same time incorporating a large amount of institutional analysis. The idea is that institutional analysis leads to strategy formulation, which in turn leads to the successful execution of strategy by the leader of the global multinational organization. This is a 20+ session group project course and meets on the HBS X schedule during the 8:30am-9:50am time slot. Please see the HBS calendar for more details. BGP-254 does not count towards the cap of HBS classes that Kennedy School students can take as cross-registrants. Also offered by Harvard Business School as HBS 1534.
BGP-264M: Capital Market Regulation
Semester: Spr Mod3
Faculty: Robert Glauber
Examination of the structure, competitiveness and social utility of U.S. capital markets as the basis for considering the range of proposals for financial regulatory reform growing out of the recent world-wide financial crisis. Specific topics will likely include: mechanisms for controlling risk in financial institutions, particularly capital and liquidity requirements; the unique problem of systemic risk; dealing with illiquid and insolvent institutions, including resolution authority; optimal regulatory structure; reform of securitization; regulation of derivatives trading; consumer protection; the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the role and regulation of credit rating agencies; regulating executive compensation, particularly as it effects systemic risk. Classes will be primarily based on interactive discussion, but will also include lectures and regular guest speakers. Required written work will be a final take-home examination. The course assumes a basic understanding of finance and financial markets, but requires no prior professional or academic work in this field. Also offered by the Law School as HLS 2018.
BGP-510Y: HKS-HBS Joint Degree First-Year Seminar
Semester: Year
Faculty: Joseph Bower
This required seminar introduces degree candidates in the first two years of the joint programs (both MPP-MBA and MPA/ID-MBA) to key policy and management issues at the interface of the business and government sectors. It complements their learning in the required curricula of HBS and HKS, aids them in selecting appropriate elective courses, and provides context for choosing and pursuing employment in the summers following the first and second years of the joint program. It also promotes the development of program cohort cohesion in the short term and professional identity in the longer run. A unifying pedagogical goal of the seminar is to prepare students to identify the political, market, and managerial aspects at work in issues at the interface of business and government institutions. Understanding these very different dimensions of complex problems provides a basis for applying professional skills and knowledge to help resolve them. Required for first-year students in the joint HKS/HBS degrees, and not open to other students. Meets all year, generally on alternate weeks.
Harvard Kennedy School Courses Outside the Business & Government Concentration but with Relevance to Business & Government
API-126: American Economic Policy
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Jeffrey Liebman, Martin Feldstein, Lawrence Summers
Analyzes major issues in American economic policy, including national savings, taxation, health care, Social Security, budget policy, monetary and fiscal policy, and exchange rate management. Current economic issues and policy options are discussed in detail and in the context of current academic thinking. Prerequisites: Econ. 1010a or 1011a; API-101; or permission of instructor. Also offered by the Economics Department as Ec 1420.
API-135: Fundamentals of Environmental Economics and Policy
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Robert Stavins
Provides a survey, from the perspective of economics, of public policy issues associated with environmental protection and natural resources management. Lectures on conceptual and methodological topics are combined with examinations of specific resource and environmental issues, with particular focus on global climate change economics and policy. Prerequisite: Introductory microeconomics. Also offered by the Economics Department as Ec 1661.
API-141: Finance
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Akash Deep
This course provides a general survey of finance and investments. It emphasizes an intuitive, logically rigorous understanding of the theory and practice of financial markets, illustrating the concepts through examples and cases drawn from diverse settings. Topics covered include: present value; diversification; the trade-off between risk and return; market efficiency; pricing of stocks and bonds; the capital asset pricing model; term structure of interest rates; the principle of arbitrage; derivative securities such as forwards, futures, and options; use of derivatives for hedging; real options; and risk management. Case discussions illustrate a wide range of applications of the theory including pension fund investment, rate of return regulation, hedge fund strategies, currency risk management, weather micro-insurance, privatization, deposit insurance and the subprime crisis. Prerequisites: Assumes knowledge of basic high school mathematics, familiarity with spreadsheets, and a course in microeconomics.
API-148: Advanced Risk Management and Infrastructure Finance
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Akash Deep
The course presents an advanced treatment of the theory of financial risk management and its application to infrastructure finance. The theory presented in the course covers the topics of economic and financial rate of return, measurement of risk exposure, cost of funds, capital structure, valuation methods, dynamic hedging using futures and swaps, and credit risk models and derivatives. Applications, discussed mostly in the form of infrastructure cases, will examine issues related to project finance, public-private partnerships, project appraisal, risk allocation, debt management, commodity, interest-rate and currency risk hedging, credit enhancement, regulation and privatization. Prerequisite: Prior course in finance at the level of API-141 or equivalent.
API-164: Energy Policy Analysis
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Joseph Aldy
This course provides an overview of energy policy issues with an emphasis on the analysis necessary to frame, design, and evaluate policy remedies to energy problems. The course is intended for doctoral students interested but not necessarily specializing in energy issues. The course is offered in support of the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) Graduate Consortium on Energy and Environment, http://environment.harvard.edu/student-resources/graduate-consortium. Prerequisites: Multivariate calculus. Permission of the instructor.
API-302: Analytic Frameworks for Policy
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Richard Zeckhauser
This course develops abilities in using analytic frameworks in the formulation and assessment of public policies. It considers a variety of analytic techniques, particularly those directed toward uncertainty and interactive decision problems. It emphasizes the application of techniques to policy analysis, not formal derivations. Students encounter case studies, methodological readings, modeling of current events, the computer, a final exam, and challenging problem sets. Prerequisites: An understanding of intermediate-level microeconomic theory and introductory techniques of optimization and decision analysis; API-101, API-102, or equivalent. Open to MPP1 students only if they have exempted from API-101. Also offered by the Economics Department as Ec 1415.
API-304: Behavioral Economics and Public Policy
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Brigitte Madrian
This course will examine the relationship between behavioral economics and public policy. In contrast to the standard rational model of economic behavior, human beings have limited cognitive abilities and limited willpower. Because of this, individuals frequently make decisions that systematically depart from the predictions of standard economic models. Behavioral economics attempts to understand these departures and integrate psychologists’ understanding of human behavior into economic analysis. The course will review the major themes of behavioral economics and address the implications for public policy in a wide variety of domains, including: retirement savings, social security, household borrowing (credit cards, mortgages, payday lending), education, energy use, health care, addiction, organ donation, tax collection and compliance, and social welfare programs.
API-905Y: Seminar on Environmental Economics and Policy
Semester: Year
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Faculty: Robert Stavins, Martin Weitzman
This is an advanced research seminar on selected topics in environmental and resource economics. Emphasizes theoretical models, quantitative empirical analysis, and public policy applications. Includes presentations by invited outside speakers. Students prepare critiques of presented papers and prepare a research paper of their own. Prerequisites: This course is intended primarily for PhD students in economics, political economy and government, public policy, or related fields with interests in applications in the environmental and natural resource area. Prerequisites include a graduate-level course in microeconomic theory, such as Econ. 2010a, Econ 2020a, API-109, API-110, or permission of instructor. Also offered by the Department of Economics as Ec 2690hf.
DPI-135M: Public Management Innovation and Reform
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Elaine Kamarck
At the beginning of the 21st century, many of the world's nations are engaged in serious efforts to reform their governments. This course is a review of government reform and modernization efforts around the world. It deals with the most common areas in need of reform and innovation such as civil service, regulation, service delivery, and the fight against corruption. It looks at innovations that involve the use of information technology, performance management, and competition to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government. In addition to class lectures and discussions, the course will focus on global experiences with best practice.
DPI-562: Public Problems: Advice, Strategy and Analysis
Semester: Fall
Faculty: Archon Fung, David Barron
This is a jointly taught seminar that is required for students in their third and fourth years of the HLS/HKS joint degree program. It will use a series of case studies to examine how to analyze, advise and strategize the resolution of a series of difficult real world public problems at the intersection of law and policy from the vantage point of government decision makers at the city, state and federal levels, as well as from the vantage point of nongovernmental organizations and advocacy groups. Students enrolled at the Kennedy School who have already received a JD or have completed the first year of law school, or students at the Law School who have received a public policy degree or are presently enrolled in a public policy program other than the HKS program may also take this seminar with the permission of Professors Barron and Fung. Also offered by the Law School as HLS 2398.
IGA-103: Global Governance
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: John Ruggie
This course focuses on the interplay among states, international organizations (such as the UN, WTO, IMF, and World Bank), multinational corporations, civil society organizations, and activist networks in global governance. Cases are drawn from a broad range of issue areas, including peace and security, economic relations, human rights, and the environment. The objective is to better understand the evolution of global governance arrangements and what difference they make, in light of globalization and emerging geopolitical changes. Also offered by the Law School as HLS 2100.
IGA-331M: Business and Human Rights
Semester: Spr Mod4
Faculty: John Ruggie
Human rights traditionally have been conceived as a set of norms and practices to protect individuals from threats by the state, attributing to the state the duty to secure the conditions necessary for people to live a life of dignity. The postwar international human rights regime was premised on this conception. Gradually, obligations under this regime were extended to individual persons, holding them to account for conduct that rises to the level of international crimes. The most recent development, which emerged in the 1990s, has been to establish the principle that business enterprises, particularly multinational corporations, have human rights responsibilities independent of legal requirements in their countries of operation. This module examines the emergence of business and human rights as the latest frontier in the postwar human rights revolution. It addresses both legal developments and voluntary initiatives across a spectrum of industry sectors, types of firms, and regions.
IGA-410: Energy Policy: Technologies, Systems, and Markets
Semester: Fall
Faculty: Henry Lee
Energy is a critical component of every dimension of human society. It is an essential input for economic development, transportation, and agriculture, and it shapes national and international policies in the environmental, national security, and technology arenas. IGA-410 is an introductory energy policy course which discusses the policy dimensions of the energy choices needed to meet economic and environmental goals in both the near and long term. Oil and gas markets, electricity policy, end use - efficiency options, technology innovation, renewable energy, and climate change will be covered. The first part of the course introduces students to quantitative and qualitative analytical tools to assess energy problems and the fundamental concepts of energy policy. The second part uses case studies to explore specific challenges. Previous exposure to micro-economics is useful, but not required.
IGA-520: Political Economy of Innovation for Sustainability
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Calestous Juma
This course examines the role of technological innovation in sustainability, focusing on the current international efforts to foster "green economies." It explores the relationships between contemporary innovation and ecological disruptions. While new technology is seen by some as an important source of economic productivity and global competitiveness, others point to the potential risks that such technologies pose to human health and the environment. However, the same techniques have the potential to contribute to ecological management. The course examines the political economy implications of new technological applications for sustainable development, drawing from specific case studies. It cover the following themes: (1) theoretical and historical aspects of technology and sustainability; (2) interactions between environment and development; and (3) the role of innovation policy in addressing ecological challenges, with particular emphasis on transnational relations and institutions. Training in natural or engineering sciences in not a requirement.
IGA-523M: Innovation Systems and Global Development
Semester: Fall Mod1
Faculty: Calestous Juma
IGA-524M: Technology Policy and Global Development
Semester: Fall Mod2
Faculty: Calestous Juma
ITF-110: The Political Economy of Trade
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Robert Lawrence
This introduction to international trade policy takes an interdisciplinary approach, examining the economics, law, and politics of this field. It does not assume an extensive knowledge of economics. The sequence of topics covered in the class are the gains from trade; basic instruments of trade policy (tariffs, treaties, and negotiating authority); the World Trade Organization and other international institutions; preferential trade arrangements; how trade disputes arise and are resolved; and a series of current issues such as trade in services, agriculture, investment, and labor rights. The class also simulates the Doha Round negotiations.
ITF-150Y: Seminar: International Trade and Finance
Semester: Year
Faculty: John Haigh, Philip Hanser
This seminar structures students’ efforts and supplements their concentrated substantive work with faculty advisors on a Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) in the area of international trade and finance. The objective of the seminar is to help students select their topics and advisors and to create a supportive social infrastructure for students working on their PAEs. Students will be matched with individual advisors (apart from the faculty leading this seminar) who are specialists in the area in which the student is doing the PAE and who are in the best position to give customized advice. The early part of the seminar is organized around topic/client selection, matching students with advisors, and research design. The latter part focuses on how to organize the materials gathered for the PAE. Students will give each other feedback and present their findings to the seminar. Open to MPP2 students only. Taught jointly with BGP-150Y.
ITF-220: The Economics of International Financial Policy
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Gita Gopinath
This course deals with the macroeconomics of open economies. The emphasis will be on models appropriate to major countries. Topics covered include: the foreign exchange market, devaluation, and import and export elasticities; the simultaneous determination of the trade balance, national income, the balance of payments, money flows, and price levels; capital flows and our increasingly integrated financial markets; the transfer problem; monetary and fiscal policy in open economies; international macroeconomic interdependence and policy coordination; supply relationships and nominal anchors for monetary policy; the determination of exchange rates in international money markets; and international portfolio diversification. Prerequisites: Microeconomics at the level of API-101 and macroeconomics at the level of API-121. Knowledge of international trade theory and econometric techniques is also desirable, but not essential. Students must be very comfortable with algebra. Also offered by the Economics Department as Ec 1531. May not be taken for credit with Ec 1530.
ITF-225: The Future of Globalization: Issues, Actors, and Decisions
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Robert Lawrence, Lawrence Summers
This course examines the economic, political, and social issues raised by globalization -- its impact on jobs, inequality, poverty, and the environment -- for citizens, societies, and nations. These issues are addressed with a focus on the economic interests and political powers of the actors that constitute the international system and the structures within which those actors operate to produce decisions and outcomes. We provide conceptual and empirical foundations, such as the economics of trade and of international finance, and use these to illustrate the issues and actors. We use analytical frameworks to understand hotly debated issues of the day -- such as Greece and the Euro crisis and the rise of China -- and also how structures and institutions created today will shape the decisions of the future. We do this through lectures, in-class debates, readings, and simulation exercises that place students in the shoes of the decision makers facing complex choices.
MLD-411: Budgeting and Financial Management
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Linda Bilmes
Budget concepts and techniques are central to the successful operation of government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. This rigorous introductory course aims to demystify the budget process for those who are new to the world of budgeting. It covers the entire budget process, including budget formulation and execution, program development, cost and revenue estimation, budget strategies and tactics, and budget evaluation. The course will include performance-based budgets, performance measurement, variance analysis, activity-based costing, cost accounting, capital budgeting, and finance. The course will use case discussions, problem sets, online tutorials, and individual and group exercises. Students taking this course may enroll in MLD-412, a follow-on course in "applied budgeting" in the spring. Students who complete the course successfully may participate in the MLD-411 alumni program. Prerequisite: Students should be familiar with Microsoft Excel. Permission of the instructor required for non-HKS students.
MLD-412: Advanced Applied Management, Operations, and Budgeting
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Linda Bilmes
This course will enable students to work on the actual budgets and financial operations of local municipalities and school districts in the areas of cost accounting, activity budgeting, and performance budgeting. Prerequisite: API-141 or MLD-411 or MLD-411M or MLD-401.
MLD-601: Operations Management
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Mark Fagan
This course is an introduction to operations management which entails creating public value by efficiently delivering quality services. The course provides students with the tools to identify opportunities for improvement, diagnose problems and barriers, and design efficient and effective solutions. The course uses the case method of instruction, drawing examples primarily from the public and nonprofit sectors with some private sector cases. The course roadmap is: creating value, delivering quality services, delivering efficient services, managing performance, utilizing technology, and addressing unique challenges. Throughout the course, tools will be introduced including process mapping and reengineering, capacity and root-cause analysis, and total quality management. The course capstone is a client project in which student teams help local agencies solve actual operational problems. The course is oriented toward the general manager or those interested in an introduction to the field. A Friday recitation provides additional practice with the tools that are taught.
PED-101: Economic Development: Theory, Evidence, and Policy
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Dani Rodrik, Asim Khwaja, Rohini Pande
This is a semester long course that provides a graduate-level overview of the theory of, and evidence on, economic development and the design of development policy. The course will identify key features of the development process across countries, and then combine an analytical framework with rigorous empirical evidence to identify when and how public policies can enable economic growth and development. Topics covered include: contemporary and historic features of development; household models of development and investment in human capital; economy-wide models of trade and growth; and structural transformation. This course is open to MPA/ID and Economics graduate students. Others by permission of instructors only. Also offered by the Economics Dept. as Ec 2327.
PED-209: Management, Finance, and Regulation of Public Infrastructure in the Developing World
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Henry Lee
This course will explore efforts to manage, finance, and regulate the transportation, telecommunication, water, sanitation, and energy infrastructure systems in developing countries. Issues to be discussed include public-private partnerships, the fundamentals of project finance, contract and discretionary regulation, and managing the political context in which infrastructure decisions are made. The course will rely on case material taken from infrastructure programs in developing countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Laos, Argentina, Chile, Lesotho, Uganda, Madagascar, and India, as well as key developed countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
PED-210: Public Finance in Theory and Practice
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Jay Rosengard
Examines policy options, with their strategic trade-offs and operational implications, for the design and implementation of public finance in both high-income countries and developing/transitional economies. Covers the role and size of the public sector, including the rationale for public sector interventions such as market failure and distributional concerns; public resource mobilization via direct and indirect taxation, including the economics of taxation, taxation of income, wealth and consumption, tax incentives, tax compliance and enforcement, and tax reform, as well as user charges and fees; public expenditure policy, including assessment of government social protection programs and public sector efficiency and effectiveness; balanced budgets, deficit financing, debt management, fiscal consolidation, and fiscal sustainability in the context of the global economic crisis and the debate over fiscal stimulus vs. fiscal austerity policies; and fiscal decentralization and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Emphasizes utilization of theoretical and applied techniques in a comparative context for evaluation of the impact of alternative resource mobilization and expenditure policies on allocative efficiency, social equity, and macroeconomic stability. Heavy use of case studies. No economics course prerequisites. To see a short VIDEO describing this course, please follow this link.
PED-329: The Microeconomics of Competiveness: Firms, Clusters, and Economic Development
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Michael Porter
This course is about competitiveness and economic development viewed from the microeconomic perspective. While sound macroeconomic policies, stable legal and political systems, and the accumulation of factors of production affect the potential for competitiveness, wealth is actually created at the microeconomic level. The course covers both developing and advanced economies and examines competitiveness and economic policy at the national level, the regional level within nations, and for groups of neighboring countries. Addresses government policy toward the economy as well as the implications for business, universities, and other institutions. Taught using the case method. Significant advance preparation for class is required. Prerequisites: Open to graduate students from all parts of the university. Advanced training in management or economics required. Interested students must complete the online application by the deadline in early January . Also offered by the Harvard Business School as HBS 1260. Enrollment restricted.
SUP-582: Health Policy Reform: Comparative Approaches to Reducing Inequalities
Semester: Fall
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Faculty: Mary Ruggie
The United States spends more than any other country on health care, yet ranks low among developed countries in terms of equality in access and health outcomes. At the same time, inequalities in health care abound across the states in the U.S. This course asks how and why some policies and programs are more successful than others in reducing inequalities based on SES, race/ethnicity, age, and gender. We compare efforts in the U.S. with those in Canada, Britain, and Germany, as well as efforts at decentralized levels, including across the states in the U.S., in a search for transferrable lessons and best practices. Our main focus is new developments in financing, paying physicians and other providers, and delivering primary and integrative health care. We examine the roles of public and private sector actors, the distribution of responsibilities for provision and outcomes, the construction of regulatory frameworks, forms of rationing, and the relationship between health and social policy.
Selected Courses on Business & Government at Harvard Law School
The 2007-2009 Financial Crisis
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Holger Spamann
This seminar will examine the recent financial crisis's alleged causes and the regulatory response. Likely topics include: securitization; derivatives; credit rating agencies; bank capital regulation; investment bank supervision; repo financing and money market funds; executive compensation; interest rate policy; and housing policy. In class, we will ask if these are plausible culprits, and if the events confirm or challenge our prior understanding of markets. Students are expected to write a seminar paper examining the adequacy of the regulatory response to one particular alleged problem, and to discuss their preliminary findings in class in the second half of the semester. Doing so in teams of two students is encouraged.
Administrative Law
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Cass Sunstein
This course will examine the legal controls on government regulation, in areas as diverse as environmental law, national security, communications, foreign affairs, taxation, labor-management relations, and much more. Pervasive questions will involve the constitutional legitimacy of "the regulatory state"; the procedures that are supposed to improve and discipline agency decisions; the right to a hearing; the role of cost-benefit analysis; and the allocation of power between regulators and judges. A distinctive feature of the course will be frequent focus on democratic theory, on regulatory policy, and on how administrative law can actually make society work better or worse.
Comparative Corporate Governance
Semester: Fall
Faculty: Luca Enriques
This seminar will discuss comparative corporate governance mainly with a legal policy perspective. Likely topics include venture capital, ownership structures and deviations from the one-share-one-vote principle, tunneling, the market for corporate control, institutional investor activism, and the differing corporate law enforcement mechanisms we observe around the world. There will be no examination. Instead, students will be asked to submit, before at least nine of the twelve sessions, a brief memo on the assigned readings. Grades will be based on these memos and, to a lesser extent, on participation in class discussion. The seminar is given in association with the LLM corporate governance concentration, although enrollment is not limited to those students.
Corporations: Board of Directors and Corporate Governance
Semester: Fall
Faculty: John Coates
This course surveys the role of legal controls on business organizations with emphasis on the control of managers in publicly held corporations. Aspects of the law of agency, partnership, and closely held corporations are reviewed to highlight continuities and discontinuities with the publicly held corporation. Topics include basic fiduciary law, shareholder voting, derivative suits, executive compensation, reorganizations, and control transactions. The emphasis throughout is on the functional analysis of legal rules as one set of constraints on corporate factors among others. This course will be taught in conjunction with a course taken by Harvard Business School students taught by HBS Professor Jay Lorsch, and students who take this course will be required to meet two of the three class days per week at HBS, and to work together with HBS professors on joint projects. Students with questions should direct them to Professor Coates.
Corporate Finance
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Holger Spamann
This course addresses the fundamentals of financial economics as encountered in selected areas of corporate, bankruptcy, and securities law.
Derivatives Regulation
Faculty: Daniel Waldman
Semester: Fall
This course will examine how derivatives are regulated. It will introduce students to the most common forms of derivative instruments, how they are used and the regulatory structure applicable to futures, options and swaps. It will cover the regulation of exchanges and clearinghouses, including issues of principle-based vs. rule based regulation, conflicts of interest and governance standards. It will consider issues of systemic risk and the efforts of regulators to increase transparency in the derivatives markets. The course will cover the regulation of foreign exchanges and intermediaries and the impact of regulation on global derivatives business. The course will also study the law of market manipulation and other fraudulent or disruptive trading practices and how regulation seeks to protect market users and the price discovery process.
Environmental Law
Semester: Fall
Faculty: Richard Lazarus
This course surveys federal environmental law. The first part of the course considers the character of environmental disputes, the problems inherent in fashioning legal rules for their resolution, including common law doctrine, constitutional law, statutes, administrative regulations. The second part of the course considers in more detail five different federal environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. These statutes will be studied in some detail so that students emerge with a basic understanding of their key provisions. Thematically, the statutes serve as illustrations of different regulatory approaches to environmental problems, from "command and control" to market-based instruments. In addition, we will discuss important matters of policy, including the recent efforts by the federal government to address climate change through the Clean Air Act and comprehensive energy and climate legislation. There are no pre-requisites. Laptops will not be permitted in class.
Food: A Health Law and Policy Seminar
Semester: Fall
Faculty: Robert Greenwald, Emily Broad Leib
This seminar will present an overview of topics in food policy and will examine how law and policy shape our food system and what we eat. In recent years, increasing attention has been focused on agricultural policy, the safety of the food chain, and the dual burdens of hunger and obesity. We will examine food policy from various viewpoints, including a historical perspective, past and current economic attitudes, and the lenses of farmers versus consumers versus food corporations. We will concentrate on food law in the United States, but will also discuss the global food system, and will include comparative international perspectives in areas such as food aid programs, farming support, and increasing healthy food access.
Food and Drug Law
Semester: Winter
Faculty: Peter Barton Hutt
This course explores the full range of federal regulation of products subject to the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products include food, human prescription and nonprescription drugs, animal feed and drugs, biologics and blood products, medical devices, and cosmetics, which together comprise approximately 25% of the gross national product. The course examines the public policy choices underlying the substantive law, FDA enforcement power, and agency practice and procedure. The course covers such contemporary issues as protecting against unsafe or mislabeled food, controlling carcinogens, expediting approval of AIDS and cancer drugs, assuring the safety of prescription drugs before and after marketing, importing drugs from abroad, switching drugs from prescription to nonprescription status, balancing the benefits and risks of breast implants, the compassionate use of experimental products, regulating complex new medical device technology, control of such biotechnology techniques as gene therapy, requiring adequate consumer and professional labeling for FDA-regulated products, and the relationship among international, federal, and state regulatory requirements. A prior course in Administrative Law is desirable but not a prerequisite.
Health Law
Semester: Fall
Faculty: Mark Barnes
This course will cover the full range of topics that are traditionally referred to as "health law," including the physician-patient relationship, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, medical malpractice, regulation of health professions, regulation of health facilities, health care financing (including a survey of Medicare, Medicaid and private medical insurance law), proposals for health care reform, regulation of drugs and devices, and if time permits, end-of-life decision-making and reproductive health. Health law will be viewed as the principles that govern and influence the interaction of patients and health care providers, and we will also consider the evolution of health care law over time, as it reflects the development of medicine as a profession and the emergence of the modern hospital during the first decades of the twentieth century. Readings will include a traditional casebook, as well as materials documenting the modern history of medicine, public health, and health care finance.
Securities Regulation
Semester: Spring
Faculty: Allen Ferrell
This course offers an introduction to the two most important federal securities laws: the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The course explores the elaborate disclosure obligations these statutes impose on the distribution and trading of investment securities. Topics to be covered include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, the relationship between disclosure obligations and anti-fraud rules, the duties of participants in securities transactions, and the applicability of federal securities laws to transnational transactions. The course will also explore the public and private enforcement of securities laws in the United States. Most students find it helpful to have completed or to take concurrently a course in Corporations before taking Securities Regulation.
Selected Courses on Business & Government at Harvard Business School
Business and the Environment
Faculty: Michael Toffel
Using recent cases on companies in a wide array of industries focusing on operations in various countries around the world (including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia), this course is organized into four modules: non-market strategy: profiting from environmental policy;environmentally sustainable operations and supply chains; new products and business models; andstrategic approaches to global climate change.
Creating Modern Financial Institutions
Faculty: David Moss
The course content covers seminal financial developments in a diverse set of countries - but with a special focus on the United States - from the 18th century to the present. Reaching across the chronological arc of the course are three broad topics: (1) financial markets and instruments, (2) financial intermediaries, and (3) financial behavior. Although nearly every case touches on all three topics, each case also has a primary focus. Whereas some cases highlight the introduction of new financial markets (such as the Dojima futures market in early modern Japan) or the creation of new instruments (such as mortgage-backed securities), others trace the emergence and maturation of critical financial institutions (including banks and insurance companies). Still others focus on the behavior of financial actors and groups, particularly in the context of financial bubbles and crashes. Because the course highlights the origins of financial markets and instruments as well as the fallout from numerous financial crises, government also looms large as an actor in many of the cases.
Doing Business in China
Faculty: Regina Abrami, William C. Kirby
What does it take to succeed in China? How do foreign businesses succeed and fail in the world's most dynamic economy? How do Chinese entrepreneurs move across private and public sectors? How are they moving across borders? What are the leading opportunities in Chinese markets today? How are Chinese firms reshaping global business? This course addresses these and other questions as it prepares Harvard Business School students for a lifetime of inescapable engagement with China.
The Energy Business and Geopolitics
Faculty: Noel Maurer
Without the heat, light, and mobility provided by suppliers of energy, firms, governments, and individuals could not function. Energy prices are often highly volatile, and energy firms are subject to pervasive government intervention, especially when the energy value chain crosses international borders. In the course, we try to understand the (interrelated) reasons for price volatility and government intervention, and the strategic implications of each. The course consists of three short modules: energy value chains and the distribution of economic surplus, innovations in energy, and synthesis and conclusions. Field Project: Innovation in
Business, Energy, and Environment
Faculty: Lee Fleming, Rebecca Henderson, Joseph Lassiter, John Macomber, and Forest Reinhardt
This course will be field-based. Students will be expected to identify, contact, and interact with practitioners, researchers, venture/private equity investors, corporate actors, and/or public policy makers to address an important question or set of questions related to the project that they have identified. Each student, either individually or as a team, will frame a set of questions relevant to the project, gather and analyze data appropriate to address those questions, draw conclusions, and prepare both a written and oral presentation of their assessment based on the findings. This seminar will bring together students from HBS and other schools of Harvard to share insights and experience around their common interests and approaches. Working together in a multi-team Field Study Seminar (as compared to a stand-alone Field Study) will be additive to student networks and career options. Similarly, the five member faculty team will make presentations in their areas of expertise and also supervise Field Study teams under a common project management framework. This will allow more intense exploration of the interests of student groups.
Globalization and Emerging Markets
Faculty: Aldo Musacchio
The course will focus on four interrelated modules that affect growth and business opportunities in emerging markets. First, the course provides a basic framework to understand the process of economic growth. Second, the course looks at the dominance of countries and companies from emerging markets in commodities and looks at whether reliance on commodity exports can generate a sustainable development strategy at the company and country level. Third, the course examines the challenges that political risk in emerging markets poses and the strategies companies can take to overcome some of those institutional weaknesses. The final module looks at the rise of governments and state-owned enterprises as the dominant players in the global economy. We will look at the challenges state-owned companies face to become efficient and the risks investors face when buying equity or debt issued by these companies. The course uses a variety of country and company cases to accomplish these objectives. The course cases range from country cases on BRIC economies, Dubai, and others, to cases on oil, mining, entertainment, and luxury goods companies operating in emerging markets.
Institutions, Macroeconomics, and the Global Economy
Faculty: Lakshmi Iyer, Rafael Di Tella
The first module ("Analytical framework") uses the experiences of two famous economic policy makers (Alan Greenspan and John Maynard Keynes) and several countries which have suffered through tremendous economic dislocation in recent years (Argentina, Uganda, Botswana) to identify and develop the issues of communication, confidence, coordination and institutional development that are central to the remainder of the course. The second module ("Creating macroeconomic institutions") uses the European experience to illustrate how different countries have developed institutions that permit coordination of individual business decisions on good aggregate economic outcomes. Moreover, it demonstrates how changes in the environment can render previously successful institutional structures outmoded, thereby creating both opportunities and risks for firms and households. The third module ("Globalization meets national institutions") discusses how the increasing integration of the global capital markets can affect the economic performance of previously successful nations by acting to undermine the internal coherence of the institutional structures on which their economic performance rested and the policy options available to countries.
Managing International Trade
Faculty: Dante Roscini
The course consists of five inter-related modules. The first module, Firms in the Global Economy, consists of a series of readings and cases that deal with the foundations of the global economy and the role of firms within it. The second module, The Rules of the Game, focuses on national policies that shape flows of goods and capital. The third and fourth modules, The International Financial Architecture and The Politics and Rules of International Trade, shift our analysis to institutions at the international level. We explore how informal institutions, such as the standards created by credit rating agencies and the norms promoted by social movements, and formal institutions, such as the WTO, IMF, OECD, and EU, influence the opportunities for success in international finance and trade.
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