Postgraduate Course: Corporation Law and Economics (LAWS11284)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The activity of business organisations cannot be fully understood without a firm grasp of the economic rationales that underpin the internal structure of such organisations and the transactions they engage in. Meaningful corporate law scholarship and practice must be informed by economic analysis.
Throughout this course, students will acquire comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the principal theories, principles and concepts that underlie the law and economics analysis of corporations. Upon successful completion of this course, students will acquire an inter-disciplinary understanding of the relations among corporate constituencies and the economic incentives that trigger various business transactions. |
| Course description |
Topics covered in this course include
- The theory of the firm; agency costs and transaction costs;
- The economic rationales of shareholder limited liability;
- Dividend policy and agency costs;
- Directors' fiduciary duties and the business judgement rule;
- The market for corporate control;
- Market efficiency and the financial crisis.
This course is mandatory for the completion of the LLM in Corporate Law.
The course is available to students from other LLM programmes, subject to place availability.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | Students MUST also take:
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| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
5000 Word Essay (100%) |
| Feedback |
Feedback on the formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The course organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the content and implications of the main economic theories of the corporation:
- Critically analyse the arguments in support of, and against the sharedholder wealth maximisation norm
- Critically evaluate the law and economics explanations and justifications of compensation, insider trading and fiduciary duties
- Demonstrate developed written and oral skills, including the clear and succinct expression of ideas
- Demonstrate ability to work effectively in a group
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Ability to critically analyse and apply complex theoretical ideas and empirical research evidence
Communicate and work with other students, often from diverse intellectual backgrounds and from different countries
Use library and electronic resources effectively and independently to research problems
Exercise judgement, critical reflection and independence in a substantial writing task |
| Keywords | the theory of the firm; shareholder primacy,stakeholder theory,fiduciary duties,hostile takeover |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Remus Valsan
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Lauren Ayre
Tel: (0131 6)50 2002
Email: |
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