BUSN
395 Finance and Economic Development: Spring, 2008
PROFESSOR: Dr. Thomas W. Hall
CONTACT ME: thomas.hall@cnu.edu; 594-8916 (note: I prefer email as
it is asynchronous)
Department secretary (Lee Ann Wise): 594-7215;
594-7068
Entrepreneurship is one of
the key factors of production, and refers to risk-taking and management of the
other factors (land, labor, and physical and human capital). In this class, we will explore one of the
central problems facing entrepreneurs—they generally lack the resources
personally to realize their innovative visions—and the implications that
government policies have upon the ultimate results of entrepreneurial resources
in their society. Our guiding question
relates to how and whether entrepreneurial innovation spurs technological
change and affects economic development.
This is not a new area of research: the full title of Adam Smith’s
famous 1776 treatise is An Inquiry into
the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. We will consider a variety of explanations as
to why some nations are wealthier (or “more developed”) then others, with
special focus on the role of innovation and entrepreneurship. Those explanations relate to both individual
activity (stressing the leading role of visionaries and entrepreneurs) as well
as national policies (are entrepreneurs able to access financial resources to
fund the development of their grand ambitions?).
PREREQUISITES FOR 395: ECON 201G, ECON 202G: Macro- and Microeconomics
POSTREQUISITE:
This class serves as a preparation for an intensive, business-oriented study
abroad experience in the summer, BUSN 495.
Students taking BUSN395 will be expected to decide on a research topic
that will be developed into a full-fledged case study and paper/project over
the course of the summer.
COURSE STRUCTURE: You will be expected to participate in class
discussions by asking or by answering questions. It is extremely important that students read
the assigned material (chapter) before
coming to the lectures.
GRADING: Your grade will be based on your performance in class
and on tests, quizzes, and other assignments.
Mid-terms are worth 40% in total; the final is worth 25%. Your project—including periodic presentations
relating to the progress of your research topic and, eventually, a bibliography—will
make up 20% of your grade. The remaining
15% of your grade is based on class participation and briefer in-class
presentations, on homework assignments and cases, and on occasional quizzes.
MISSING AN EXAM: No “make-up exams” will be given in this course. If a student misses an exam for a legitimate
reason, the weight of the final will be increased accordingly. STUDENTS MUST OBTAIN PRIOR APPROVAL TO SUBSTITUTE THE FINAL EXAM FOR A MISSED MIDTERM! Call me (leave a message if I am not in the
office) or send an email ahead of time. Unexcused absence from an exam will warrant a
grade of zero for that test, and, worse than that, indicates a low priority for
academic growth and development.
CLASS ATTENDANCE IS
MANDATORY: One full letter grade will
be subtracted for each three classroom sessions missed. Thus, if you miss three classes, your grade
could go from a C+ to a D+. Don’t miss
class!
DISABILITIES INFORMATION: If you believe that you have a disability, you should
make an appointment to discuss your needs. In order to receive an
accommodation, your disability must be on record in Disability Services located
in the
HONOR STATEMENT: Learning takes place through individual effort, and
achievement can be evaluated only on the basis of the work a student produced
independently. A student who obtains
credit for work, words, and ideas which are not products of his/her own effort
is dishonest, and his/her behavior has an adverse influence on the standards of
the college. Because this is so, willful
infringement of the code for academic work entails severe penalties ranging
from failure in this course to dismissal from the university.
PROVISIONAL COURSE OUTLINE
|
Week |
Topics |
Assigned
Portions of Reading Packet |
|
Leadership and Accomplishment: Entrepreneurs as
Exceptional Individuals (Weeks 1-4) |
Historical Context: Christopher Newport, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Eli Whitney,
Alexander Bell, Henry Ford |
- Wesley Craven (1957) The - Adam Smith (1776: 1976) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of
The Wealth of Nations, ( - Biographical summaries of
David Ricardo, Eli Whitney, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford, etc. |
|
Contemporary Entrepreneurship: Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Oprah
Winfrey |
- Biographical summaries of
Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey, etc. |
|
|
Entrepreneurship and Theories of Economic
Development (Weeks 5-7) |
Models of Economic Growth
and Development (Accumulation of capital) |
Michael Todaro (2005) Economic Development, 9th
Edition, Chapter 3 (Theories of Development); Chapter 15 (Foreign Finance,
Investment, and Aid); Chapter 17 (Financial Reform and Fiscal Policy) Alexander Gerschenkron
(1962) Economic Backwardness in
Historical Perspective, ( |
|
The Schumpeterian Approach
to Development: The Role of Financial Capital and Creative Destruction |
Joseph Schumpeter (1934: 1996) The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits,
Capital, Credit, Interest and the Business Cycle, ( |
|
|
Week 8 |
**Spring Break** |
-- |
|
Financing Development: Entrepreneurial Access to
Capital (Weeks 9 – 11) |
Finance, Development, and
Small Businesses |
Ross Levine (1996)
“Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda”, World Bank
Policy Research Working Paper WPS 1678. John Vinturella and Suzanne
Erickson (2004) Raising Entrepreneurial
Capital, ( |
|
Cycles in Entrepreneurship
and Development |
Gompers and Lerner (2001)
”Money Chasing Deals”, Journal of
Financial Economics: Abstract, Introduction, Conclusion |
|
|
The Social Setting for Entrepreneurship and Development (Weeks 12-14) |
Government Regulation and
Entrepreneurship |
Doing Business In (2004) World Bank |
|
The Institutional
Environment of Entrepreneurship: Attitudes to Risk Taking; Redlining and
Social Aspects of Entrepreneurship (Women and Minorities in Business);
Severity of Personal Bankruptcy Laws |
Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor (2006); Capital Access Index (2006), Milken Institute; Armour, J.,
2003, Financing Innovation: The Role of Insolvency Law, Centre for Business
Research (Cambridge University) working paper; John Hawke (1999) Remarks by
the Comptrollor of the Currency, (http://www.occ.gov/ftp/release/99-41a.txt) |
Schedule Disclaimer/ What to Study: I reserve the right to deviate from the above course
outline by supplementing your learning experience with additional material and
readings. It should be expected also
that some of these listed chapters will be emphasized more than others in the
lectures. Part of your mission in taking
this class will be to determine what is important and study appropriately for
the exams. Pay attention to what I say,
what I stress, and consider also what I de-emphasize form the assigned readings.
Project and Presentations for 395/495
A good portion of your final
grade in BUSN395 will be based upon your progress defining and fine-tuning your individual research project which will be
conducted as part of your overseas experience.
More information on this project will be provided via conferences with
me, in class, via handouts, and in the syllabus for the postrequisite course (BUSN
495) that is directly related to the trip overseas.
Presentations in Spring,
2008: Over
the course of the semester, I will periodically call on each student in the
class to ensure the project is moving along smoothly. These brief, informal discussions may also be
supplemented with formal, structured presentations concerning the assigned
readings or other related topics.
Project Goals: The goal of the project is
for you to identify and explore in depth a subject of inquiry that is relevant
to the topics we’ve discussed in the class.
Your task is to find some issue that is interesting to you, and then
develop a list of questions relating to that subject that can be put to
individuals located in
Project Deadlines
Week 2: Provisional Project Topic (2-3 sentences)
Week 8: Design/Outline (2-3 paragraphs)
Week 10: Bibliography
Week 14: **Project Prospectus/Preliminary Report Due
on the Last Day of Class** (5-10 pages)