VMBA5706: Business, Government, and Macroeconomic Trends

In this course, we will identify broad macro-trends and analyze their implications for firms and investors looking for an edge when dealing with governments and rival firms. We will identify and analyze the business implications of three big macro trends in three modules: firm and investor strategies for dealing with industry deregulation; firm and investor strategies for dealing with liberalization and democratization; and firm and investor strategies for dealing with privatization. Module 1 analyzes firm strategies for managing industry deregulation running from the US airline experience in the 1970s and 1980s to European online advertising in the 2010s and 2020s. Module 2 analyzes foreign investor strategies to manage classic host-country government threats of expropriation as well as emerging threats related to host-country government elections and political violence. Module 3 puts students into teams negotiating the potential sale of a state-owned enterprise similar to those currently up for privatization in many developing countries. Students should come away from the course with a deeper understanding of key concepts like political risk, key theories like those explaining the likelihood of industry deregulation, and key analytical techniques like those permitting the valuation of privatizing state-owned enterprises.

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