Prerequisite: There are no prerequisites for the course. However, it would be useful for students to (a) have taken or to be taking concurrently the Corporations course at HLS, or (b) have taken some course that considers corporations or business associations at another law school in the US or abroad, or (c) have had prior experience or learning that exposed them to corporate law, corporate governance, or corporate social responsibility issues. Students who have questions regarding whether the course would be suitable for them should feel free to contact the instructor.

Exam Type: No Exam
There will be no examination. Instead, students will be asked to submit some brief memos on assigned readings, and grades will primarily be based on these memos.

There have been growing concerns about the effects that corporations have on their stakeholders – non-shareholder constituencies such as employees, business partners, customers, communities, and the environment. The growth of these concerns has been accompanied by increasing support for “stakeholder capitalism” – that is, a system in which both corporate leaders and institutional investors would seek to protect the interests of stakeholders and not only those of shareholders. Influenced by such views, many companies have been devoting attention to the adoption of “stakeholderist” practices, and many institutional investors have been considering how to incorporate ESG considerations into their investment and stewardship decisions.

This course aims at giving students a sense of the issues involved in current debates and practices regarding stakeholder capitalism. Most of the sessions will feature outside speakers, both prominent academics and prominent practitioners, that will offer a wide range of perspectives on the subject.

Note: The course will meet for six, two-hour sessions, which will be concentrated during the first two months of the fall semester.