Location:

Shanghai, China; Utrecht, Netherlands

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Summer

Program Overview

Program Description:

The mode of instruction consists of interactive lectures, company visits, and workshop etc. This course has been designed for ambitious bachelor students in economics, management, business, or law, who are keen to appreciate a non-mainstream, multidisciplinary and interactive approach to law and economics, corporate governance and M&A. This course is taught by Prof. Dr. Anna Gerbrandy, Prof. Dr. E.J.J. Schenk and Prof. Dr. W.J. Oostwouder from Utrecht University and Dr. HOU Liyang from Shanghai Jiaotong University. Prof. Gerbrandy has been associate professor in Public Economic Law since September 2011 and also holds a position as Honorary Judge at the Administrative High Court for Trade and Industry. Prof. dr. Hans Schenk is Chair of Economics and Business at Utrecht University. He divides his non-teaching work between pure research (especially in institutional economics) and applied research directed at governments (esp. on industrial policy matters), business firms and health care organisations (esp. on M&A and restructuring matters and corporate governance issues). Prof. dr. Wilco Oostwouder, attorney at law, is Professor of Business Finance Law at Utrecht University, as well as a member of the Corporate practice group at leading Dutch law-firm Loyens & Loeff NV. He specializes in corporate law and corporate governance in particular. He has experience in corporate litigation. Dr. HOU is currently Associate Professor of competition law and Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Shanghai). He is a member of the board of editors of the Journal of Civil & Legal Sciences, a member of Academic Society for Competition Law, and a member of the Pacific Telecommunications Council. His research crosses over a number of domains, including competition law, telecommunications regulation, economic analysis of law and comparative law.

This course is taught at Fudan University (Shanghai, China) and Utrecht University (Utrecht, The Netherlands) as part of the China Europe International Summer School (CEISS). This is a special track that combines the courses “Law and Economics: Competition and Market Regulation in Europe and China” and “Law and Economics: Key Issues of Corporate Governance and M&A”. During the first half of the course, taught in Shanghai, students are introduced to important cornerstones of market-based societies: supervision and enforcement of laws regulating companies’ behaviour on a market. The course contains both substantive issues of competition law and institutional issues on how to supervise markets. The course is geared towards a gaining a general understanding of competition law and its role in economy, in particular in the People’s Republic of China and the European Union. The role may differ according to full adherence to the market-model and may also differ between sectors of the economy. The European Union’s regime of competition and regulatory policy is taken as a starting point for the exploration of this theme. Examples will be taken from both the European Union and its member states, but contrasts with the regimes in China and the USA will also be exposed. By combining lectures of a European Competition law expert with leading figures from Chinese academia and business the student will get a comprehensive sense of possible ways of regulating markets. During the second half of the course, taught in Utrecht, the Netherlands, students are provided with modern insights into key issues of corporate governance, with a specific focus on the economic causes and effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The first week in Utrecht is devoted to key issues of corporate governance, especially in light of the current financial crisis. In February 2009, the OECD steering group on Corporate Governance concluded that the financial crisis could in part be attributed to failures and weaknesses in corporate governance arrangements. This inspired (semi-) self regulating bodies, governments, the EU and organisations like the OECD to take initiatives to stimulate boards and shareholders to pursue a long term strategy. The question remains, however, whether this will work out and prevent short-termism and excessive risk taking and, if not, what else can be done? This central question will be dealt with during the first part of the course, from both an economic and legal perspective. The second half of the course deals with the economic, legal and financial aspects of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A). Many executives say they use M&A as a means to consolidate or expand the market position of their firm or increase its productive efficiency. Most mergers and acquisitions, however, fail to create value, leading to the so-called ‘merger paradox’. By adopting a multidisciplinary and institutional perspective, the course aims to increase the understanding of merger determinants and effects, discusses key topics for value creation, and concludes with policy assessments. On the last day the students will participate in a negotiations training workshop and will present their papers on a major M&A transaction in their home country. The course will be delivered by leading academics in the field, as well as several corporate and employment lawyers of reputable law firms and managers of (multi)national companies, a private equity fund and a stock exchange.

Setting Description:

Fudan University is the most prestigious, research-oriented university in Shanghai, and belongs with Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing to China’s top-3 universities. In the QS ranking of world universities for 2014/2015, Fudan University is ranked 71st worldwide, and 3rd overall among Chinese universities. Fudan is a member of Universitas 21, an association of leading research-oriented universities worldwide. There are 30.000 students at Fudan, including 5.000 international students. Fudan’s prestigious School of Social Development and Public Policy (SSDPP) is one of the global strongholds in the teaching and research in social development studies. The SSDPP has over 60 fulltime faculty members, including world-renowned scholars like Wang Guixin and Peng Xizhe. Its international cooperation extents to such partners such as Harvard University, London School of Economics and Political Science, US Berkeley, University of Hong Kong, Trinity College, University of Oslo,

Cost:

2.900 Euro (course fees + course materials + housing)