COURSE NUMBER: MBA 237-4

COURSE TITLE: Global Entrepreneurial Finance

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2 units

INSTRUCTOR: Adair Morse

EMAIL: morse@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETINGS DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesdays, 2:00 – 4:00PM

PREREQUISITE(S): MBA203. This course presumes you are at least conversant in the concepts of venture capital and the business plan.  If you have little to no prior exposure to entrepreneurial finance, you may take this course concurrently with MBA295A – Entrepreneurship.  Otherwise, you might be better served by taking this course at a later time.

CLASS FORMAT: The class is case-based, with a (very) few lectures.

REQUIRED READINGS:   A course pack with readings and cases.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Class Participation and Final Case comprise most of the grade. Weekly Case Memos are required as part of participation.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

The course is made up of two modules. In the first module, we study how to use the various types of finance to pursue economic and strategic opportunities in markets fraught with frictions. We focus on emerging market cases, although the material is general to any market. We cover how to find, raise, and invest capital in emerging economies, highlighting the role of venture capital and the influence of governments. The material prepares us how to capitalize on strategies created by regulation openings, technology adoption from abroad, local demand growth with rising incomes, and climate change. At the end of the module, we bring together the material to understanding country contexts, and how to evaluate the types of ventures can be financed in growth environments with frictions.

Unique to this course (anywhere) is the second module on Impact / Sustainable Investment and the Public Sector. In the Impact/Sustainability section, we study the social movement into economic investing, ranging from (i) the role of NGO financing for sustainable enterprises and what that means for private investing in developing countries, to (ii) SRI and ESG investing, (iii) microfinance, (iv) the opportunities in climate finance, and (v) finally Impact Investing. In the Public Sector weeks, we focus on Public Private Partnerships and Sovereign Funds and the vast opportunities in infrastructure. It is a broad course preparing students to evaluate their ideas and raise capital for becoming entrepreneurs anywhere in the world. In addition, the course will be of high value to students interested in emerging market or impact/SRI asset management and individuals moving into public-private sector development careers.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: 

Adair Morse is visiting the Haas School of Business at Berkeley and is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Morse holds a Ph.D. in finance from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and masters degrees in statistics and agricultural economics from Purdue University. She began her career as an entrepreneur in transition Poland. Morse has taught Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity at Booth and now teaches Global Entrepreneurial Finance. Her research covers the areas of entrepreneurship, household finance, corruption and governance, and asset management. She has been instrumental in opening the debate on tax reform in Greece, and her work on fraud appears in the Dodd Frank law of financial reform.