COURSE NUMBER: MBA 292T.11

This course is cross-listed with the EWMBA program

 

COURSE TITLE:  Social Investing - Recent Findings in Management and Finance

 

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 Unit

 

INSTRUCTOR: Lloyd Kurtz

 

E-MAIL ADDRESS: Lkurtz@haas.berkeley.edu

 

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL):  Background material may be found on the following websites:

 

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/responsiblebusiness/MoskowitzResearchProgram.html

 

http://www.sristudies.org

 

http://srinotes.typepad.com 

 

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Sundays, 10:00AM – 6:00PM

 

Please note the non-standard format for this course, which meets all day on two Sundays: 9/16 and 9/23.

 

PREREQUISITE(S):  None, but some training in finance, investments, statistics, and/or stakeholder theory will be helpful.

 

CLASS FORMAT:

Each study will be reviewed using a lecture/discussion format.  The lecture portion will introduce students to the state of knowledge prior 

to the study, frame the research question the study attempts to answer, and explain the analytical tools employed.  We will then review the 

conclusions as a group, discussing the significance of the findings, fresh questions raised by the work, and what future research paths

might  be appropriate.

 

REQUIRED READINGS:  A packet of readings will be provided prior to the first class session. 

 

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:  Student paper, topic selected in consultation with instructor. 

 

FACULTY AUDIO CLIP: Click here to listen to the instructor giving a brief overview the course.

 

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

Once considered a sideshow in the investment world, social investing has begun to attract significant attention from academics. Some of the issues raised by social investors bring fresh light to controversies in investment and management theory.  Moreover, concerns over globalization and climate change have challenged the widely-held view that social and environmental concerns must be subordinated to financial ones in capital allocation decisions.  This course will review eight strong recent studies of issues in social investing from different academic fields including management, finance, and economics.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Lloyd Kurtz has served as Research Fellow and Program Administrator for the Center for Responsible Business's Moskowitz Research Program since 2005.  In this role he assists in the judging for the Moskowitz Prize,  which is awarded each year for the best quantitative study of socially  responsible investing.  As a senior portfolio manager with Nelson Capital Management, he oversees the management of many socially responsible investment accounts.  His recent research includes a comprehensive review of the social investment literature for the Fall 2005 Journal of Investing and a chapter on social investing for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility.  He 

holds Bachelors of Arts degrees in English and Psychology from Vassar College and an MBA from Babson College, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.