BUAD 6159 - Taxation and Business Strategy

Spring (3) Bertolini

This economics-based course provides a conceptual framework for understanding tax issues in the context of business decisions and business strategy. Students learn about the role of taxes throughout the firm’s life cycle: choice of organizational form, employee compensation, investment opportunities, capital structure and dividend policy, financial innovations, international operations, and business combinations. The key conceptual components include: (a) consideration of the tax implications for all parties to the transaction; (b) consideration of both explicit and implicit taxes, such as lower before-tax rates of return on tax-favored investments; and (c) consideration of both tax and non-tax costs. Ultimately, the course provides a useful framework for thinking about taxes in all tax regimes (i.e., across countries and over time).