The components for the grades are weighted as follows:
•    10% class participation
•    20% in-class presentation
•    70% group assignments (2)

Class participation (10%): Participation is a central part of the learning process for you and your classmates. Your participation mark reflects your contribution to the classroom learning environment. This includes class attendance, arriving in class on time, staying for the class duration, and actively engaging in class debates. Please note that preparation before empirical classes is expected to effectively participate in those discussions. 

In-class presentation (20%): To facilitate class discussion on related literature, students are required to present one of the selected empirical studies in-class (your selection will be decided during the first class). The presentation should convey the main objectives, the contributions, and the key findings of the paper. The student should tie the study to the content of our previous units.

Group assignment 1 (35%): In teams (three), students are required to empirically address the following questions: (1) the impact of sustainable practices on firm performance; and (2) the determinants of firms' sustainable practices. The exercise entails (a) constructions of CSR score, performance measures, and other factor variables (e.g., executive compensation, competition, etc.) following common approaches in the literature; (b) regression analyses to address the question; and (c)  interpretation of the key findings. Detailed instructions will be given by the end of Unit 2, and it is due at the beginning of Unit 5.

Group assignment 2 (35%): In teams (three), students are required to empirically examine whether socially responsible investing would affect the performance of such screened stock portfolios. The exercise entails (a) constructions of SRI and non-SRI portfolios of U.S. stocks following common approaches in the literature; (b) estimations of the abnormal returns for each of the investment strategies; and (c) interpretation of the key findings. Detailed instructions will be given by the end of Unit 5, and it is due at Week 8 2:00 p.m.