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Finance
API 141

Course Information

Description

Climate finance, development finance, infrastructure finance, municipal finance, international finance, banking, housing finance, corporate finance, investments, and financial regulation are all applications of finance. This course provides the core concepts, techniques, and instruments needed to understand, use, and contribute to these areas. It emphasizes an intuitive yet logically rigorous understanding of financial markets and institutions, illustrated through examples and cases drawn from diverse settings. The topics covered in this course include the principle of arbitrage, the trade-off between risk and return, the pricing of stocks and bonds, the term structure of interest rates, market efficiency, derivative securities, risk management, and real options. Case discussions highlight applications such as green bonds, capital raising, pension funds, utility regulation, investment management, currency risk, weather insurance, privatization, bank deposit insurance, and securitization.

Class Notes

This course has an in-person final exam during the December 9-18 exam period. Students are responsible for ensuring that they do not register for classes with exams scheduled at the same time. Please refer to the posted final exam schedule.

School Harvard Kennedy School
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Department HKS Government
Course Component Lecture
Instruction Mode In Person
Grading Basis HKS Letter Graded
Exam/Final Deadline Dec. 9, 2026 9:00 AM
Academic Areas Markets, Business, and Government