The global market for infrastructure finance is one of the biggest markets in the world with exponential growth rates. The G 20 estimate global demand for infrastructure finance until 2038 at 94 trillion USD, the majority of which will be invested in emerging economies with, sometimes, high risks and weak institutional structures.

The course addresses the challenges emerging in large-scale infrastructure investments in high risk countries. The complexity of megaprojects like the Hamaca oil field (Venezuela), the Chad-Cameroon pipeline or the construction of Hong-Kong Disney Land results in managerial and financial problems that are more pronounced than in traditional corporate investment. Projects are exposed to extensive political, financial and commercial risks. For foreign investors, risk management becomes a key consideration.

In the course, possible strategies for diversifying, transferring and mitigating risk are discussed based on case studies and empirical academic studies. Such strategies include financial strategies (project finance), contractual strategies (hedging, insurance, guarantees and non-financial contracts) as well as classical strategic and managerial considerations (alliances, co-investment, joint-ventures, management fallacies in megaprojects).

Attendance in all in-person and online sessions is mandatory.

The course is designed as an online, modular course that is taught entirely online on learn@wu. Students are expected to complete ALL weekly online learning components:

• Pre-session mandatory readers
• Recorded lecture casts (asynchronous)
• Synchronous teaching sessions
• Online assignments and learning extensions (videos & podcasts)
• Final Exam
• Group work

The course finishes with a written online exam (further info below). The distance course is supported online through student forums.

Grade composition:

• 20% Take-home assignments
• 30% Group projects
• 50% Online exam

Group project:

Students watch the movie “Big Men”. In groups, they write an open essay in which they reflect about the case of the Jubilee Field. Students should connect the case of the movie to the theories, topics, examples and literature of the course.

The essay should not exceed 2000 words.

Grading criteria:

•           50 % Connections between movie and theories, topics, examples and literature

•           25 % Terminology & Writing

•           25 % Presentation & Formatting, Citation

Please contact masterexint@wu.ac.at for inquiries. The course is open for all international and WU students.

Dr. Jakob Müllner

Associate Professor

Tel.: +43-1-313 36-4374

jakob.muellner@wu.ac.at

Digital open office hours upon prior appointment

• Teaching language is English.
• Course materials and student papers should be in English.

Additional scholarly articles Article list may vary from course to course. Please refer to course introduction for the list of mandatory readers in your course. The course is tailormade and has no textbook. Contents are derived from academic journals. Mandator readers will be communicated in the take-home assignments.

Esty, B.C. 1999. Improved Techniques For Valuing Large-Scale Projects. Journal of Project Finance. 5(1) 17-26.

Bell, J., Dinh-Tan, C., Purnama, P., & Spar, D. L. 1997. Busang: River of Gold (A).In School, Harvard Business, (Ed.), HBS teaching case. Bostn, Cambridge.

Corielli, F., Gatti, S., & Steffanoni, A. 2010. Risk shifting through nonfinancial contracts: effects on loan spreads and capital structure of project finance deals. Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 42(7): 1295-320.

Dorobantu, S. & Müllner, J. 2017. Debt side-governance and the geography of project finance syndicates. Working paper.

Esty, B., Chavich, C., & Sesia, A. 2014. An Overview of Project Finance and Infrastructure Finance— 2014 Update, Working Paper. Boston: Harvard Business School.

Esty, B. C. 1999. Petrozuata: a case study of effective use of project finance. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 12(3): 26-42.

Esty, B. C. 2001. Structuring loan syndicates: a case study of the Hong Kong Disneyland project loan. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 14(3): 80-95.

Flyvbjerg, B., Garbuio, M., & Lovallo, D. 2009. Delusion and Deception in Large Infrastructure Projects: Two models for explaining and preventing executive disaster. California Management Review, 51(2): 170-93.

Müllner, J. 2016. From uncertainty to risk—A risk management framework for market entry. Journal of World Business, 51(5): 800-14.

Müllner, J. 2017. International project finance: review and implications for international finance and international business. Management Review Quarterly, 67(2): 97-133.

Müllner, J. & Puck, J. 2018. Towards a holistic framework of MNE–state bargaining: A formal model and case-based analysis. Journal of World Business, 53(1): 15-26