TEMPLATE FOR END-TERM PAPER ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
As mentioned in the syllabus, students are expected to write a term paper which is to be submitted
before April 10, 2021. The paper is strictly limited to 15-20 double-‐spaced pages with normal
margins not including the title page and not including the appendix or references. Concision
and clarity of writing are crucial and will be part of the grade
Use the outline below as a rough guide to what your paper should look like. Feel free to deviate from
it, but with good reason.
1. Title page: Title, author, affiliation, and a 100-word abstract that condense your paper,
describing what you do, how you do it, and the result that you get.
2. Introduction: Brief and to the point; describe which aspect of corporate governance you are
studying. Make clear if it is a new / original research where you are empirically (either with primary
data or secondary data) studying a question (say, do well governed firms enjoy a lower cost of capital?)
OR is it survey of work already done. If it is the latter, then which papers or studies are you
summarizing? Through review of studies by other authors you may highlight your question/s,
hypothesis, and methodology. You may cite a couple of papers that are similar to what you’re
doing and show how your question/s or analysis are similar/different from them.
3. Objectives and Methodology: Unlike the brief introduction above, here you will clearly lay out
the questions to which you are seeking answer and the methods used. Few Examples:
Example 1: What is the state of CG in Nigeria? How are Nigerian companies financed and governed? How do
you plan to answer it? What sources do you intend to use to address these questions? Are there any major
controversies?
Example 2: Is CG in banks or (start-ups) similar as in older manufacturing or service organisations? What are
the differences? Do regulations and CG guidelines in the USA take into account the fact that financing of banks
(or start-ups) etc. requires different CG norms and practices?
4. Analysis: This is likely be the main part of your paper. Here you summaries the literature or
debates, sometimes using data and Tables presented by authors you are citing. How does their
analysis differ (if it does) from other studies?
5. Conclusions and Limitations: Here you present the Conclusion or results that you have gathered
from your analysis. Are these results similar / or consistent with what other studies you have read
during the course? What have we learned? Which parts of your results do you remain confident in?
Is there a clear result that emerges from this analysis, or has it been inconclusive? Policy
recommendations, if any? What are the shortcomings or limitations of your analysis?
6. References and citations: The conclusion should be followed by a list of references. Papers
should have in-text citations. For instance: “Xie (2004) finds that despite reforms and regulations,
Corporate Governance in China fails to protect small investors”
You will notice that the template largely follows the rubric for Term Paper, where marks
are assigned for
1. Objective of Study
2. Summary of Work Done
3. Critical Evaluation of Findings
4. Methodology
5. Conclusion and Limitations
