This technical note covers the fundamentals of corporate taxation and explains how taxation contributes to wealth redistribution in society. It outlines how governments determine corporate taxable income, why tax bases differ across countries, and how corporations use aggressive tax planning to reduce their tax obligations. The note encourages students to question why firms attempt to avoid taxation and consider the broader societal implications of .....more

This technical note introduces the fundamentals of personal income taxation and highlights its role in redistributing wealth and financing collective goods. It outlines how governments determine taxable income, how labour and capital income are taxed differently, and how tax brackets, deductions, and credits influence the effective tax burden. The note further examines why some individuals pursue tax avoidance strategies and how tax morale affects .....more

This note introduces some fundamental concepts regarding Indigenous peoples and their relationships to the land in Canada. It revisits injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples since the arrival of European settlers and investigates attempts at addressing those injustices. In the context of this note, “Indigenous” refers to the original inhabitants of North America and their descendants. Indigenous peoples in Canada describes three distinct groups, .....more

Biodiversity loss threatens enough economic activity to warrant far more private sector investment than it gets. Over half the world’s total GDP is “moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services,” and restoring and conserving nature is widely expected to require annual investment of more than US$700 billion. However, the money currently being spent doesn’t come anywhere close to that. If we’re serious about protecting our ecosystems, we .....more

Impact investing and Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) have traditionally had different objectives, with the former being about supporting businesses committed to making a difference, and the latter focusing on mitigating the risk of harm. However, these two worlds appear to be merging, with the SRI industry talking more and more about having a positive impact. Yet in the corporate world, positive talk doesn’t always translate into positive action. .....more

Emaan Modaraba, a Shariah compliant publicly traded modaraba based in Pakistan, made an investment in shares of Indus Motor Company Limited, a listed company assembling Toyota vehicles, in July 2020 – whose shares were designated to be Shariah Compliant and included in the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KMI-All Share Islamic Index. In August 2020, Indus’ annual report disclosed that the company increased its short-term investments in interest-bearing instruments .....more

Teaching note for product 9B21N010.

In case B, in late summer 2020, the founder has decided to prioritize the company's rating agency, advocating for robust and standardized impact assessments for all firms. He felt confident about his company's new strategic direction and focus during the pandemic. But how could he ensure impak Finance Inc. grew toward its mission and attained financial sustainability?

Teaching note for products 9B20M216 and 9B20M217.

The founder and chief executive officer of impak Finance Inc. had grown his financial technology start-up, based in Montreal, Canada, into a company with two main business lines: an extensive and comprehensive assessment and rating agency that used advanced social impact measurement and scoring software, and an online marketplace platform that used the cryptocurrency impak Coin and connected like-minded consumers, investors, and businesses to support .....more