
Stephen G. Marks
Vice Dean for Faculty
Professor of Law
Class of 1960 Scholar
BA magna cum laude, University of California-Irvine
JD and PhD in Economics, University of California-Berkeley
Biography
Stephen Marks has been a distinguished member of the Boston University community for many years. He began his teaching career in 1981 at the University’s School of Management, where he taught courses in banking, finance, investments, corporations, economics and decision making. Since joining the School of Law faculty in 1988, Professor Marks has taught courses in Corporations, Mergers and Acquisitions, Legislation, Securities Regulation, and the Economic Analysis of Law. “I enjoy these subjects because they are so relevant for lawyers and for the organization of society,” he says. “For example, in every practice area, lawyers come face-to-face with corporations. If someone were to come from another planet and wanted to understand how human society was organized, it would not be long until they asked the question, what is a corporation? And economics provides students with a powerful and rigorous tool for analyzing law and legal institutions.”
Co-author of the textbook Managerial Economics (eighth edition), published in 2014, Professor Marks’ work has appeared widely in journals of law and economics, including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Legal Studies, The Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, the Boston University Law Review, the Journal Financial and Quantitative Analysis, among others. He also co-wrote a book on raising children bilingually that was published by the University of Texas Press.
Professor Marks writes occasional online popular press articles on politics, economics, and afreeist philosophy. He is a founding member of the Afreeist Society and has written a book on the subject.
Recently, Professor Marks spent a sabbatical year in Nicaragua with his family directing a micro-financing program there.
Professor Marks lives in Boston with his wife and youngest daughter. Two other daughters are graduates of Boston University. Professor Marks is active in the peace and justice movement, and also dabbles in beer-making, bee-keeping and guitar (rock, blues, and Celtic music).
- Profile Types
- Associate Deans, Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, and Professors & Clinical Instructors
- Areas of Interest
- Corporate, Business & Transactional Law and Economics & Law
Publications
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A ‘No Exceptions’ Tax System for the 21st Century
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William Samuelson, Stephen G. Marks & Jay L. Zagorsky, Managerial Economics, 9th Edition (2021)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics, 8th ed. (2014)
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Stephen G. Marks, The Market in Unmatured Tort Claims: Twenty-Five Years Later 34 Pace Law Review (2014)
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Stephen G. Marks & Jeffrey Marks, Becoming a Bilingual Family: Help Your Kids Learn Spanish (and Learn Spanish Yourself in the Process) (2013)
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Stephen G. Marks & William Samuelson, Managerial Economics, 7th ed. (2012)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics, 6th ed. (2010)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics, 5th ed. (2006)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics, 4th ed. (2003)
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Stephen G. Marks, The Separation of Ownership and Control, in Encyclopedia of Law and Economics (Boudewijn Bouckaert & Gerrit de Geest,2000)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics, 3rd ed. (1999)
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Stephen G. Marks & Michael G. Rukstad, Teaching Macroeconomics by the Case Method 27 Journal of Economic Education (1996)
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Stephen G. Marks, Utility and Community: Musings on the Tort/Crime Distinction 76 Boston University Law Review (1996)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics, 2nd ed. (1995)
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Stephen G. Marks, Discontinuities, Causation, and Grady's Uncertainty Theorem 23 Journal of Legal Studies (1994)
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William Samuelson & Stephen G. Marks, Managerial Economics (1992)
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Stephen G. Marks, Of Posin and Pigs, of Coase and Cost, of Profits Gained and Opportunities Lost 38 The Wayne Law Review (1991)
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Alex Kane & Stephen G. Marks, The Delivery of Market Timing Services: Newsletters Versus Market Timing Funds 1 Journal of Financial Intermediation (1990)
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Alex Kane & Stephen G. Marks, Performance Evaluation of Market Timers: Theory and Evidence 23 Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (1988)
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Nalin Kulatilaka & Stephen G. Marks, The Strategic Value of Flexibility: Reducing the Ability to Compromise 78 The American Economic Review (1988)
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Alex Kane & Stephen G. Marks, The Rocking Horse Analyst 13 Journal of Portfolio Management (1987)
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Stephen G. Marks, Negligence, Causation and Information 31 McGill Law Journal (1985)
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Stephen G. Marks, The Value of Flexibility in a Certain World, Proceedings of the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - Conference on Production Systems (1985)
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Robert Cooter, Stephen G. Marks & Robert Mnookin, Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: A Testable Model of Strategic Behavior 11 The Journal of Legal Studies (1982)
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Activities & Engagements
No upcoming activities or engagements.
Courses
Corporate Finance: LAW JD 985
This course covers the foundations of corporate finance. It starts with the concepts of time value of money, discounting, and present value. With that background it then considers the major financial decisions made by corporate managers. Topics include the valuation of financial assets and liabilities, criteria for making investment decisions, business valuation, relationships between risk and return, portfolio theory, market efficiency, capital structure choice, and cost of capital. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals, Corporation
SPRG 2026: LAW JD 985 A1 , Jan 12th to May 8th 2026Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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Mon,Wed | 4:20 pm | 5:45 pm | 3 | Joseph Basile |
Corporations: LAW JD 816
Course about the legal structure and characteristics of business corporations. Topics include the promotion and formation of corporations; the distribution of power between management and shareholders; the limitations on management powers imposed by state law fiduciary duties and federal securities laws; shareholder derivative suits; capital structure and financing of corporations; and fundamental changes in corporate structure, such as mergers and sales of assets. Hirst¿s Section: This section covers similar topics, but has a different emphasis and approach, involving fewer cases, and more exercises and analysis of real-world transactions and documents, including from Tesla, Twitter, and Boeing. The course involves self-directed learning through the submission of multiple choice quizzes, and some use of corporate-finance-style numerical analyses. Laptops and similar devices are generally not permitted without an accommodation. The course serves as a prerequisite to advanced courses. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals.
FALL 2025: LAW JD 816 A1 , Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Scott HirstHaefner |
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Tue,Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Pierluigi MateraHaefner |
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Tue,Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Madison CondonHaefner |
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Mon,Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 |
Independent Externship: Independent Study: LAW JD 710
This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. In lieu of a seminar, students write a 15–20 page paper and submit seven bi-weekly journals (4–6 pages each) under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. The 2 credits count towards the 3-credit cap on independent study credits as well as the 17-credit cap on non-GPA credits. Students may satisfy the upper-class writing requirement through the paper under agreement of the sponsoring faculty member. COREQUISITE: INDEPENDENT PROPOSAL EXTERNSHIP:FIELDWORK (LAW JD 709).
FALL 2025: LAW JD 710 A1 , Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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ARR | 12:00 am | 12:00 am | 2 | Haefner |
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ARR | 12:00 am | 12:00 am | 2 |
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ARR | 12:00 am | 12:00 am | 2 | Kate Devlin Joyce |
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ARR | 12:00 am | 12:00 am | 2 | Haefner |
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ARR | 12:00 am | 12:00 am | 2 | Haefner |
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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS: LAW JD 988
This course will cover the principal legal, tax and business issues of mergers and acquisitions. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals and Corporations, or permission of instructor.
FALL 2025: LAW JD 988 A1 , Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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Tue,Thu | 4:30 pm | 5:55 pm | 3 | Pierluigi Matera |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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Mon,Wed | 2:30 pm | 4:00 pm | 3 | Scott HirstHaefner |
Professional Responsibility for Criminal Practice: LAW JD 983
The course is designed to cover substantial instruction in the rules of professional conduct, and the values and responsibilities of the legal profession and its members, with a particular emphasis as the rules apply to criminal practice. This class is open to all students but Criminal Clinic students are given priority in enrollment. NOTE: This course satisfies the Professional Responsibility requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2025: LAW JD 983 A1 , Sep 2nd to Dec 19th 2025Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
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Wed | 6:00 pm | 8:00 pm | 2 | Stuart Hurowitz |