This course covers the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications that are vital for corporate managers. We will discuss many of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers, both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be an important emphasis of the course. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the use and valuation of derivative securities, and risk management. This course is targeted to those students who are new to finance and for those with little quantitative background.
This course discusses empirical aspects of major topics in corporate finance, household and consumer finance, housing, banking, financial regulation as well as political economy. The course is designed for students doing their PhD in finance, economics, and accounting. The class is very interactive.