This course is an introductory graduate class to corporate finance. Its main objective is to give students exposure to the state of the art research in corporate finance. It is composed in equal parts of material the theory of corporate finance, taught by Professor Ulrich Hege, and on empirical research in corporate finance, taught by Professor David Thesmar. Theory and empirical part will be taught in alternating weeks.

The theory part will give students exposure to the modern theories and current research issues in corporate finance. It will begin with an overview of theories of the capital structure and then introducte fundamental contributions in the theory of financial contracting. The course will then proceed to a more topical approach and cover the following issues: IPOs, Venture Capital, Financial Intermediation, Internal Capital Markets, and Takeovers and Corporate Governance.

The empirical sectionof this class will discuss recent empirical research in the field. It will have four sub-sections. Part 1 will be devoted to discussing the literature on the determinants of capital structure decisions, with a particular emphasis on financial contracting and the balance sheet of financial intermediaries.
Part 2 will be devoted to discussing the real effects of financial decisions, and financial shocks, on investment and employment.
Part 3 will cover the research that has grown out of the recent financial crisis (in Europe and the US).
Part 4 concludes with a discussion on the most promising directions of research in corporate finance and adjacent fields (household finance, real estate, entrepreneurship, banking regulation, sovereign debt.


Course Organization and Grades:

This course requires an extensive workload and preparation from students. The course requirements include readings, problem sets, a referee report and a final exam.

. Problem sets: There will be two extensive problem sets, one theoretical and one empirical. They will be
handed during the class. You may work in groups of a maximum of three people (collaboration across
groups is obviously not allowed). For the empirical part, each group's solution will include a brief
(maximum 3 pages) report presenting and discussing the results.

. Final exam: The final exam will consist of a three-hour written exam covering both parts of the
course. Class material will be allowed.

The final grade will be based on the following scheme:

.Class participation and problem set: 25%
. Final Exam: 75%

Course taught in English at HEC

Dernière mise à jour : mardi 31 juillet 2012