FIN521 Topics in Empirical Corporate Finance (not offered)

• Topics

  This intensive PhD course surveys important empirical regularities in corporate finance. There are four broad themes:

  (1) Performance econometrics and event studies: Event study design and portfolio performance evaluation procedures used to infer valuation impacts of corporate actions. Examples of performance estimation

  (2) Corporate funding policies and security design: What do funding policies imply for the horse-race between classical trade-off and pecking order theories? How does security design lower bankruptcy costs, and what constitute an optimal bankruptcy system?

  (3) Corporate takeovers: Valuation effects of takeover activity, sources of takeover gains, and empirical investigations of optimal bidding theories for competition preemption, the payment method (cash versus stock), bidder toeholds in the target.

  (4) Corporate governance and incentives: The international corporate governance debate. Self-dealing and the structure of boards. Optimal versus actual executive and director compensation policies.

• Learning outcome

  The candidate should, on successfully completing the course, be able to:

  Knowledge:

  • Discuss and have an in-depth understanding of the current research frontier of the main topics of the course.
  • Explain corporate funding policies and security design.
  • Explain bidding and payment mechanisms in corporate take-overs.
  • Explain the international research debate on corporate governance and incentives.

  Skills:

  • Apply performance econometric event studies.
  • Formulate problems, plan and carry out research within the abovementioned topics.

  Competence:

  • Communicate and discuss research with a peer audience.
  • Do independent research on the topics of this course.

• Teaching

  Lectures, student presentations, and class room discussions.

• Requirements for course approval

  Mandatory class attendance.

  Write-up of weekly homework assignment.

  Satisfactory presentations of research papers.

• Assessment

  The final grade is based on class participation (30%) and the research paper (70%).

  Completion and presentation of a short research paper that involves an extension of the existing literature, and uses databases available at NHH.

  Both class participation and the research paper will be graded on scale from A (highest) to F (lowest).

• Grading Scale

  Grading scale A - F.

• Computer tools

  Computer with standard statistics software (e.g. Stata)

• Literature

  BEE-1: Eckbo, B. Espen (ed.), 2007, Handbook of Corporate Finance: Empirical corporate Finance, Volume 1, Elsevier/North-Holland Hand book of Finance Series, ISBN 978-0-444-50898-0.

  BEE-2: Eckbo, B. Espen (ed.), 2007, Handbook of Corporate Finance: Empirical corporate Finance, Volume 2, Elsevier/North-Holland Hand book of Finance Series, ISBN 978-0-444-53090-5.

   

  In addition, a number of articles will be assigned.