Introductory description

This module aims to provide students with a fundamental understanding of corporate finance theory and practice. It reviews basic theories and applications in firm capital structure decisions, corporate governance and ethics, capital budgeting and payout policy of corporations.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Indicative syllabus:

Capital Budgeting
Theories and Implications of Capital Structure
Long-term Financing Alternatives
Corporate Control and M&A
Corporate Governance and Ethics
Payout Policy

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate a deep understanding of corporate finance theories and tools, and the principles of capital budgeting
• Demonstrate an understanding of the determinants of the firm’s capital structure
• Demonstrate an understanding of agency theory and its applications
• Demonstrate an understanding of long-term financing alternatives
• Apply financial and basic mathematical logic and reasoning

Indicative reading list

Berk, J. and DeMarzo, P., Corporate Finance, 5th - edition, Prentice Hall, 2019.
Brealey, Myers and Allen, Principles of Corporate Finance, 13th - edition, International Student Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2019.
Hiller, D., Ross S.A., Westerfield R.W., Jaffe J. and Jordan B.D., Corporate Finance, 3rd - (European) edition, McGraw-Hill, 2016.

International

Yes. Corporate governance, control and ethics structures and impacts across countries and regions worldwide

Subject specific skills

• Apply financial tools for corporate control & M&A

• Evaluate payout policy examples

• Evaluate cases for corporate governance mechanism

• Describe models of capital structure and agency theory and evaluate cases of capital structure decisions

Transferable skills

Numeracy

Written communication