GRA 6541 Advanced Corporate Finance

GRA 6541 Advanced Corporate Finance

Course code: 
GRA 6541
Department: 
Finance
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Charlotte Østergaard
Course name in Norwegian: 
Advanced Corporate Finance
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
MSc in Finance
Semester: 
2019 Spring
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

This course deals with contemporary issues in corporate financial theory and related empirics. We will focus on capital structure, corporate financial strategy, payout policy, and corporate restructuring. Many of the topics studied are in fast-changing areas of practice and regulation. The course covers selected classic and current theoretical and empirical research to introduce you to the latest developments in the field.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

The main objective is to provide an advanced background and deeper understanding in the mainstream issues of modern corporate finance. The course covers some theoretical and legal issues, but we will mainly focus on empirical research and insights. For group assignments, you will apply your knowledge and your skills to two different types of tasks in the field of corporate finance, namely panel data regressions and event study. You will also have opportunities to work in groups and present academic journal articles, cases, and your own results for the assignment.

Learning outcomes - Skills

Carrying out calculations/empirical analysis, writing reports/execitive summary, presenting research articles/cases, communicating with others, working in groups, etc.

Learning Outcome - Reflection

Critical reflection and ethical awareness in connection with topics in corporate finance.

Course content
  • Capital Structure Decisions
  • Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring
  • Initial Public Offerings
  • Private Equity and Venture Capital
  • Dividend policy and share repurchases
  • Merger and acquisitions
  • Corporate refocusing
  • Behavioral Corporate Finance
  • Theoretical Corporate Finance
Learning process and requirements to students

Lectures and class discussions. Students are expected to prepare for the lecture by reading assigned papers and participate actively in the discussions. There will be group assignments and one group presentations. Most learning will take place through student discussions of articles, cases and group assignments. 

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.

At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.

Software tools
EViews
R
SAS - JMP
SPSS
Stata
Qualifications

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
25
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 4)
Duration: 
2 Week(s)
Comment: 
Assignment
The requirement on the group size may change depending on the number of students enrolled for this course.
Exam code: 
GRA65411
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
25
Grouping: 
Group (2 - 4)
Duration: 
2 Week(s)
Comment: 
Assignment
The requirement on the group size may change depending on the number of students enrolled for this course.
Exam code: 
GRA65411
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
50
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • BI-approved exam calculator
  • Simple calculator
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
2 Hour(s)
Comment: 
Final written examination under supervision
Exam code: 
GRA65411
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam organisation: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.