This is a course on empirical research in mainstream topics in corporate finance, for example debt policy, dividend policy, the financing of companies, corporate governance, and the effects of family ownership and private equity.

Honours Corporate Finance considers aspects of the financial management, financing and governance of companies believed to be of academic interest and practical importance. The aims are to introduce students to current thinking and empirical research on the chosen topics, and to develop skills of understanding, analysis and explanation. The course builds on the finance and accounting learned earlier in the degree programme, and so it assumes some knowledge of companies and financial reporting, and concepts such as discounted cash flow and the cost of capital. The course adds to students' knowledge mainly by examining empirical research on the topics studied. Research in corporate finance is a social science, the aim of which is to understand about value creation and financial decision-making as observed in the corporate sector. Students will learn about the current state of knowledge on each topic studied and about how research in corporate finance is conducted, through studying the research design and contribution to knowledge of carefully selected papers.

Pre-requisites: Students MUST have passed: Principles of Finance (BUST08003) OR Introduction to Corporate Finance (BUST08030).

Applications of Econometrics