Course Description

This course is designed to provide an overview of major topics incorporate finance. It will cover scholarly work on theoretical foundations and empirical findings in various fields of corporate finance via a guided navigation through seminal and recent research papers. The course is also structured to introduce students to various research methods used in empirical corporate finance.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites and/or other Restrictions

N/A

Course Learning Outcomes/Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

o Demonstrate a good understanding of important topics in corporate finance research

o Explain the importance of agency theory and information asymmetry in corporate finance research

o Identify research methodologies used in empirical studies of corporate finance

o Develop a good understanding of academic research through presenting published papers

o Generate ideas for potential research topics

o Acquire basic skills to carry out independent research by developing a research proposal

Approach Taken & Ground Rules

This course is delivered through blended learning. Asynchronous learning is through pre-recorded lecture videos. In-person sessions will have additional lectures, presentations by students, and in class discussion. The reading list for each topic can be found in this syllabus. Students are expected to be well prepared for class discussion and to demonstrate a good understanding of the assigned reading materials. Regular class attendance and active participation in class discussion are required.

Required Text(s)/Learning Materials

Textbook

• There is no required textbook for this course.

Articles (by topic)

o The discussion of papers marked with will be led by your instructor.

o Papers used for student presentations (Modules 2, 3, and 4) will be announced (TBA) during the second class.

Module 1: Overview

- Academic Research and Industry Practice

Mauboussin, M. J., & Callahan, D. (2014). Capital Allocation: Evidence, Analytical Methods, and Assessment Guidance. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 26(4), 48-74.

- Information Asymmetry and Agency Problems

Harris, M., & Raviv, A. (1991). The Theory of Capital Structure. The Journal of Finance, 46(1), 297-355.

Stein, J. (2003). Agency, information and corporate investment. In Handbook of the Economics of Finance, G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.) (Vol. 1,pp. 111- 165). Elsevier.

Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). A Survey of Corporate Governance. The Journal of Finance, 52(2), 737-783.

La Porta, R., Lopez-De-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (1999). Corporate Ownership Around the World. The Journal of Finance, 54(2), 471-517.

Module 2: Capital Structure

Harris, M., & Raviv, A. (1991). The Theory of Capital Structure. The Journal of Finance, 46(1), 297–355.

Frank, M. Z., & Goyal, V. K. (2009). Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors Are Reliably Important? Financial Management, 38(1), 1–37.

Graham, J. R., & Harvey, C. R. (2001). The theory and practice of corporate finance: Evidence from the field. Journal of Financial Economics, 60(2–3), 187–243.

Flannery, M. J., & Rangan, K. P. (2006). Partial adjustment toward target capital structures. Journal of Financial Economics, 79(3), 469–506.

Papers used for student presentations

Module 3: Corporate Investment

Stein, J. (2003). Agency, information and corporate investment. In Handbook of the Economics of Finance, G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.) (Vol. 1,pp. 111– 165). Elsevier.

Hubbard, R. G. (1998). Capital-market imperfections and investment. Journal of Economic Literature, 36(1), 193−225.

Papers used for student presentations

Module 4: Payout Policy

Brav, A., Graham, J. R., Harvey, C. R., & Michaely, R. (2005). Payout policy in the 21st century. Journal of Financial Economics, 77(3), 483–527.

La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (2000). Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World. The Journal of Finance, 55(1), 1–33.

Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (2001). Disappearing dividends: Changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay? Journal of Financial Economics, 60(1), 3–43.

Zhou, J., Booth, L., & Chang, B. (2013). Import competition and disappearing dividends. Journal of International Business Studies, 44(2), 138– 154.

Papers used for student presentations

Module 5: Mergers and Acquisitions

Andrade, G., Mitchell, M., & Stafford, E. (2001). New Evidence and Perspectives on Mergers. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(2), 103– 120.

Fuller, K., Netter, J., & Stegemoller, M. (2002). What Do Returns to Acquiring Firms Tell Us?

Evidence from Firms That Make Many Acquisitions. The Journal of Finance, 57(4), 1763– 1793.

A Golubov, D Petmezas, NG Travlos, 2013, Empirical mergers and acquisitions research: A

review of methods, evidence and managerial implications. In Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance. Bell, A., Brooks, C., & Prokopczuk, M. (ed.) (pp. 287–313).    Edward Elgar Publishing.

Module 6: Other Topics in Corporate Finance

-     Details will be provided later

Tentative Schedule

Note: In-person sessions (I) will usually take about 1-1.5 hour. They will start at 11:35AM on the dates specified by the tentative schedule.

Method of Evaluation

Any late or missed work will result in 0 in its respective mark!

Writing Centre AI Module (4%): You are required to complete the Writing Centre Academic Integrity

Module    before     September    26. More     information    on     this    module     can    be     found    at

https://www.dal.ca/campus_life/academic-support/writing-and-study-skills/academic-integrity- module.html Details on how to take this module will be provided in class.

Paper Presentations (10% each ×2)

Each student will present TWO papers from the reading list, as if he/she were the author presenting the paper at a conference.

-      Presentation 1 will take place on Week 4. Every student needs to present a paper from Module 2.

-      For  Presentation  2,  each  student  will  choose  one  paper  from  Module  3  or  Module  4.  The presentations for these two modules will take place on Week 6 and 8 respectively, and each week will have maximum three presentations.

-      Papers used for student presentations (Modules 2-4) will be announced during the second class. Each paper can be presented by one student only. The selection of papers is on ‘first come first serve’ basis.

You will have 15 minutes to present the work, followed by 5 minutes Q&As from the audience. PPT slides must be submitted via Brightspace 24 hours before your scheduled presentations. Evaluation will be based on format (slides, 20%), content (50%), presentation skills (20%), and Q&As (10%). More details will be discussed in class.

Research Paper Proposal (33%)

The research paper proposal requires your independent research on one of the corporate finance topics covered in this course. We will use the method of scaffolding to decompose the research into the following assignments through the term. All assignments will be submitted via Brightspace on specified due dates. Details will be provided via assignments.

Final Exam (33%): A final exam covering all the topics discussed in class will be arranged at the end of this term. More details will be discussed in class.

Class participation (10%) You are expected to attend all synchronous/in-person sessions (4% in total) and watch all the asynchronous learning materials (6%). You need to read the required papers in advance, and contribute to the class discussion in the form of constructive questions and relevant answers.

FGS Regulations for the courses for MScB program

Please refer to the following website and sub-webpages for the details ofFGS regulations.

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES REGULATIONS

MScB program is one of the “ Thesis-based Master’s Degrees” program on theFGS ‘degree requirement’ page.

Grading Scale for Masters Students

Grading Scale as per Dalhousie Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar

Regulation 6.6.2 Grading Policy