ADVANCED FINANCE

BUS5ADF

2016

Credit points: 15

Subject outline

This subject aims to expose doctoral students to cutting-edge scholarship in current research issues and skills in finance. It covers theoretical and empirical papers relating to efficient markets and behavioural finance hypotheses, event study methodology, operating performance and abnormal returns measurement, payout policy, capital structure, equity issuance, corporate governance, signalling and information asymmetry, asset pricing, and endogeneity issues. The subject will also develop high-level writing, speaking and critical thinking skills required by students to undertake finance research. Upon successful completion of this subject,students will develop a framework for addressing research propositions, obtain in-depth knowledge of finance theory and practice, understand the interface between theoretical models and empirical tests of these models, and gain the ability to develop and resolve finance research questions and communicate the results.

School: La Trobe Business School

Credit points: 15

Subject Co-ordinator: Bala Balachandran

Available to Study Abroad Students: Yes

Subject year level: Year Level 5 - Masters

Exchange Students: Yes

Subject particulars

Subject rules

Prerequisites: N/A

Co-requisites: N/A

Incompatible subjects: N/A

Equivalent subjects: N/A

Special conditions: N/A

Graduate capabilities & intended learning outcomes

01. Demonstrate what is meant by theory, and explain its role in finance research.

Activities:
Seminars, readings, class discussions and all four assessment items.

02. Compare, contrast and critically evaluate selected theories of finance.

Activities:
Seminars, readings, class discussions and assessment item one.

03. Demonstrate high-level writing, speaking and critical thinking skills in describing and assessing the utiity of finance theories and empirical propositions.

Activities:
Readings, class discussion and all four assessment items.

04. Ability to conduct finance research and be able to articulate, express and present these research findings.

Activities:
Class discussion and assessment item two.

Melbourne, 2016, Semester 1, Day

Overview

Online enrolment: Yes

Maximum enrolment size: N/A

Enrolment information:

Subject Instance Co-ordinator: Greg Jamieson

Class requirements

Seminar
One 3.0 hours seminar per week on weekdays during the day and delivered via face-to-face.

Assessments

Assessment elementComments%ILO*
One 4000 word individual assignmentEmpirical Research Project5001, 02, 03
Class Participation1001, 03, 04
One 2000 word referee report (a critique of a published paper)2001, 03
Two 30-minute class contribution (spoken assignment)The class contribution item is an assessment of students' speaking skills as they pertain to articulating advanced finance theory. To assess speaking skills, a discrete spoken exercise conducted individually or in pairs is envisaged.2001, 02, 03