The course studies the
financial dimension of managerial decisions and corporate strategy. To
achieve this goal we provide an MBA-level introduction to corporate
finance and capital markets. We will study the fundamentals of modern
financial analysis and touch upon all areas of finance such as: the
trade-off between risk and return; capital structure, corporate
financing and dividend policy; the valuation of real and financial
assets, project and company valuation; risk management and financial
derivatives. We will learn the basics of the valuation of stocks, bonds,
forwards, futures and options and study ways to incorporate risk into
corporate valuation models. To do this we introduce mean-variance
optimization, portfolio theory and basic asset pricing models such as
the CAPM. We will discuss the results of recent empirical research and
the theoretical part will be accompanied by case studies. At the end of
the course the student will be able to acknowledge the financial
challenges faced by international business managers and to show how
financial theory can be used to solve practical problems.
- Teacher: Patrick Coggi