AØKK08116U Seminar: Applied Corporate Finance (F)

Volume 2016/2017
Education

M.Sc programme of Economics
The course is a part of the financial line, signified by (F)

The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics

Content

The aim is for the students to take point of departure in a topic discussed in "Finance" and relate this to practice. It is not important that it is "corporate", but it is a prerequisite that it is "finance". "Applied" means that the seminar paper must speak to someone practicing (a practitioner) finance and provide a recommendation based on the analysis carried out in the seminar paper.

Learning Outcome

The students are evaluated based on three criteria; structure, content / analysis and application. Structure is how well the argument is presented through the seminar paper. Contents / analysis is about how deeply theory and data is analyzed – it is the traditional concept of "academic rigor". Application is the degree to which the student is able to apply the analysis in a real situation / the extent the conclusion of the analysis is applicable and relevant for a practitioner of finance. All topics using finance can be described. Examples of topics are:

  • Valuation of a firm

  • Optimal capital structure

  • Examples, consequences, (and solutions), of financial distress in practice

  • Asset specificity and capital structure

  • Industry comparisons

  • Strategic capital structure / finance

  • Qualitative research (e.g. interview) of CFO

  • Empirical test of e.g. ratings, D/E, liquidity, R&D, etc.

  • Research note to employer

Will be decided by the teacher in collaboration with the students.

 

It is a prerequisite that the students have had a basic finance subject such as "Corporate Finance & Incentives". I.e. know CAPM and stocks, Fixed Income and bonds, derivatives, real options, capital structure basics, and financial statement analysis.
If the students choose to make a valuation of a company please note that this should be with a strong focus on finance rather than accounting. I.e. the reformulation of the P & L must have minimal focus and cost of capital, risk (beta), capital structure etc. should have maximum focus. This seminar paper should not be confused with the seminar "Strategic valuation of a company", although there obviously is some overlap.
Planning/start-up meeting, research and writing process of the seminar paper, sessions with presentation of own paper and critical evaluation/feedback to another student´s paper, actively participating in discussions at class.

Before the session a "so-finalized-as-possible"-draft of the paper must be uploaded in Absalon. After the presentations, the student submit an edited version of the paper in the Digital Exam portal as the final exam paper. The aim is that students use the presentation sessions as an opportunity to receive and use the constructive feedback to improve the paper.
Scheduel (tentative) Spring 2017:

Planning meeting: Februar 13, 2017, 16.15-18
Presentations: Week 19 and 20. Dates will be made in agreement with the students

Venue will be available before the semester begins.

There will - with high probability - be changes so keep an eye on Absalon – it is the student´s responsibility to be able to receive e-mails, subscribe to calendar events etc. and to be updated on when and where the activiteis in the seminar are going on. Especially regarding the intro meeting.

It is strongly recommended that students already in August begin with the initial work. It is also strongly recommended that the students submit a full presentation paper, or very close to fully completed. The quality of feedback and comments are exponentially (and not just linear or positively) correlated with the degree of completion of the seminar paper in the presentations.

Autumn 2016:
Intro meeting: Monday 12. September 15-17
Submission of ”commitment paper” Monday 19. September
Submission of presentation paper: Approx. 10 days prior to the presentations
Presentations of presentation papers: Week 46 (12. – 20. November) by agreement
Submission of final paper: Monday den 5. December

After the presentations there is time for the students to rewrite the seminar paper and thus to include the feedback and comments that emerged during the presentations.
Due to the special process of rewriting and re-submission along with the progress reform, there is a hard time constraint on the process. It is therefore strongly recommended that students already in August begin with the initial work, in that there is only six weeks from the intro meeting until the first submission. It is also strongly recommended that the students submit a full presentation paper, or very close to fully completed. This is because the quality of feedback and comments are exponentially (not just linear or positively) correlated with the degree of completion of the seminar paper in the presentations.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Project work
  • 186
  • Seminar
  • 20
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination
- a seminar paper in English.
Exam registration requirements

Attendance in all activities at the seminar as stated in the formal requrements in the Curriculum and at the KUnet for seminars (UK) and Kunet for seminars (DK).

Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
- up to 20 %
Exam period

Autumn 2016:

Deadline for submitting the commitment paper: not later than October 1, 2016 or at teachers deadline.

Presentation days: Week 46. Exact date by agreement

Deadline for submitting the seminar paper is December 5, 2016 at 10 AM

Spring  2017:

Deadline for submitting the commitment paper: March 1, 2017 at 10 AM.

Presentation days: Week 19 and 20. Dates will be made in agreement with the students.

Deadline for submitting the seminar paper: May 29, 2017 at 10 AM

 

For enrolled students more information about examination, exam/re-sit, rules etc. is available at the student intranet for Examination (English) and student intranet for Examination (KA-Danish).

Re-exam

A written paper as stated in the  Curriculum and at the KUnet for seminars (UK) and Kunet for seminars (DK). 

According to the Curriculum the form of the re-sit exam has been changed from September 1, 2016 to a “Written seminar re-sit paper” of 7,5 ECTS within the same subject area as the seminar. There is no longer an oral exam and an earlier non-passed seminar paper cannot be used as a re-sit paper.

Criteria for exam assesment

The student must in a satisfactory way demonstrate that he/she has mastered the learning outcome of the course and the objectives stated in the Curriculum.