AØKK08116U Seminar: Applied Corporate Finance (F)

Volume 2019/2020
Education

MSc programme in Economics

The course is a part of the financial line, signified by (F)

The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics.

 

It is not possible to be registered at this seminar if the Danish version: Anvendt Corporate Finance (AØKK08345U) have been passed.

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 condition 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.

 

Examples (only a few – opportunities are endless) of topics are:

  • Valuation of a firm
  • Optimal capital structure
  • Examples, consequences, (and solutions), of financial distress in practice
  • Asset specificity and capital structure
  • Trading strategies
  • 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.
  • Simulations
  • Research note to employer

 

All topics using finance can be described. For more examples contact supervisor

Learning Outcome

Additional for the learning outcome specified in the Curriculum the student is after completing the seminar expected to be able to:

  • structure the paper,
  • argument and present the arguments through the seminar paper,
  • analyse theory and data,
  • apply the analysis in a real situation
  • extend the conclusion of the analysis so it is applicable and relevant for a practitioner of finance.
Literature

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

 

BSc in Economics or similar
It is highly recommended that the students have had a basic finance subject such as "Corporate Finance and Incentives" or similar. I.e. know CAPM and stocks, Fixed Income and bonds, derivatives, pricing methods, real options, capital structure basics, and financial statement analysis basics. It is expected that the students have had at least one further finance subject of a more advanced character.
Activities:
- Kick-off meeting
- Finding literatur and defining the project
- Writing process of the seminar paper
- Presentation of own project and paper
- Giving constructive feedback to another student´s paper
- Actively participating in discussions at the presentations and other meetings.

At the seminar the student is trained independently to
- identify and clarify a problem,
- seek and select relevant literatur,
- write a academic paper,
- present and discuss own paper with the other students at the seminar.

The aim of the presentations is, that the student uses the presentation as an opportunity to practice oral skills and to receive feedback. The presentations is not a part of the exam and will not be assessed.

There is no weekly teaching/lecturing and the student cannot expect guidance from the teacher. If the teacher gives a few introduction lectures or gives the opportunity for guidance, this as well as other expectations are clarified at the kickoff meeting.

Process:
It is strongly recommended that you think about and search for a topic before the semester begins, as there is only a few weeks from the kick-off meeting to the submission of the project description/ agreement paper.

Before the presentations, your nearly finished version of the seminar project paper must be uploaded in Absalon, as the opponents and the other seminar participants have to read and comment on the paper. It is important that you upload a paper that is so finalized as possible due to the fact that the value of feedback and comments at the presentation is strongly associated with the skill level of the seminar paper.

After the presentations, you can with a few corrections improve the seminar paper by including the feedback and comments emerged during the presentations. It is NOT intended that you rewrite or begin the writing of the full project AFTER the presentation has taken place.
Schedule:

Autumn 2019:

• Kick-off meeting: September 3, 2019, 20:00 – 21:30
• Deadline of project description: September 17
• Deadline of pre-paper uploaded to Absalon: One week before presentation.
• Presentations: In the periode November 1 – 22. Exact dates is agreed on at the kick-off meeting

All information regarding the seminar is communicated through Absalon including venue. So it is very important that you by yourself logon to Absalon and read the information already when you are registered at the seminar.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Project work
  • 186
  • Seminar
  • 20
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination
A seminar paper in English that meets the formal requirements for written papers stated in the curriculum of the Master programme and at KUNet for seminars.

If a student chooses 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 strategy and reformulation of the P&L parts must attract minimal focus and cost of capital, risk (beta), capital structure etc. should attract maximum focus.
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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  Seminars (DK)  is required to participate in the exam.

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Aid
All aids allowed

for the project paper.

The teacher defines the aids that must be used for the presentations.

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Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
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Exam period

Exam information:

Autumn 2019:

Deadline for submitting the final seminar paper: December 2, 2019 before 10 AM

 

Exam information:

The seminar paper must be uploaded to the Digital Exam. More information will be available from the middle of the semester.

 

For enrolled students more information about examination, rules, aids etc. is available at the intranet for Master (UK) and Master (DK ).

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Re-exam

Reexam information:

The reexam is a written seminar paper as stated in the Curriculum.

Deadline and more information is available at Seminars(UK) and Seminars(DK).

More information about reexam etc is available at Master(UK)andMaster(DK).

Criteria for exam assesment

Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes in the Curriculum of the Master programme.

 

To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material.

 

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.