AØKK08116U Seminar: Applied Corporate Finance (F) incl. summerschool 2018

Volume 2017/2018
Education

MSc programme in Economics

The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics

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

The course is also offered as a Summerschool in 2018.

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.

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.

  • Simulations

  • 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 basics.

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 in ACF should not be confused with the seminar on valuation of a company, although there obviously is room for some overlap.
Kick-off 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.
Schedule Autumn 2017:

• Intro meeting: 4th of September 2017, 17.00
• Deadline of commitmentpaper: September 18, 2017
• Deadline of pre-paper uploaded to Absalon: 10 days before presentation.
• Sessions of presentations: Week 44-47
The venue will be informed by the supervisor.

Schedule Spring 2018:

• Intro meeting: February 6, 2018, 17:30
• Deadline of commitmentpaper: March 1, 2018
• Deadline of pre-paper uploaded to Absalon: 10 days before presentation.
• Sessions of presentations: Week 18-21 Precise dates for presentations are agreed on during the intro meeting.
The venue will be informed by the supervisor.

Schedule Summerschool 2018:
• Intro meeting: June 7, 2018
• Deadline of commitmentpaper: June 22, 2018
• Deadline of pre-paper uploaded to Absalon: 10 days before presentation (week 33).
• Sessions of presentations: Week 33 or 34, 2018
The venue will be informed by the supervisor.

This structure is not final. There will with high probability be changes so keep an eye on Absalon – it is your own responsibility to receive e-mails, subscribe to calendar events etc. to keep yourself updated on when and where. Especially regarding the intro meeting it is important you stay informed because Absalon is the only mean for communication on this.

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 before the semester starts begin with the initial work, because there are only a limited number of weeks from the intro meeting and 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 that meets the formal requirements for written papers stated in the curriculum and at KUNet for seminars.
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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 Kunet for seminars (DK) is required to participate in the exam.

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

Autumn semester 2017:

Deadline for uploading the final seminar paper to DE: 1st of December 2017 before 10:00 AM

 

Spring semester 2018:

Deadline for uploading the final seminar paper to DE: 1st of June 2018 before 10:00 AM

 

Summerschool 2018:

Deadline for uploading the final seminar paper to DE: August 27, 2018 before 10 a.m.

 

Exam information:

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

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Re-exam

The reexam is a written paper as stated in the  Master curriculum

Registration period for reexam: September 2018.

Deadline handing in the reexam paper: February 1, 2019

 

Exam information:

More information is available at  Master students (UK)and Master students (DK).  

Criteria for exam assesment

Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and the objectives stated in the Curriculum.

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 and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes.