Theoretical corporate Finance 

PART I: Agency Problems and Capital Structure

Time: 9.1.-21.2.2024

Place: Otaniemi, Espoo, Aalto University School of Business

Teaching: GSF Director Mikko Leppämäki (Aalto University)

Exercises: Mr. Sina Ghavamabadi (Aalto University)


Lectures: 26 h of lectures (26 x 45 minutes)

Please note the changes in the teaching/exercise schedule in bold below.

DAY
DATE
TIME
Tuesday 9.1.2024 10:00 - 13 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 10.1.2024 10:00 - 13 U262 KPMG, Otakaari 1
Tuesday 16.1.2024 12:00 - 14 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 17.1.2024 12:00 - 14 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Tuesday 23.1.2024 10:00 - 12 U119 Deloitte, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 24.1.2024 10:00 - 12 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Tuesday 30.1.2024 12:00 - 14 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 31.1.2024 10:00 - 12 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Tuesday 6.2.2024 10:00 - 12 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 7.2.2024 10:00 - 12 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Tuesday 13.2.2024 10:00 - 12 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 14.2.2024 10:00 - 12 Online via Zoom


Exercises: 12 h of exercises (12 x 45 minutes)

DAY
DATE
TIME
Wednesday 17.1.2024 14:15 - 16 U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 24.1.2024 12:15 -14 U261 OP, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 31.1.2024 12:15 -14 U261 OP, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 7.2.2024 12:15 -14 U261 OP, Otakaari 1
Wednesday 14.2.2024 12:15 -14 Online via Zoom
Wednesday 21.2.2024 12:15 -14 Online via Zoom
Objectives: Part I of the course offers a doctoral level introduction to the theoretical corporate finance research with the help of game theory and contracting. In part I, we examine agency problems and capital structure: the focus will be on financial contracting under moral hazard, financial contracting under asymmetric information and signaling in finance. In particular, we examine how agency problems affect the way how corporations optimally finance their activities by taking into consideration the strategic behavior of other market participants.

Note: This part of the course is particularly designed for Finance PhD students who are not familiar with game and contract-theoretic techniques. Therefore the first two lectures are mainly devoted to the basics of noncooperative game theory and different equilibrium concepts that will be used extensively throughout the course. 

Course Description: PDF

Reading List: PDF

Access to the articles is subject to your home institutions' subsciptions to the databases. Hard copies of all readings are available for consultation at GSF office, Aalto University School of Business, room T317.

Lecture Notes: Notes 1

Notes 2

Notes 3

Notes 4

Notes 5

Notes 6

Notes 7 & 8

Notes 9

Notes 10 & 11

Notes 12

Exercises: Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Set 6

The password for opening the files will be e-mailed to course participants.

 

 

PART II: Topics in Theoretical Corporate Finance

Time: 11.-14.3.2023

Place: Otaniemi, Espoo, Aalto University School of Business

Teaching: Professor Martin Ruckes (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Exercises: Mr Sina Ghavamabadi (Aalto University)

 

Lectures: 16 h of lectures (16 x 45 minutes)


DAY
DATE
TIME
Monday
 11.3.2024 12:15 - 14 & 15:15-17 U006 (part 1) & T004 (part 2), Ekonominaukio 1
Tuesday 12.3.2024 13:15 - 15 & 16:15-18 T004 (part 1) & V002 (part 2), Ekonominaukio 1
Wednesday 13.3.2024 12:00-15 & 16:15-18 V002, Ekonominaukio 1
Thursday 14.3.2024 9:00 -12 V002, Ekonominaukio 1

Exercises: 4 h of exercises ( 4 x 45 minutes)

DAY
DATE
TIME
Tuesday
19.3.2024
 12:15 - 16 U261 OP, Otakaari 1

 

Objectives: Rather than providing an exhaustive overview of the field, this part of the course focuses in depth on selected topics. Tentatively, the course intends to cover the following topics; theories of debt/debt markets, the market for corporate control, and internal capital markets. More detailed description of part II will be provided later on.

Reading List: PDF

Access to the articles is subject to your home institutions' subsciptions to the databases. Hard copies of all readings are available for consultation at GSF office, Aalto University School of Business, room T317.

Lecture notes: Notes 1

Notes 2

Notes 3

Notes 4

Exercises: Set 7


The password for opening the files will be e-mailed to course participants.

Credit units: 6 ECTS cr.

List of Participants: PDF

Participants: Doctoral students in finance. The course is also open for KATAJA as well as FDPE and Helsinki GSE students with sufficient background in finance and/or economics. The course is also open for foreign doctoral students given that there is space in the course..

 

EXAMINATIONS

The whole course comprises two parts (examinations of part I and II and exercises). There will also be a retake exam covering both parts of the course. The total points of the course are 100, and in order to pass the course one needs at least 50% of the points (i.e., 50 points). In addition, one has to get at least 50% of the points from both written exams or from the retake exam. That is, a minimum requirement is 40 points from the exam. The exercises are a compulsory part of the course and the percentage requirement applies to the exercises as well. That is, a minimum requirement is 10 points from the exercises. The grading of the course will be based on

  • A written examination (80% weight)
  • Exercises (20% weight)


Examination date and time:

Part I: Friday, March 1, at 10:00-14:00 in U250a Finavia, Otakaari 1, Espoo. Please register for the exam through this link. The registration link will be closed one week prior to the exam.

Part II: Thursday, March 28, at 10:00-14:00. Please register for the exam through this link. The registration link will be closed one week prior to the exam.

Retake examination date (Part I and II together): Friday, April 26, at 10:00-14:00 in U250a, Otakaari1, Espoo. Please register for the retake exam by sending a message to gsf@aalto.fi at least one week prior to the exam date.

Examination places:
Espoo: Aalto University School of Business
 Vaasa: University of Vaasa
Oulu: University of Oulu
Lappeenranta: Lappeenranta University of Technology
Turku: University of Turku
Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä
Other locations: Doctoral students in other universities are requested to inform GSF by sending an e-mail to gsf@aalto.fi if they wish to take the exam in their home universities. The exam can be taken abroad where suitable exam supervision can be arranged. Please note that the exam must be written in presence of an exam supervisor. Thus, please submit the name of the exam supervisor at least 14 days before the examination.  Possible payment and arrangements for supervision should be made by the student.

 

REGISTRATION / APPLICATION

  • Doctoral students of GSF, FDPE and Helsinki GSE: Please register through this link.
  • Doctoral students in related fields and doctoral students at foreign universities: Application form can be found here: PDF file or Word file. Please, send in addition to your complete contact information, a report on the status of your doctoral studies, and a brief CV. Please ask also your thesis advisor to send us a short letter of recommendation by-email. All the required documents should be sent by e-mail to gsf@aalto.fi. All applicants will be informed of their acceptance soon after the deadline.

The deadline for registering in this course is January 2, 2024.