Moodle

The purpose of this module is to give a standard introduction of the field of corporate finance at the postgraduate level. The first part of this module looks at the classical areas of Modigliani-Miller irrelevance, Taxes and capital structure, Trade-off theory and Pecking order theory of capital structure. The second part looks at the more modern areas, which are essentially based on contract theory. Here we look at agency based models and asymmetric information based models of corporate finance. The final part looks at empirical evidence - some time will be allocated to the area of financial constraints - and if time permits, some special topics in corporate finance such as corporate restructuring (mergers, takeovers, workouts, buyouts etc). This is not an introductory Module.

Module Aims

The module aims primarily to introduce students to the roles of agency costs and information asymmetries in corporate financial decision making.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. understand, demonstrate knowledge of, and solve problems related to capital structure

2. understand, demonstrate knowledge of, and solve problems related to agency costs and information cost of financing

3. understand, demonstrate knowledge of and solve problems related to financial constraints and various topics covered in the lectures

Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

The module will teach students communication skills and problem solving skills; in particular how to structure and break down a large problems into smaller manageable bits.