Full-time MBA Program
Finance
231. Corporate Finance. (3) Three hours of lecture and one hour of optional discussion per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 203. Formerly Business Administration 234. This course will study the principles underlying alternative financial arrangements and contracts and their application to corporate financial management. In particular, it will examine the impact of incentive, moral hazard, and principal-agent problems, that arise as a consequence of asymmetric information, government intervention, managerial incentives and taxes, on financial decisions regarding capital budgeting, dividend policy, capital structure and mergers.
232. Financial Institutions and Markets. (3) Three hours of lecture and one hour of optional discussion per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 203. Formerly Business Administration 232. This course will analyze the role of financial markets and financial institutions in allocating capital. The major focus will be on debt contracts and securities and on innovations in the bond and money markets. The functions of commercial banks, investment banks, and other financial intermediaries will be covered, and aspects of the regulation of these institutions will be examined.
233. Investments. (3) Three hours of lecture and one hour of optional discussion per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 203. Formerly Business Administration 233. This course will examine four different types of asset markets: equity markets, fixed income markets, futures markets and options markets. It will focus on the valuation of assets in these markets, the empirical evidence on asset valuation models, and strategies that can be employed to achieve various investment goals.
234. Advanced Topics in Corporate Finance. (2) Course may be repeated for credit. Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 234. Formerly Business Administration 237. Normative models of financial decisions by business firms, financial regulation and the business firm, and empirical studies in business finance.
235. Advanced Topics in Financial Institutions and Financial Markets. (2) Course may be repeated for credit. Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 232. Formerly Business Administration 235. Normative issues in financial institutions, regulation of financial institutions, the analysis of money and capital markets, and empirical studies on financial institutions and financial markets. Topics to be covered will vary.
236A. Futures and Option Markets. (2) Course may be repeated for credit. Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 233. Formerly Business Administration 236. Normative models for investment management, valuation of securities, behavior of security prices, the function and regulation of security markets, and empirical studies on securities prices and portfolio behavior. Topics covered will vary.
236B. Investment Strategies and Styles. (2) Course may be repeated for credit. Two hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Business Administration 203 plus one additional graduate finance course. Formerly Business Administration 239. Introduction to alternative investment strategies and styles as practiced by leading money managers. A money manager will spend approximately half of the class discussing his general investment philosophy. In the other half, students, practitioner, and instructor will explore the investment merits of one particular company. Students will be expected to use the library's resources, class handouts, and their ingenuity to address a set of questions relating to the firm's investment value.
237. Topics in Finance. (.5-3) Course may be repeated for credit. One-half to three hours of lecture per week. Advanced study in the field of finance. Topics will vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of each semester.
