As a PhD student in finance, you will research three basic areas, investments, corporate finance and financial institutions. See the curriculum below to guide you through your program with the support of your faculty advisor.
Typically five of the following:
• ECON 609 Macroeconomic Theory I
• ECON 611 Mathematics for Economists I (required)
• ECON 613 Introduction to Econometric Theory (required
• ECON 655 Microeconomic Theory I (required)
• MGF 740SEM Theory of Finance Seminar (required when open)
• MGG 700 Research Design
Typically four of the following, with at least one being a finance class:
The scope and objectives of corporate financial management are introduced along with the concept of the risk- return trade-off. The various sources of capital are discussed, along with their costs. Financial planning with special emphasis on the evaluation of capital projects is considered. The implications of the efficient market hypothesis are considered throughout the course.
Credits: variable
Semesters offered:
Students taking this course should expect to learn about financial derivatives. Among others, students will learn about how to price financial derivatives and how to incorporate various real-world frictions into binomial trees and stochastic processes (such as underlying the commonly used Black & Scholes model). In a case-study we will use R programming to replicate the risk-neutral price of a variance swap (underlying the so called Volatility Index or VIX). The course will be of particular interest for students who contemplate pursuing a career in the financial industry, e.g. as a Quantitative Analyst. The required prior courses depend on your trajectory (e.g., MGF 633 "Investment Management" or MGF 634 "Quantitative Methods in Finance"). Please consult your study guide for details. In general, students are expected to possess good knowledge of mathematics and statistics. Students should also feel comfortable with Excel and some basic programming knowledge will be helpful. Mathematical, statistical, and Excel skills required for this course will be reviewed during the course.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
This is a course about fixed-income securities and markets. It covers topics that are important for any MBA student that anticipates hedging interest rate exposures or otherwise transacting in the fixed-income market. The course reviews basic bond pricing concepts and important features of interest rate futures and options contracts. It also introduces a few (somewhat complicated) models of the term structure. This is a rigorous course that requires students to be familiar with basic investments and calculus concepts. While MGF633 is not a prerequisite for this course, students that are taking MGF633 simultaneously with the course will be better prepared. Like most finance courses, the course focuses more on lasting financial principles than on current institutional details.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
This course focuses on the theory of finance and its application to corporate policy decision analyses. Theoretical and empirical papers from various journals will be covered. Students will be exposed to both classical papers on selected topics and the latest development in corporate finance theory.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
MGF 741SEM Corporate Finance (required when open)
• ECON 665 Microeconomic Theory II (required)
• ECON 612 Mathematics for Economists II (required)
• ECON 614 Econometric Applications and Methods (required)
By the end of the first year, you will be expected to present a paper outlining your current progress in an area of research and how you might contribute in the future.
Students are encouraged to develop their knowledge in specialized topics through independent study and supervised research with the finance faculty. Such efforts may be undertaken with the objective of publishing a paper.
The following courses must be taken in the Economics Department in lieu of the core courses in statistics (two courses), economics (two courses), and research methodology (one course {the other methodology course requirement is satisfied by MGF 740}):
ECON 609 Macroeconomic Theory I
ECON 611 Mathematics for Economists I
ECON 612 Mathematics for Economists II
ECON 613 Introduction to Econometric Theory
ECON 665 Microeconomic Theory I
In addition, at least one of the following courses must be taken for the external focus area in Economics:
ECON 614 Econometric Theory II
ECON 615 Econometric Theory III
ECON 666 Microeconomic Theory II
ECON 712 Econometrics: Time Series Analysis
ECON 721 Industrial Organization I
ECON 731 Optimal Contract Theory
Each student is encouraged to take additional courses which develop their research skills depending on the student’s specialization. Further training in the following areas is very desirable:
a) Economics (see list above)
b) Statistics (e.g., STAT 521, 522)
c) Management Science
d) Mathematics (e.g., MATH 301, MATH 331- 332)
e) Research courses in the School of Management (e.g., MGA 617, MGA 618)
The student must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (B) to fulfill the requirement for a minor in economics. However, we expect the student to achieve an average higher than this minimum.
Two semesters of workshop courses (MGO 795, 796) must be taken. The workshop is designed to expose the student to current research.
The finance faculty will conduct an annual review and interview of each student in the program in the spring semester. The purpose is two-fold: to determine whether the student is making adequate progress toward the degree, and to determine where the student’s interests are developing. The student’s progress will be based on: (a) course grades; (b) comprehensive exam grade; (c) workshop participation; (d) performance as an RA (Resident Assistant) or TA (Teaching Assistant); (e) dissertation development; and (f) overall progress toward the degree.
Any of the following courses may also be taken, but are not required:
MGF 642 Financial Planning and Evaluation
MGF 643 Value Creation
The financial services industry is very dynamic and continues to undergo dramatic changes. Many forces contribute to the changes including interest rates, overall market and credit factors, consolidation within the industry, and regulations. From this perspective, the course explores the basic management problems in the credit, investment, and financing administration functions of financial institutions, including commercial banks in the United States and abroad.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
Pre-Requisite: MGF 611 or MGQ 608 and MGQ 609 or a
This course is designed to familiarize students with the core concepts related to international financial management, including foreign exchange markets (from institutional details to quantitative models for the forecasting of future exchange rates), currency risk derivatives (spanning both a discussion of contract characteristics and quantitative methods for pricing and valuation of currency forwards, options, and swap contracts), quantitative approaches for risk management and hedging in cross-border settings, quantitative analysis of currency arbitrage operations, analysis of translation, economic, and political risks, cross-border financing, issues with cross-border taxation, analysis of institutional details and recent statistics on foreign debt and equity markets, and other topics.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered: Fall 2024
Pre-Requisite: MGF 611 and MGQ 608 or MS Finance S
Fall 2024 (08/26/2024 - 12/09/2024)
| Reg. Num. | Section | Type | Topic | Days | Time | Location | Instructor |
| 11408 | F1F | LEC | MW | 3:30 - 4:50 p.m. | Jacobs 112 | Fotak, Veljko N |
This course focuses on the theory of finance and its application to corporate policy decision analyses. Theoretical and empirical papers from various journals will be covered. Students will be exposed to both classical papers on selected topics and the latest development in corporate finance theory.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
The objective of this course is to familiarize students with foundational and mainstream research in information and capital markets. In the first part, the course covers the theory of asset pricing and methodology of empirical tests. In the second part, the course covers important studies on special topics in asset pricing. Students should have completed basic corporate, investment and econometric courses before taking this course.
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
"The course covers topics related to market microstructure, such as information asymmetry, liquidity, trading, and price efficiency. Course materials include path-breaking works in the past, recent developments in theories, and newly documented empirical evidence. The course will help equip students with the knowledge and methodological tools required to write scholarly articles that are potentially publishable in leading journals in finance and related fields."
Credits: 3
Semesters offered:
Independent study may also be used to help a student develop specialized knowledge in finance.
Students are required to take the morning segment of the finance comprehensive exam. The exam may be taken only twice. No minor exam is required if the student achieves a 3.5 GPA in the minor courses.