Corporate Financial Policy

Catalog description

This course develops the framework for evaluating the gains, costs, and risks of managing firms' financial assets and liabilities, as well as their interaction with real-side decisions (investment, mergers, R&D, employment, etc.). It takes the perspective of financial managers at public corporations, individuals that are responsible for financial decision-making, as well as that of market participants ? e.g., investment bankers, analysts, fund managers, regulators ? that monitor and evaluate corporate policies. Among other topics, the course will discuss issues related to corporate capital structure, dividend policy, issuance decisions, and liquidity risk management. The course will do so going beyond standard textbook coverage, making sense of available research on financial policy, looking at what CFOs think via field surveys, studying real-world examples of financial policy-making. (MHA-EL)