CORPORATE FINANCE - 2020/1

Module Overview

The module analyses applications of the theory of finance to corporate policy. Broadly defined, this area comprises all operations directed towards the procurement of funds and their investment in the various types of assets.

Module provider

Economics

Module Leader

RISPOLI Luciano (Economics)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Risk and return


• Portfolio theory


• The capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory


• Investment criteria and project analysis


• Capital budgeting under uncertainty: real options analysis;


• Capital structure and the cost of capital;


• Valuation and tax policy; 


• Dividend policy; 

 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

• Knowledge of the key skills required to take investment decisions and corporate valuation.


• Ability to analyse and model investment appraisal.


• Ability to apply the course’s content to unfamiliar problems.


• Discuss real world issues in light of the course’s content.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A mid-term test, lasting 1 hour. Designed to give them practice in investment appraisal and corporate valuation. It is a combination of numerical and theoretical questions, meant to teach students to think about the real world through the lens of what they have been taught.


• A final exam, in the style of the previous assessment.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive verbal feedback in classes and office hours through direct questioning and solving exercises together.

They also receive feedback following the class test as I post solutions online and if necessary, go through the correct answers in class.

Module aims

• Help students understand the various investment and funding strategies available to firms;
• Help students understand the factors that determine the value of the firm. Discuss the importance the firms' capital structure and the implications of various changes to the capital structure.
• Analyse various other corporate policies and their implications: dividend policy, tax policy e.c.t.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• enhance skills in capital budgeting and corporate valuation


• facilitate a critical analysis of various corporate policies

The learning and teaching methods include:

• 2 hour lecture per week x 11 weeks


• 1 hour feedback sessions on problem sets x 5 weeks


• Solutions to problem sets and other materials to accompany lectures which are posted on SurreyLearn.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ECO3039

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.