Dr. Zhi Li
Fall 2015, BF 4211: Corporate Finance (Section 4491, 4492, 4493, 4494)
Phone: 614-688-7525
Email: li.6805@osu.edu
Office Hours: 10:20-11:30 a.m. MW; and by appointment, Rm. 838 FH
Course Description:
The course introduces students to key concepts in financial management, including financial
securities, capital budgeting process, risk and returns, cost of capital, capital structure decisions,
and mergers & acquisitions. The course covers both financial economics theory and empirical
and survey evidence on corporate financial policies and applications. It is intended for students
aspiring to careers in finance.
Course Goals
After taking this course the students should understand the fundamental financial decisions
undertaken by corporate management, various financial securities, the investment criteria used
by corporations and the trade-off between risk and return. The course also establishes a
systematic framework to analyze financial problems, as well as introduces students to sets of
quantitative tools and models.
Special Note: this course is very quantitative and covers a lot of materials at a fast pace. The best
way to prepare for class and exams is to thoroughly read the lecture notes and work the assigned
problems. I highly encourage you to come to my office hours whenever you encounter
difficulties in either understanding the concepts in the chapter or in the assigned problems.
Course Material
Required:
Berk, DeMarzo and Harford, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 3rd Edition, Pearson
Prentice Hall
Financial calculator. For assignments and exams, I will still require that you show all the
formula/inputs that lead to the results that you show.
MyFinanceLab: Course Access Code: TBD (I will update once Pearson sends the code)
Course Lecture Notes, available on Carmen website (https://carmen.osu.edu/). Please check the Carmen
website before coming to each class, print out lecture notes and bring them to class. I will not bring copies
of the lecture notes to class. If you do not have access to or cannot download the lecture notes, please see
me so I can help you.
Reading materials: I will distribute academic and survey papers and other reading materials throughout
the semester via e-mail or Carmen.
E-mail Communication:
I will send e-mails between class sessions for necessary communications and updates. I will assume that
you check your e-mail at least once a day during week days.
Grading:
The assessment policy for this course is specified in the following paragraphs. Please read it carefully, as
in the interest of fairness to all students, no exceptions will be made. Performance will be measured by
both group works and individual works.
Total Points:
2 Quizzes:
1 Midterm:
1 Final Exam:
MyFinance Lab Practices:
Group Presentation Project:
2 Group Assignments:
Class Participation:
Total Points:
-
60 total
50
100
10
30
20
10
280 Points
Two quizzes (30 points each). There will be 2 in-class quizzes. The quizzes will be multiple
choice questions and related to practice questions and materials covered in class. There
will be NO MAKE-UP quizzes.
-
Midterm exam (50 points). There will be one in-class midterm exam.
-
Cumulative final exam: (100 points). The final will be 100 minutes cumulative exam. The date
of
the
final
is
listed
on
the
website
of
the
registrar’s
office:
https://registrar.osu.edu/scheduling/SchedulingContent/AU15Finals.pdf
-
MyFinance Lab Practices (10 points total). Typically, there will be a set of practice questions
when we cover a new topic. You need to complete each practice assignment by its deadline
to receive the grade. No late homework will be accepted. Please check MyFinanceLab
during the semester for due dates.
-
Two group assignments (10 points each). I will post separate practice questions on Carmen
and in Slides throughout the semester. It is important to work through ALL practice
questions because the exam questions will be related to the practice questions. I will collect
TWO sets of practice questions as assignment in the weeks before Midterm and Final
Exam, and grade a random set of questions. The specific due dates will be posted at least
a week ahead.
Please work in groups of up to four students maximum (two member groups and
three member groups are ok); each group should hand in one assignment. It is the
responsibility of the individual student to ensure that his/her name is on the
assignment when it is handed in. The group can be different from your presentation
group, and students can switch groups for each assignment.
A hard copy of the assignments are due at the BEGINNING of the class and no late
assignment will be accepted. Please keep a copy of your homework for your own reference
before you turn it in, as we will review the answers to some of the problems in class. Poorly
formatted assignments will receive a 10% penalty.
-
Group Presentation Project (30 points total):
o Rules of presentation group work: Students will work in eight groups, with minimum
5 students, and maximum 6 students per group for the presentation project. I reserve
the right to assign one extra student to a group if necessary. There will be one grade
per group, no matter how the work load is distributed among the group members. All group
work will be self-policed.
The last day to submit your group member list via e-mail is Sept 12, 5pm.
o
Presentation: (20 points). I will assign reading materials on related finance topics for each
group. Please prepare a 20 minutes presentation on the subject and answer related
questions from me and your classmates. Please e-mail me the final version of the
Powerpoint slides before 8am of the presentation day. The specific due dates will be
posted at least two week ahead of the presentation day.
o
-
Group member evaluation (10 points) Each student will evaluate other group members
based on the group member’s input and contribution to group work.
Class participation (10 points) I highly recommend you attend all classes and actively
participate class discussions.
Tentative Class Schedule
I reserve the right to change the date for quizzes and exams.
Time Value of Money
Review: Time
Value of Money
Bonds
Stocks
Investment Rules Investment Decision Rules
and Valuation
Capital Budgeting
Quiz 1
Capital Budgeting
Risk and Returns
Risk and Return
Cost of Capital
Mid-term
Cost of Capital
Corporate Financing Decisions (IPO,
External
SEO, and debt)
Financing
Chapter 3 & 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Sept 18, 2015
Chapter 9
Chapter 11 & 12
Chapter 13
Oct 14, 2015
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 & 15
Capital Structure
Special Topic
Capital Structure
Quiz 2
Payout Policy
Merger and Acquisition
Market Efficiency
Final Exam
Chapter 16
Nov 13, 2015
Chapter 17
Chapter 22
Chapter 10
Academic Misconduct:
The University's Code of Academic Integrity is designed to ensure that the principles of
academic honesty and integrity are upheld. http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp. All
students are expected to adhere to this Code. In accordance with University Faculty Rule 3333-5487, all instances of alleged academic misconduct will be reported to the Committee on
Academic Misconduct, which recommends appropriate sanctions to the Office of Academic
Affairs. There will be no exception to this rule. Case reports must be the own original work of
your group. You may not use solutions prepared by current or former students. If you use
information from outside sources in your case report, you must properly cite those sources.
Office of Disability Services (ODS):
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability
should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the Office for
Disability Services at 614-292-3307 in room 150 Pomerene Hall to coordinate reasonable
accommodations for students with documented disabilities.