Adriano A. Rampini

Associate Professor of Finance
Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1998

Finance III: Corporate Finance Theory (BA 553)

Ph.D. Seminar in Corporate Finance - Fall semester. This Ph.D. class is a second year class and provides a rigorous introduction to the theory of corporate finance. The class is co-taught with S. "Vish" Viswanathan. The class meets on Mondays, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2, except when noted otherwies. [Preliminary Syllabus]

Schedule

Week 1: Moral Hazard
Monday, 8/28, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Handouts: Syllabus, Notes: Holmström (1979), Notes: Holmström (1982), Notes: Holmström/Milgrom (1991).
Papers: Holmström (1979), Holmström (1982), Holmström/Milgrom (1991).
Additional readings: Prendergast (2002), Coles/Lemmon/Meschke (2006), Bebchuk/Grinstein (2005).

Week 2: Financing with Incomplete Contracts
Wednesday, 9/6, 8:45am-11:45am, Class Room C.
Handouts: Notes: Aghion/Bolton (1992), Problem Set 1 (Due 9/18).
Papers: Aghion/Bolton (1992).
Additional readings: Kaplan/Strömberg (2003), Dow/Raposo (2005), Harris/Raviv (2005), Aghion/Tirole (1997).

Week 3: Auctions and Applications to Corporate Finance
Monday, 9/11, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Handouts: Notes: Auctions.
Papers: Myerson (1981), Benveniste/Spindt (1989).
Additional readings: Milgrom/Webber (1982), Jagannathan/Sherman (2006).

Week 4: Financing with Costly State Verification
Monday, 9/25, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Handouts: Notes: Costly State Verification, Problem Set 2.
Papers: Townsend (1979), Gale/Hellwig (1985), Diamond (1984).
Additional readings: Mookherjee/Png (1989), Webb (1992), Winton (1995), Krasa/Villamil (2000), Lacker/Weinberg (1989).

Week 5: Financial Distress
Monday, 10/2, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Handouts: Notes: Financial Distress.
Papers: Myers (1977), Bulow/Shoven (1978), Shleifer/Vishny (1992).
Additional readings: Gertner/Scharfstein (1991).

Week 6: Multiple Financiers
Monday, 10/9, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Berglöf/von Thadden (1994), Bolton/Scharfstein (1996).
Additional readings: von Thadden/Berglöf/Roland (2003), Stulz/Johnson (1985).

Week 7: Bank Runs and Coordination Problems
Monday, 10/16, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Diamond/Dybvig (1983), Morris/Shin (1998).
Additional readings: Goldstein/Pauzner (2005).

Week 8: Bubbles and Corporate Finance
Monday, 10/23, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Abreu/Brunnermeier (2003), Rubinstein (1989).

Week 9: Dynamics of Financing Constraints
Monday, 10/30, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Albuquerque/Hopenhayn (2004), DeMarzo/Fishman (2006).

Week 10: Financing Constraints and Business Cycles
Monday, 11/6, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Bernanke/Gertler (1989), Scheinkman/Weiss (1986).

Week 11: Collateral and Asset Prices
Monday, 11/13, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Kiyotaki/Moore (1997), Kiyotaki (1998).

Week 12: Takeovers
Monday, 11/20, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Grossman/Hart (1980), Grossman/Hart (1988).

Week 13: Liqudity and Economic Activity
Monday, 11/27, 8:45am-11:45am, Seminar Room 2.
Papers: Holmström/Tirole (1997), Holmström/Tirole (1998).

Week 14: Discussion of Research Questions in Corporate Finance Theory
Wednesday, 12/6, 9am-11am, Seminar Room G.

Final Exam
Friday, 12/8, 9:00am-11:30am, Seminar Room 2.