Macquarie University

Advanced Corporate Finance - AFIN353

This unit challenges the student to consider a comprehensive set of factors that influence organisations in their payout, investment and finance decisions within a dynamic framework. The decision might reflect the personality of a CEO, the composition of competitors or expectations about fluctuations in the economy. In this sense, students need to be able to appreciate the differences between theory and practice. Further, students are encouraged to read academic and professional finance journals and the business sections in the daily press. By the end of the unit students should understand: the theoretical and practical implications of the multifaceted nature of risk; the different issues (including flexibility) to be considered, and the different approaches (including real options) available, in valuing risky projects; issues in determining capital structure; the theory and methods used in assessing the costs and benefits of mergers and acquisitions; and the link between corporate governance and finance.