The Ph.D. program in Business with an emphasis in Finance is designed to
prepare individuals for faculty positions at academic institutions or for
professional careers in private industry and government. In the program,
students receive specialized instruction in the areas of corporate finance,
investments, and financial institutions; and through individual
apprenticeship with the faculty, acquire the conceptual knowledge and
methodological skills necessary to conduct independent research in the
discipline. The program also develops students’ proficiency in classroom
instruction by providing teaching prospects, challenging opportunities for
curriculum design and delivery innovations, as well as access to regularly
scheduled teaching workshops and seminars that are offered by the college
and university.
Faculty Research Interests and
Highlights
The faculty are actively engaged in research across a broad array of topics
that include: corporate finance issues such as dividend and capital
structure policy, acquisitions and mergers, distress and financial
restructuring; regulation and rate of return setting process; investments
and financial market issues such as stock market efficiency, credit risk and
corporate bond ratings, portfolio diversification and derivative hedging
strategies, exchange rate risk exposure, and mutual fund performance; as
well as institutional issues such as corporate governance, executive
compensation, corporate ownership, and shareholder voting rights.
Their extensive research
appears in finance journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of
Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis,
Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business, Journal of Financial
Research, Journal of Money Credit and Banking, Journal of Corporate
Finance, Journal of Portfolio Management, Financial Analysts Journal,
Financial Management, and Financial Review; accounting
journals such as the Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting
Research, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of
International Financial Management and Accounting, International Journal of
Accounting, Management Accounting; and economics journals such as
the American Real Estate and Urban Economics, Journal of Economic
Theory, and Journal of Macroeconomics.
Faculty
members hold doctoral degrees from Indiana University, Purdue University,
Louisiana Tech University, Texas A&M, UCLA, University of Iowa,
University of Oregon, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee
During the student's first semester of doctoral work, the student in consultation with the departmental Ph.D. advisor needs to form a Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee consisting of a minimum of 3
graduate faculty members from the Department of Finance. One committee member must be the department Ph.D. advisor. The committee will advise the student regarding, but not limited to, courses for
the supporting fields, matriculation, comprehensive examination, research expectations, assistantship assignments, etc. The committee also will regularly review the progress of the student and
provide the necessary feedback to the student, department chairperson, and department faculty.
The members of the Ph.D. Program Advisory Committee may change from year to year and as circumstances warrant. By the time the student enters the dissertation phase of the program the Advisor
Committee should have evolved into the Dissertation Committee.
Admission
Admission to the Ph.D. program in Business with a Finance emphasis will be
based on a mix of educational achievement, relevant work experience, and
letters of recommendation. Preference will be given to individuals with
strong analytical skills and demonstrated research initiative. Applicants
will generally have master’s degrees in business or economics; individuals
with undergraduate degrees or graduate degrees in areas other than business
or economics may be asked to take additional coursework in business upon
admission to the program. A campus visit and interview with the faculty is
strongly encouraged as part of the application process.
Required Prerequisite Coursework To view detailed descriptions
of the following Walton College courses, visit the
Course Descriptions page.
Basic Calculus
ISYS 5203
Basic Statistics
FINN 5303
Advanced Financial management
FINN 5333
Investment and Portfolio Analysis
FINN 5633
Financial Institutions
FINN 5703
Multinational Business Finance
ECON 5163
Introduction to Economic Theory and Analysis
ACCT 5303
Managerial Accounting
Individuals admitted to the program may be required to take additional courses in accounting, business law, computer information systems, statistics, finance,
economics, management, or marketing. The additional courses will be determined by the Advisor in Finance Emphasis with the approval of the College of Business Administration's Director of Graduate
Studies.
The Ph.D. program in Business with a Finance emphasis requires 42 credit
hours of coursework. Five seminars in financial theory and research
correspond to 15 credit hours. The remaining credit hours, distributed
across two supporting areas, economics and research tools, are determined in
consultation with the departmental doctoral program advisor. In addition,
students must complete a research paper requirement, pass a written
comprehensive exam, as well as successfully defend and conclude an approved
doctoral thesis.
Finance (15 hours)
FINN 6043
Finance Theory
FINN 6133
Seminar in Investment Theory
FINN 6233
Seminar in Corporate Finance
FINN 6333
Empirical Research in Finance
FINN 6733
Seminar in Financial Markets and Institutions
Economics (21 hours)
ECON 5233 Mathematics for Economic Analysis
(Summer)
ECON 5533 Microeconomic Theory I (Fall)
ECON 6233 Microeconomic Theory II (Spring)
ECON 6253 Microeconomic Theory III (Fall)
ECON 5613 Econometrics I (Fall)
ECON 5623 Econometrics II (Spring)
ECON 6633 Econometrics III (Spring)
Research Tools (6 hours) Choose
2 of the Following Courses
STAT 5303 Probability Theory (Fall)
STAT 5322 Statistical Packages
STAT 5343 Stochastic Processes
STAT 5353 Methods of Multivariate Analysis II (Spring)
STAT 5333 Analysis of Categorical Response
STAT 5383 Time Series Analysis
Student may take up to one research tool course approved by the Finance Department doctoral student advisor if the research tool course is not listed above.
The comprehensive exam cannot be taken until a student successfully completes all of the five required courses in Finance. Any deviation from the requirements for the Finance Emphasis must be
approved by the Graduate Advisory Committee. Additional requirements or deviations from the above requirements may be specified by the University or College of Business Administration. The Ph.D.
requirements specified by the University and College of Business Administration take precedence over those indicated for the Finance Emphasis Areas.
Financial Aid
Financial aid in the form of graduate
assistantships is awarded to students on a competitive basis in consultation
with department faculty and the Walton College Doctoral Program
Committee. International applicants whose native language is not English
must attain a test score of 50 or better on the Test of Spoken English (TSE)
to be eligible for a graduate assistantship. Graduate assistantships require
a 20-hour per week commitment that is fulfilled through a combination of
teaching and research assignments and are renewable for a maximum period of
4 years except in special circumstances.
In addition to a monthly stipend (which is
currently $17,000 for 12 months), doctoral students on graduate
assistantships receive full tuition remission of in-state and out-of-state
tuition fees. Outstanding students who meet predetermined university
criteria may also compete for the University-wide Distinguished Doctoral
Fellowships to receive a 12-month stipend of $30,000 (as opposed to $17,000)
and Doctoral Academy Fellowships for an annual stipend of $25,000. Further,
the department will fund $3,000 summer research grants for outstanding
students enrolled in the Program.
