At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
1/ explain how capital structure theories are related to financial practice.
2/ discuss, weigh and evaluate different factors that are considered by CEOs and/or CFOs when setting up their capital structure policy.
3/ understand the implications of various theories such as: the agency theory, the signalling theory, the trade-off theory, as well as firm- or industry-specific elements that influence the capital structure policy.
This course focuses on the main theories developped so far about the capital structure and the part of the equity within the financing of the company.
Starting from empirical evidences, the course confronts market practices with the main theories, starting with Modigliani & Miller and the various developments thereof and moves on through the signalling theory and the trade-off theories, towards the most recent theories that include a dynamic component.
The course also examines the firm- and industry-specific elements that will or should influence the firms’ decisions.
Case studies will outline concrete strategies and confront them to theories.
