Doctoral School

Topics in Advanced Corporate Finance

Target audience

Beginning PhD students with an interest in Finance, Requires master level knowledge of economics and statistics. (Top-level master students from the faculty of economics and business administration will also be allowed to take the course as an extra-curricular course (if maximum number of participating PhD students is not yet reached).)

Organizing and scientific committee

Leentje Moortgat (UGent)

Tom Vanacker (UGent)

Luc Renneboog (Tilburg, UGent) 

Abstract

The doctoral course “Topics in Corporate Finance” has the intention to give students a broad overview of the literature on empirical finance. The course is structured around 8 topics. The course further intends to improve the students’ understanding of advanced financial theories and how to research them. Therefore, during the lectures a strong focus is on the state-of-the-art methodologies used in this literature, on how to identify research gaps, and how to formulate innovative research questions.

Objectives

The doctoral course “Topics in Corporate Finance” comprises 8 sessions of 4 hours which will each handle 1 selected topic ((1) Alternative investments (e.g., investments in art, stamps, wine, diamonds,…), (2) Corporate social responsibility, (3) Corporate litigation and fraud, (4) Dividend policy, (5) Mergers and acquisitions, (6) Insider trading, (7) Executive renumeration / CEO characteristics and corporate policy and (8) Entrepreneurial finance. Specific learning goals include:

·        Exploring the literature on empirical corporate finance

·        Understanding advanced financial models/theories and their implications

·        Being able to identify research gaps in the current literature

·        Being able to develop interesting new research questions

·        Understanding state-of-the art analytical techniques/methodologies and knowing which methodology to apply in order to address a given research questions

Dates and venue

8 half days between 13/02/2026 and 05/06/2026

Department of Accounting, Corporate Finance & Taxation

Programme

Via this link.

Registration

Registration fee

Free of charge for Doctoral School members.

Number of participants

Maximum 20 

Language

English

Training method

Each session consists of several parts: a lecture about the topic, a class discussion, and a presentation by one or more students. The lecture is intended to give a broader overview of the topic and to discuss the insights of a few seminal papers on the topic on the one hand, and to explore a specific research methodology often used to tackle research questions on that topic on the other hand. The presentation by a student can be a presentation of a seminal paper as if it were his/her own paper, or it can be a general presentation about a specific research methodology that it is often used in the academic literature on corporate finance and relates particularly to the topic of the day. Students will also be required to define and motivate a research question and present and defend it in class.

Evaluation method

The final grade will be determined by:

·        Take home assignment: the writing of a research proposal (40% of the final grade)

·        Take home assignment: the writing of a referee report (20% of the final grade)

·        Class participation (including a presentation by each student, 40% of the final grade)

After successful participation, the Doctoral School Office will add this course to your curriculum of the Doctoral Training Programme in Oasis. Please note that this can take up to one to two months after completion of the course.