Students are required to take a cross-divisional course in research methods, a course in teaching methods, and the following five courses in the finance division:
- COMM 671 Theory of Finance
Theories of decision making under uncertainty, valuation, continuous time models in finance, portfolio theory and options.
- COMM 672 Advanced Topics in Theoretical Corporate Finance
Advanced analysis of decision making at the corporate level. Topics include, investment evaluation and implementation, the issuance of corporate securities, corporate governance, capital structure, and dividend policy. Special attention will be paid to the importance of asymmetric information, taxes, and contract enforcement costs in corporate decisions. Some market microstructure will be covered, time permitting. Prerequisites: COMM 671
- COMM 673 Advanced Topics in Theoretical Asset Pricing
Theoretical asset pricing with an emphasis on continuous time asset pricing. Prerequisites: COMM 671
- COMM 674 Advanced Topics in Empirical Asset Pricing
Topics include empirical testing of static and dynamic asset pricing models, including the CAPM, the APT, consumption and production based dynamic general equilibrium models, and dynamic models of the term structure. Prerequisites: COMM 671 and an advanced level econometrics course.
- COMM 675 Research Seminar in Finance
A weekly seminar series where top faculty from UBC and around the world present current research. The seminar schedule contains the listing of speakers for this year.
- COMM 695 Advanced Topics in Empirical Corporate Finance
Topics chosen emphasize econometric procedures for testing various restrictions delivered by competing theoretical models of corporate behavior. Topics that may be covered include the impact of accounting and other regulations on corporate financial decision making, capital structure choice and corporate control. Prerequisites: COMM 671
The remaining coursework is selected from other divisions and departments such as Accounting, Management Science, Economics, and Mathematics, with the guidance of the PhD advisor.
You begin active research in the first year of your program by completing a summer research project. Most students write their comprehensive examination after your second year of coursework and spend the remainder of the program working on your dissertation research.
Sample program sequence
A typical schedule for a PhD student in Finance may look as follows. (Selection of elective courses will depend on your interests and background.)
Year 1 - Fall: COMM 671 (Theory of Finance), COMM 693 (Research Methods), COMM 581 (Statistical Methodology), ECON 500 (Microeconomics)
Year 1 - Winter: COMM 672 (Theoretical Corporate Finance), COMM 695 (Empirical Corporate Finance), COMM 583 (Time Series)
Year 1 - Summer: Summer research paper
Year 2 - Fall: EPSE 606 (College and University Teaching), ECON 522 (Game Theory), MATH 605 (Mathematics in Finance), ECON 546 (Monetary Theory
Year 2 - Winter: COMM 673 (Theoretical Asset Pricing), COMM 674 (Empirical Asset Pricing), COMM 651 (Information in Markets)
Year 2 - Summer: Comprehensive exam
Year 3 - Preparation and presentation of thesis proposal
Year 4 - Preparation and defense of thesis