Microeconomics for Business and Finance
Lecturer: Marcello Basili
ETCS:6
Students will be exposed to microeconomic models for business and finance, and in particular to models with asymmetric information and decision under uncertainty. Participants will find out how economic actors can and do construct contractual arrangements, generally in the presence of asymmetric information.
Econometrics
Lecturer: Marco Tucci
ETCS:6
Introduction to standard regression procedures of parameter estimation and hypothesis testing in economics. The following topics will be covered: simple and multiple regression, least-square estimation, goodness-of-fit, Gauss-Markov theorem, coefficient tests and confidence intervals, multicollinearity, dummy variables, tests on structural change, model misspecification, test of linear restrictions, heteroscedasticity (test and estimation), stochastic regressors, instrumental variables, dynamic models , forecasting, stability test, autocorrelation (test and estimation), introduction to simultaneous equations
Financial Investments and Risk Management
Lecturer: Giampaolo Gabbi
ETCS:9
The aim of this class is to develop both an ability to make portfolio selection decisions based on an analysis of security characteristics and an appreciation of the wider role of risk management in finance. Candidates will develop an understanding of the decision making process governing the selection of risky assets by investors. On completing this course applicants will be able to: - describe advanced methods of calculating the efficient frontier; - explain the role of the index and multivariate models in simplifying portfolio selection; - calculate the efficient frontier for a portfolio of securities and derivatives. The risk management profile of the course is to find out the financial risk management process. Measuring, controlling and managing steps will be analysed for the following risks: a) interest and exchange for the banking book with the asset liability management (ALM) solutions; b) market risk, valuating the estimation of the value-at-risk (VAR) and alternative solutions (e.g. expected shortfall or CVAR); c) operational, and principal advanced models (AMA) implemented within financial intermediaries. d) compliance, in order to evacuate the new banking function. For each risk managerial solutions will be find out particularly for insurance and derivative ones.
Corporate Valuation
Lecturer: Costanza Consolandi
ETCS:9
The aim of the course is to give students a thorough knowledge in evaluating companies using DCF, Value based management models and relative valuation (multiples). At the end of the course students should have acquired the following knowledge and understanding: analyse a company’s financial performance, extracting information from the financial statements and from market data; estimating a company’s cost of capital; apply different valuation techniques of DCF methods –such as FCFF, FCFE, DDM- and of relative valuation; analyse and describe a company’s value driving factors.
Financial Modeling I
Lecturer: Claudio Pacati
ETCS:9
The student will acquire the basic tools of stochastic calculus and computational methods needed for financial applications and their application to basic option pricing and interest rate derivatives valuation. The topics in this course cover: basic principles of stochastic calculus (binomial lattices, Brownian motion, Ito’s Lemma, Stochastic Differential Equations), no-arbitrage principle and risk neutral (martingale) pricing, basic option pricing (Cox-Ross-Rubinstein and Black-Scholes models), basic interest rate derivatives valuation: short rate models (Vasicek and Cox-Ingersoll-Ross).
English for Economics & Business
Lecturer: Elena Tognini Bonelli
ETCS:6
The objectives of this course are three-folded. The course aims to acquaint students with: a. different techniques of argumentation and ways of presenting points of views in a text. b. the specific vocabulary in English pertinent to business, finance and economics discourse; c. The course involves progressive stages towards awareness and autonomy in using such vocabulary in written and oral production.
Fundamentals of Programming
Lecturer: Giovanni Quaranta
ETCS:6
The course aims to acquaint students with the basic programming skills, using to this end the VBA (Visual Basic for Applictions) language embedded in Microsoft Excel.
Information Technology for Business and Finance
Lecturers: Antonio Roma, Silvia Patacchini
ETCS:6
Students will acquire knowledge on the IT fundamentals (storing, processing and communicating information) with the point of view of business and financial applications.
Monetary Economics
Lecturer: Alberto Dalmazzo
ETCS:6
The aim of this course is to provide knowledge of fundamental macroeconomic
instruments for the analysis of financial issues in open economies. The following main
topics will be covered:
• Intertemporal model of macroeconomic equilibrium in an open economy.
• Interest rates and asset prices in an intertemporal model of optimal savings and investment.
• Monetary policy and the yield curve.
• Inflation, output and interest rates.
• Open economy: capital flows and portfolio al location
Financial modeling II
Lecturer: Roberto Renò
ETCS:9
In this course students will acquire the basic skills to price financial assets like equity derivatives, credit risk and interest rate instruments. The topics in this course cover:
stylized facts on financial returns, ARCH/GARCH modeling, stochastic volatility modeling, Poisson processes, structural and reduced form models for credi risk, HJM models, market models for interest rate instruments.
International Banking and Financial Regulation
Lecturer: Maria Elena Salerno
ETCS:6
The purpose of the course is to provide students with an analysis of recent regulatory changes in financial markets, particularly in the European Union; changes directed, on the one hand, to safeguard and promote the solvency of financial intermediaries and overall economic stability, and on the other hand, to increase consumer and investor protection.
Statistics for Business Decision Making
Lecturer: Gianni Betti
ETCS:6
The goal of this course is to train students to interpret data effectively and to use concepts of statistics, probability and sampling in making decisions in a business environment. The course focuses on the use of statistics in the framework of the Balanced Scorecard System. Firm efficiency and productivity are analysed in view of an Activity Based Management approach. The multiple regression analysis and panel regression analysis are taken into account for estimating production functions and frontiers and the corresponding productivity and efficiency measures are introduced via Divisia indices. Moreover principles of sampling are introduced and applied for sample surveys within the firm (clients, potential clients, employees) and among establishments. In particular Simple random sampling, Stratified sampling and Clustering are covered.
Economics of Sustainable Development
Lecturer: Alessandro Vercelli
ETCS:6
The economics of environment from the viewpoint of sustainable growth: theory and applications, with specific regard to alternative formal representations, policy issues and irreversibility
International Financial Accounting
Lecturer: Roberto Di Pietra
ETCS:6
This course intends to examine the issues referred to preparation of Financial Statements both in the context of privately held firms and publicly-held corporation and government-controlled organizations. A special focus will be devoted on the adoption of IAS/IFRS and on IPSAS. Because of this approach this course it was structured in two parts named Financial Reporting and Public Sector Accounting. The first unit intends to provide to students a comprehensive coverage of international financial reporting issues, moving from the interaction between accounting and its environment and accounting harmonization. Large part of the classes will be devoted to the International Accounting institutions and particularly to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). During the course will be examined rules issued by the European Union with which were endorsed the IAS/IFRS. Moreover will be explained the IASB Framework, IAS 1 and the main standards on the preparation of individual and consolidated Financial report. The objective of the second unit is that of analysing the changes in the accounting systems of public sector. Large part of the classes will be devoted to the International Public Sector Accounting institutions and particularly to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). During the lessons and seminars, the point of references will be the international scenario and, in particular, the European context. Regarding the modernisation process of accounting systems, forming a broader and more complex path of change in the role of the of public sector in contemporary society, including budgets, internal controls, accrual accounting the compilation of financial statements (IPSAS 1) and consolidated financial statements (IPSASB 6, 7 and 8), our reflections will be particularly concentrated on these last two topics.
Active Portfolio Management
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
The learning objective of this course is to apply economics, econometrics and in general quantitative methods to solving relevant practical investment problems, such us searching alpha opportunities, measuring and controlling portfolio risks, maximizing
appropriate reward/risk ratios, both in a relative return and in an absolute return context.
Financial Engeneering
Lecturers: Claudio Pacati, Giampaolo Gabbi
ETCS:6
The student will acquire the basic theoretical and practical tools of Monte Carlo methods in financial engineering and their applications to the valuation of the most common European and path-dependent derivatives. Exotic options and structured products will found out in order to appreciate the financial engineering process to speculate or hedge interest rates, currencies, equities and credit.
Asset AllocationLecturer: Cristiano Iacopozzi
ETCS:6
The objective of this course is to enable the students to apply economics, econometrics and operations research to solve investment problems and to find the optimum profit opportunities to a long or short term portfolios (with or without leverage). Particular attention will be dedicated to the acquisition of the methodologies of analysis and personalisation of the portfolios for investors who don’t care only about risks to wealth in one future period but for long term investors who receive a stream of income and use it, along with financial wealth, to support their consumptions and using financial assets to hedge their intertemporal risks. Since the interest rates and the risk premia on bonds and stocks varies from time to time another objective of the course will be to increase the skills of the students to understand the nature and the power of the factors which condition the movements over time and using the forecasts in an stochastic context with hypothesis of interdependence of the instruments of one particular market or among different markets. Finally another objective will be to increase the students’ ability to verify for each source of creation the value obtained with the different strategies of management.
Advanced Financial Modeling
Lecturer: Antonio Mannolini
ETCS:6
Students will acquire working knowledge on selected advanced topics in financial modeling.
Financial Markets
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
Students will acquire working knowledge on selected advanced topics in financial markets.
Alternative Assets
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
This course provides a detailed framework for understanding and evaluating the opportunities in a wide variety of alternative assets. It covers the concepts, techniques , instruments involved in alternative assets. The course also covers the role of finanial intermediaries in this segment of financial market.
Applied econometrics
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
Learn how to apply the econometric techniques introduced in a basic econometrics course to real economic and financial problems. Some more advanced tools (e.g. the estimation method of Maximum Likelihood, testing for unit roots in a time series, dealing with nonstationary time series, VAR models and ECM models) will be discussed and applied to overcome the limitations of the basic econometric techniques. Use will be made of the econometric software Eviews.
Corporate Treasury Management
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
The course will increase students' knowledge of the essential principles of and functional practices in corporate treasury and cash management, indentifying and explaining the tradeoffs involved and the techniques used to manage working capital and liquidity.
Interest Rate Derivatives
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
Learnings outcomes are technical skills about pricing, performances and strategies on futures and interest rate options, in different market conditions.
International and Comparative Tax Law
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
Participants will be provided with an overview of basic international tax planning techniques and of the main options regarding residence, permanent establishment, tax havens and the treatment of different types of income. Specific attention will be given to the analysis of the most relevant tax structures both in EU and extra-EU countries and to the main tax aspects of cross-border financial investments.
Structured Finance and Insurance
Lecturer: TBA
ETCS:6
Provide students with a broad perspective of Pure Risk Management that, while emphasizing traditional risk management and insurance/reinsurance, introduces other types of risk transfer, with special attention to the market solutions (particularly ART and pure risk securitization), and project risk sharing.
Behavioral Economics
Lecturer: Luigi Luini
ETCS:6
This course is an introduction to behavioral and experimental economics. It has two main objectives. First, to review the main evidence on violations of traditional economic assumptions that has been provided by recent research on experimental-economics, economic psychology, neuroeconomics. Second, to study economic models that incorporates such new evidence (these include decision-making under persistent biases, intertemporal choice with hyperbolic discounting, decision-making under risk and ambiguity, voluntary provision of public goods, incentives and fairness); applications comprise savings for retirement, insurance, incentives to cooperate, gym membership, and labor economics. This course is also designed to familiarize students with the use of experiments.