This DBA orientation seminar introduces students to the requirements of writing research papers. It also elaborates on the nature, uses, and objectives of doctoral level applied research. Students learn how to construct arguments, devise and test analytical models, and write publishable studies.

Students learn in this lab-based course mathematical statistics along with applications to business decisions. The main topics include: probability, random variables, normal and non-normal distribution, hypothesis testing, linear and non-linear regressions, analysis of variance, and nonparametric statistics. A special emphasis is on cross-sectional, panel, and stochastic analyses of financial data. The course material is particularly useful to professionals who aim at quantitative positions at financial institutions and consulting firms.
Prerequisite: Take DBF-900

The course examines equity, fixed income, and derivative markets in the global context. The advanced analytical material focuses on modeling market trends, cycles, and volatility. It examines impact of monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policies on market dynamics. It highlights new research on financial crisis, banking, and credit markets. Major risks faced by financial institutions are thoroughly covered.
Prerequisite: Take DBF-900

The second lab-based quantitative research methods course covers the analytical material comprised within the growing discipline of financial econometrics. The course material encompasses time-series analyses and their applications to financial processes. Students gain foundations of modeling and forecasting key financial variables, including asset prices, returns, interest rates, financial ratios, defaults, etc. They become familiar with modern, state-of-the-art estimation methods of high-frequency financial data.
Prerequisite: Take FN-903

This course has two parts. The first part provides an empirical overview of econometric techniques using panel data. Topics include specification, estimation, and inference in the context of panel data models that include state and time effects and binary dependent variable. The second part of the course will cover the fundamentals of causality and how to make causal determinations using empirical data. Topics include a variety of causal inference designs and methods, including RCT, difference-in-differences, instrumental variable estimation, and regression discontinuity designs. Pre-req: FN903
Prerequisite: Take FN-903

The purpose of this course is to provide a background for understanding the major research directions in corporate finance. Topics include theory of the firm, capital structure, external financing decisions, payout policy, agency problems, corporate control and governance, investment decisions, and the role of financial institutions in corporate transactions.
Prerequisite: Take DBF-900

The first doctoral field seminar in finance consists of two components: a. several class sessions covering theoretical foundations and the empirical evidence, and b. student field visits at key financial institutions. The first field seminar focuses on US financial markets and institutions.

The course provides a comprehensive overview of various types of financial risk and the techniques employed to manage them. The material covers standard risk identification and measurement models as well as alternative models addressing options and structured credit risks. Real-world complexities of risk modeling are discussed, along with the background on financial innovation, liquidity, leverage, and financial crises.
Prerequisite: Take FN-906

The seminar covers the newest models and testing methods. It provides an overview of recently published papers in finance journals that help students design analytical studies with a novel content.
Prerequisite: Take FN-901

This course is an advanced treatment of portfolio choice and asset pricing theory. Topics include expected utility maximization, stochastic discount factors, arbitrage, meanvariance analysis, representative investors, and beta-pricing models. Single-period and dynamic models are studied.
Prerequisite: tAKE dbf-900

This is an advanced seminar examining modern theories and concepts in several sub-fields of finance. These functional areas include: A.) fixed income securities, B.) investments, C.) market microstructure, D.) derivative securities, E.) international finance, F.) portfolio management and G) asset pricing models. The course normally covers both seminal and recent literature in one, two, or three of these functional areas. The current selection of the specified areas is consistent with the specific expertise of the departmental faculty and may be expanded in the future. The required readings include a set of appropriate seminal research papers from areas covered in a single course. The seminar will conclude with a specific guided research project conducted in an individual financial institution.

Comprehensive exam is aimed at testing a student's proficiency in the major finance concentration areas. It measures a student's general progress and competence in the knowledge of advanced concepts, theoretical precepts and analytical techniques in the field of finance.

The new course is due to market trends. ESG and climate finance have become critically important due to regulatory pressures and investor demand. The global recognition of climate change as a significant threat necessitates urgent action to mitigate its impacts. The SEC requires public firms to disclose climate-related information in their annual reports, which has increased focus on how businesses and investors can contribute to sustainable environmental practices. The DBA program will offer this course to equip students with interdisciplinary knowledge to tackle complex challenges in sustainable investing and risk management, as well as the necessary skills to conduct scholarly research in these areas.

A program-concluding special seminar that overviews career trajectories for DBA in Finance graduates in both business and academic institutions. It also covers professional networking strategies.

The course provides a survey of modern research methodology in the field of finance. The course material focuses on leading models of financial analyses, seminal studies, recent literature, and bibliographical sources. A special emphasis is on writing skills for advanced financial studies. Students learn to formulate motivation and underlying hypotheses; they gain skills for developing advanced analytical models. The course material also emphasizes advanced estimation techniques of financial models. Students learn to test underlying hypotheses and formulate practical policy conclusions.
Prerequisite: Take FN-901 and FN-902

This seminar features interactive in-class, lab-based instruction leading to formulation of a motivation and hypothesis for a specific finance dissertation project. It concludes with the development of a dissertation proposal.
Prerequisite: Take DBF-903

This seminar features in-class, lab-based, and individualized instruction emphasizing empirical testing and articulation of policy applications of a specific analytical model or a set of models utilized in a DBA dissertation.
Prerequisite: Take FN-910

The doctoral dissertation is the final requirement within the educational framework of the SHU DBA in Finance program. The doctoral dissertation needs to fulfill three major objectives: a. Reflect on the doctoral candidate's advanced knowledge in the discipline of finance; b. Demonstrate the candidate's applied financial research proficiency; c. Design an original, novel solution to practical problem which will contribute to best practices in finance.
Prerequisite: Take FN-911