FIN 395 9-Applied Finance R= esearch-Griffin

F= IN=20 395.9 Applied=20 Financial Research

1.&nbs= p;=20 Instructor

&nb= sp; =20 Open door policy.

2.&nbs= p; Class=20 Meetings

Tuesday, 2-5, also Th= ursday=20 as needed

3.&nbs= p;=20 Course Overview

The main objective of= this=20 course is to provide a venue that facilitates the beginning of a successfu= l=20 dissertation. Other byproducts will be to foster a research culture among= =20 students and to increase presentation, refereeing, and seminar skills whic= h will=20 all be part of a faculty research position.

4.=20 Prerequisites

Course is only open t= o=20 students who have passed their finance comprehensive exam and are not curr= ently=20 on the job market.

5.=20 Presentations

Students are required= to=20 present for a total of 7 hours during the semester. Students should expect= =20 discussion during their presentation.

Full=20 Presentations:
For a full presenta= tion,=20 students must have a completed paper. An empirical paper should most lik= ely=20 include an abstract, introduction, data description, results, tables wit= h=20 proper journal format, conclusion, and references. This paper should rea= d well=20 and not contain typos or other grammatical errors. Sloppy papers will be= =20 grounds for poor paper grades, irrespective of content.

Students are required to present at least one full presentation during the se= mester.=20 For fortunate students whose first paper is making progress towards a=20 dissertation, the second paper presentation should show substantial prog= ress=20 from the first paper and will likely consist of a revision so extensive = that=20 the paper is new (like they received a revise and resubmit on the first-= round=20 at a journal). The revised paper should address all comments from the fi= rst=20 presentation and should assume that everyone attended the first presenta= tion.=20 A written outline of the changes to address the comments should be provi= ded=20 along with the paper, similar to an author's response to a revision requ= est at=20 a journal.

The one-hour presen= tation=20 slot will be followed with a 30-minute period reserved for Q&A.=20

One student will of= ten be=20 assigned to write a referee report on each paper.

Idea=20 Presentations:

Short 20-30 minute = idea=20 presentations should be well thought out and should include a brief writ= e-up.=20 The write-up must include an abstract, introduction, and possible findin= gs.=20 This period will be followed by about 10-15 minutes of class feedback.=20

Mini-I= dea=20 Presentations:

Short 5-10 minute i= dea=20 presentations should be well thought out and should include a brief writ= e-up.=20 The write-up must include a possible abstract and one or two paragraphs = of=20 introduction. This period will be followed by about 10 minutes of class= =20 feedback.

&= nbsp;

Readin= gs:=20

Throughout the seme= ster=20 required readings will be assigned and discussed in class. The task is m= eant=20 to focus the idea creation and research creation stage.

All presentations sho= uld be=20 in powerpoint or eq= uivalent=20 (latex slides), well thought out, clear, and organized. Presentations are = a=20 crucial aspect of future job placements and hence students will be graded = on the=20 clarity of their presentations.

Students can invite o= ne or=20 two professors to attend class if they wish.

6. Wha= t=20 constitutes a presentable paper?

At least one full=20 presentation (or two 1/2 presentations) should be solo work. Students shou= ld get=20 my approval on co-authored work prior to presentations. If the co-authored= work=20 is with faculty and far along, then the project may not be suitable for th= e=20 presentation and should perhaps be presented at other venues like brownbags.

The main purpose of t= he=20 course is to help make progress on dissertation research.

Summer papers: Third-= year=20 students may present their second-year summer paper as part of a 30-minute= =20 presentation. Third-year students may only present their second-year paper= s=20 once--unless faculty thinks that a revised version is suitable for a = job=20 market paper or a paper geared towards an 'A' journal. Note that unless th= is=20 last criteria is met, a second-year summer pape= r does=20 NOT count as a complete paper presentation.

Third and fourth-year= =20 students may not re-present a version of their second-year paper unless th= ey=20 plan on targeting that paper towards a leading journal.

Note= : A=20 successful in class full-paper presentation and approval of the fac= ulty=20 advisor (that paper is advanced enough to warrant a faculty presentation) = is=20 required before presenting in front of the full faculty in a brown-bag. St= udents=20 should have a completed paper for the faculty presentation and view the=20 presentation standards as even greater than those currently required for t= he=20 full-paper presentation.

7. Gra= de=20 determination

Written and verbal co= mments=20 on others' work (50%), well organized presentations (40%) and 10% on being= =20 prepared for other assignments.

Class=20 Participation
Each=20 student will be required to provide written feedback, prior or after class= on=20 the presenting member=92s paper or idea. Feedback should consist of at lea= st two=20 strengths and at least two weaknesses of the paper.

For=20 a full paper presentation, one person will be assigned to critique your wr= iting=20 and another assigned to referee the paper. Your referee report shoul= d be=20 of high quality and similar to one you would do for a top journal. If you = write=20 a referee report you do not have to turn in the feedback paper. Each stude= nt=20 will be a referee for at least one papers durin= g the=20 semester.

For=20 feedback on an idea there is only need for a well specified yea or nea assessment.

Comments=20 should be honest but helpful. Sometimes that may mean telling a classmate = why=20 you do not believe the idea is interesting or why the approach is flawed. = Often=20 times the comments should include constructive feedback on how to improve = the=20 motivation, research methods, writing, or implementation. I=20 expect you to come to class on time, fully prepared, and ready to o= pen=20 the discussion.=20 Note=20 that not all comments or questions in class contribute positively to your = class=20 contribution grade.
8. Cou= rse=20 Policies

Late=20 Assignments:=20 Late assignments will not be accepted for credit, except for the most seri= ous=20 reasons as validated by the appropriately qualified person.

Readings: Students must provi= de hard=20 copies of their full-paper Four days bef= ore the=20 assigned class. For a Monday presentation, this means by noon on= the=20 preceding Thursday. For an idea presentation you are allowed to email = the=20 idea up to Friday evening prior to the presentation. Emails with the paper= can=20 also be sent out but you are responsible for giving a hard copy<= /B>=20 of the paper to all class members and professors coming to class.=20

Readings of others pa= pers and=20 written comments must be done in advance of the class.

9. Course Schedule

http://www.jgriffin.info/jgriffin.info See=20 website