Seminar Master in Finance

2013-2014 Class-times: Thursdays 18.00-19.30

Classroom: Room AF22 (FRANCESINHAS 1) Maria Teresa Medeiros Garcia

Presentation

19th September 2013

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Outline

• Objectives

• Programmatic lines

• Regulations

• Functioning

• Assessment

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Course Description

• The objective of this course is to introduce you to some research techniques in finance.

• Topics and fields of research in finance, research methodology and tools, sources of data handling, and some computer programming for finance research are presented in lectures.

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Some Bibliography

• Ethridge, D. E. (2004), Research Methodology in Applied Economics, Second Edition, Blackwell.

• Wooldridge, Jeffery M. (2009), Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, Fourth Edition, International Student Edition (Chapter 19 - Carrying Out an Empirical Project).

• Ryan, Bob, Scapens, Robert W. and Theobold, Michael (2002), Research Method and Methodology in Finance and Accounting, Copyright 2009 Cengage Learning.

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Objectives

To understand how to find and conduct a research

problem to do the Master’s Final Work (MFW).

To learn how to organize, develop and write a Literature Review. To learn how to organize, develop and write Master’s Final Work. To prepare for the viva voce examination of the MFW . To prepare for publications and public presentations.

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Programmatic lines

- Research methodology in applied economics and finance; - Types of final work to the Master Degree; - Finding a research problem; - Literature review and how to deal with literature review; - Databases; - Methods and Procedures; - How to organize and write a final work project; - Presentation and discussion of final work project; - Preparing for the viva voce examination of final work; - Publications and presentations; - Ethics in research.

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Quantitative Financial database • Datastream With Datastream's vast reserves of

historical financial content, you can research the correlations and relationships between global economic indicators and asset classes. (http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/financial/financial_products/a-z/datastream/)

• Amadeus A database of comparable financial information for public and private companies across Europe. Amadeus includes standardised annual accounts (consolidated and unconsolidated), financial ratios, sectoral activities and ownership data. The database is suitable for research on competitiveness, economic integration, applied microeconomics, business cycles, economic geography and corporate finance.

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Quantitative Financial database

• BankScope Information on public and private banks throughout the world.

• The World Economic Outlook (WEO) database is created during the biannual WEO exercise, which begins in January and June of each year and results in the April and September WEO publication. Selected series from the publication are available in a database format.

• OECD statistics (http://www.oecd.org/statistics/ )

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Statistical software

• Stata is a general-purpose statistical software package created in 1985 by StatCorp. It is used by many businesses and academic institutions around the world. Most of its users work in research, especially in the fields of economics, sociology, political science and others.

• EViews (Econometric Views) is a statistical package for Windows, used mainly for time-series oriented econometric analysis. It is developed by Quantitative Micro Software (QMS), now a part of IHS. Version 1.0 was released in March 1994, and replaced MicroTSP. The current version of EViews is 7.2, released in Nov 2011.

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Bibliographic database • A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic

records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc. In contrast to library catalogue entries, a large proportion of the bibliographic records in bibliographic databases describe analytics (articles, conference papers, etc.) rather than complete monographs, and they generally contain very rich subject descriptions in the form of keywords, subject classification terms, or abstracts.

• A bibliographic database may be general in scope or cover a specific academic discipline. A significant number of bibliographic databases are still proprietary, available by licensing agreement from vendors, or directly from the abstracting and indexing services that create them. 10

List of academic databases and search engines (Examples)

• EconLit The American Economic Association's electronic database, the world's foremost source of references to economic literature.

• JSTOR: Journal Storage • NBER: National Bureau of Economic Research • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics • ScienceDirect • Scopus • Elsevier[108]SearchTeam • SSRN: Social Science Research Network • Web of Science

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Regulations REGULATIONS FOR MASTERS DEGREES AT ISEG

Article 3

(Objectives, professional outlets and study programme)

4 - Types of MFW The award of a Masters degree presupposes a final work which can be one of

the following: a) Dissertation of a research nature; b) Project work; c) Report on an internship. The Scientific and Pedagogical Committee (SPC) is responsible for defining the

type of MFW that is acceptable for each Masters. In the case of more than one type being admissible, it must also establish the decision mechanisms concerning which MFW is to be attributed to each student.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

1 - Definition and objectives It is the responsibility of the SPC to define the specific

guidelines for the various types of MFW, taking into account the generic characteristics of each of the following:

a) Dissertation. A work of research on a theme or topic within the scope of the programme. It must include an element of contextualization and critical discussion of the relevant literature as well as a theoretical or experimental component which suggests an innovatory look at the theme or topic being dealt with.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

b) Project Work. A work in the chosen area which integrates knowledge and skills acquired throughout the programme with a special emphasis on presenting solutions or recommendations for practical problems arising from the programme content. Multi-disciplinary and experimental aspects will be taken into account, as long as they are backed up by sound theoretical and methodological practices.

c) Internship Reports. A detailed work of description and reflection about activities carried out within the sphere of an internship with an institution approved by the SPC. Functions exercised and tasks carried out must be fully described within an appropriate theoretical and methodological framework. The articulation between the training and the application of the knowledge acquired must be explored and explained. 14

Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

2 - Internship

a) Internship take place in institutions with which ISEG has established agreements, with the aim of providing training but excluding any kind of future labour agreement between the student and the institution.

b) Acceptance of the agreement must be based on each applicant providing a detailed plan of study, with starting and ending dates, number of hours and the appointment of a supervisor from the institution.

c) The training programme must be approved by the SPC and must be of no less than 400 hours duration.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

3 - Orientation a) Dissertation and project work. The dissertation

and the project work will be under the supervision of a teacher or a recognized specialist designated by the SPC. In exceptional cases, and with the approval of the Scientific Board, a co-supervisor may be approved by the SPC.

b) Internship report. This report is under the supervision of the person appointed from within the institution. In this case the SPC must appoint a co-supervisor who can be either a teacher or a recognized specialist. 16

Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

4 - Format and length of the MFW

The MFW must be presented in a format established by the Scientific Board. It must be a maximum of 10,000 words and 35 pages (not counting appendices, table of contents, index and bibliographic references). Where there are appendices, the maximum number of pages is 50, while maintaining the restrictions laid down for the main body of the text.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

5 - Copies The MFW must be submitted to academic services in

digital format, accompanied by five printed copies for the members of the jury.

6 - Enrolment Only students who have been approved for course units

amounting to at least 50% of the total credits for the Masters programme are permitted to enroll for the MFW.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

7 - Deadlines

The MFW can only be submitted:

a) After obtaining approval for all the course units of the Masters course;

b) Up to the end of the academic year of the respective enrolment. In the event of failing to do this, students may enroll for the MFW in the following academic year.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

8 - Viva voce panel A viva voce panel for the assessment of the MFW is designated by the

Scientific Board based on proposals from the SPC and will include the following members:

a) One member of the SPC, who will preside. b) The supervisor. c) The co-supervisor, if applicable. d) One other teacher or specialist in the area of research or professional

expertise covered by the MFW. The president of the viva voce panel cannot be either the supervisor or

the co-supervisor of the MFW.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

9 - Viva voce examination

Viva voce examination of the MFW will take place in a public place within 90 days of its submission and will last for a maximum of 60 minutes to be divided equally between the viva voce panel and the student.

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Article 6 (Master’s Final Work)

10 - Deliberations of the viva voce panel a) After completion of the viva voce examination the deliberation of viva voce panel can have one of the

following outcomes, arrived at by majority vote: i) A pass; ii) A request for reformulation without a repeat of the viva voce; iii) A request for reformulation with a repeat of the viva voce; iv) A fail. b) The deliberation is decided by a majority of the viva voce panel, the president retaining the casting vote. c) In the event of awarding a pass, the viva voce panel must attribute a mark of between 10 and 20, based on the

average of the marks proposed by each member of the viva voce panel . d) In the event of requesting reformulation without a repeat of the viva voce the student must submit a new

version of the MFW within 30 days under the conditions outlined in No. 5 above. The final deliberation of the viva voce panel must take place within 30 days. This deliberation can only be a pass or a fail. In the case of a pass, it must be within the constraints outlined in c) above.

e) In the event of requesting a reformulation with a repeat of the viva voce the student has 60 days in which to submit a new version of the MFW under the conditions outlined in No. 5 above. The viva voce must take place within 30 days. The deliberation of the viva voce panel can only be signified by a pass or a fail. In the case of a pass it must be within the constraints outlined in c) above.

f) A student who fails in the viva voce may not enroll in the MFW. g) All deliberations and recommendations will be duly minuted.

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Article 7

(Final grade) The final grade for a Masters degree will be the

average, based on the respective credits, of the grades for the course units of the Masters course, and the MFW. The grades correspond to the following: a) sufficient (marks between 10 and 12); b) good (marks of 14 or 15); c) very good (marks of 16 or 17); d) excellent (marks between 18 and 20).

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APPENDIX 1 GENERAL ASSESSMENT REGULATIONS

FOR MASTERS DEGREES Article 1

(Types of course units for a Masters course)

Course units for the Masters course are classified in one of two ways: disciplines and seminars.

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Article 5 (Seminars)

1. There is an assessment period for each seminar.

2. Assessment is determined by the teacher responsible for the respective seminar and approved by the SPC.

3. All students enrolled in the seminar have a right to assessment.

4. In the first week of classes students will have the following at their disposal:

a) The seminar programme;

b) The rules for assessment;

c) Any other aspect that might be considered relevant for the good functioning of the seminar.

5. There is no possibility for improvement of the grade.

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Article 6 (Masters with internship)

1. In the attribution of an internship, students’ preferences should wherever possible be met.

2. When the host institutions opt for interviewing students, they have the right to choose prospective participants.

3. Students may do an internship in an institution proposed by herself/him, as long as this is approved by the SPC.

4. The procedure for the attribution of an internship in the remaining cases is the following: when there is more than one candidate for a place, the student with the highest average mark will be placed, based on marks for all first year course units. Units without assessment will be considered as having a mark of 8.

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Article 7 (Frauds in assessment)

1. Any proven fraud in assessment on course units whether it consists of copying on written tests or plagiarism in project and other work must be communicated to the SPC by the teacher responsible for the respective course unit.

2. Any proven fraud on the MFWs, such as plagiarism, must be communicated to the SPC by the respective supervisor.

3. Proven fraud implies the annulment of enrolment in the Masters degree with no refund of fees paid and a prohibition on future enrolment at ISEG.

4. Students can appeal for this decision, with suspension of consequences mentioned in No. 3.

5. Any appeal decision rests with a committee of independent teachers especially appointed by the president of ISEG.

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Functioning See Seminar schedule

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Seminar - MSc in Finance 2013-2014

Class-times: 18.00-19.30 Thursday

Number Date Classroom Lecturer Themes

1 19. 09.13 AF22 (F1) Teresa Garcia Presentation

2 26.09.13 AF4 (F1) Vítor Escária C: Quantitative financial databases and use of statistical software

3 03.10.13 AF4 (F1) Eduardo Couto D: What is a Project work and a Report on an internship?

4 10.10.13 AF4 (F1) Luís Costa A: What is a Master Science Dissertation ?

5 17.10.13 AF4 (F1) Miguel St. Aubyn B: Bibliographic databases

6 24.10.13 AF22 (F1) Amélia Branco "Patterns of Lisbon Stock Market prices (1870-1910): returns and volatility"

7 31.10.13 AF22 (F1) Elsa Fontainha "Entrepreneurial Finance and Household Finance: some empirical research topics and databases"

8 07.11.13 AF22 (F1) Nicoletta Rosati "Econometric models of consumer's behaviour: two case studies on expenditure choice"

9 14.11.13 AF22 (F1) Tiago Cardão Pito "Talking about financial and economic crisis, an introduction to the reading of

Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff's "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly", Princeton University Press, 2009"

10 21.11.13 AF22 (F1) Cândida Ferreira "Bank performance and economic growth: evidence from panel Granger causality estimations"

11 28.11.13 AF22 (F1) Rita Sousa "A stock price index of Lisbon Stock Exchange (1870-1913)"

12 05.12.13 AF22 (F1) Pedro Neves "Law and finance"

13 12.12.13 AF22 (F1) João Carvalho das Neves "Health financing for universal coverage"

Seminar Assessment The Seminar is a necessary condition to Master’s Final

Work (MFW ).

Positive assessment depends on attendance of at least 10/13 Seminar sessions.

Attention

The University views plagiarism very seriously, and will take disciplinary actions against students for any kind of attempted malpractice in examinations and assessments. The penalty that may be imposed for this, and other unfair practice in examinations or assessments, includes suspension from the University.

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IMPORTANT DEADLINES Masters - 2013/2014

• 31 st January 2014: Submission of Masters Final Work proposal

• This is the preliminary phase of MFW writing, so the students are compulsory to get their MFW proposals accepted by the SPC.

• The proposal requires the great attention of the writer. This is a brief sketch of your proposal samples: Title – Title of dissertation proposal Abstract – a short explanation of the complete dissertation proposal Table of Contents – state page number of sections & sub-sections Chapter I – Introduction of the dissertation proposal, objectives of study and importance of

dissertation proposal Chapter II –it would be the literature review of relevant studies Chapter III – research methodology of the exact topic with selection criterion References –relevant References of the information sources Appendices – includes the interviews, charts, Pictures, questionnaires, survey forms, etc

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IMPORTANT DEADLINES Masters - 2012/2013

• 7th March 2014: Enrolment in Final Masters Work

• 30th September 2014: Submission of the Final Masters Work

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