The programme is research-oriented with each student being directly supervised by a faculty member.
 

MPhil Stream*

• Complete all the graduate courses required by the Department.
• When deemed necessary by advisor/supervisor, student may be required to take other courses.
• Each MPhil student is required to give an oral presentation on his/her research progress.
• Each MPhil student is required to submit a thesis and pass the oral defence of the thesis for graduation.

PhD Stream

Pre-candidacy

• Complete all the graduate courses required by the Department.
• When deemed necessary by advisor/supervisor, student may be required to take other courses.
• Each PhD student is required to pass a written candidacy examination within the maximum period of his/her candidacy stage for the advancement to his/her post-candidacy stage.
• Submit thesis proposal and defence.

Post-candidacy

• Each PhD student is required to submit a thesis and pass the oral defence of the thesis for graduation.

Fields of Specialization

The Department of Finance pursues five research specializations:

1. Behavioral Finance
Behavioral finance studies investors' deviations from rationality and the subsequent impacts on the markets. Specific research studies include behavioral biases of investors, households, and managers, and how biases interact with market frictions. 
 

2. Corporate Finance
The corporate finance research concentrates on company financing and investment activities and corporate governance. Specific research topics include capital structure decision, mergers and acquisitions, minority shareholder protection and corporate governance issues in China.

3. Derivatives
This research area studies derivative assets and markets. Specific research topics include the pricing and investment of derivatives on underlying assets such as equity, commodity, currency, etc., and the hedging of institutions and corporations with derivative products.
 

4. Empirical Asset Pricing
This area conducts empirical research on asset pricing. Specific research topics include asset market efficiency and anomalies, price behaviors, implications for portfolio selection, and investment strategies.
 

5. Financial Markets and Institutions
The research area covers the instruments traded in the financial markets, the analysis of money and capital markets, and economic and environmental problems related to acquisitions and the use of funds by financial institutions. Specific research studies include the collateralized debt obligation market, bank advertising and the marketing of products and services. 

Please visit the Division’s homepage for more information.