Finance (professional degree):Curriculum-EMA at Fudan
Finance: Curriculum

The 2-year EMA program of Finance is composed of the following courses, Chinese language courses, MA thesis, internship, and cultural activities.

 

COMPULSORY COURSES

Course Name

Course Description

Corporate Finance Theory and Practice
Quan Qi, Associate Professor
PhD, KU-Leuven
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This course stresses the modern fundamentals of corporate financial decision-making with special reference to valuation, investment and corporate restructuring. While building upon key economic theory and accounting framework, the course develops distinctive conceptual frameworks and specialised tools for solving real-world financial problems at both the individual and corporate level. The course is a blend of theory and practice. While diligent practice will make you competent in financial techniques, a good grasp of theory will help you think systematically about ways to solve a problem for which no existing technique is suitable or available. Specific topics to be covered include bond valuation, security valuation, capital investment decisions, portfolio theory and capital asset pricing model, corporate capital structure, cost of capital, dividend policy, and mergers and acquisitions.

Financial Institutions and Markets
Jiang Jiajun, Assistant Professor
PhD, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This course is designed to introduce various types of financial markets and institutions with a particular focus on Chinese financial systems. This course will discuss the functions of both depository and nondepository institutions including banks, investment funds, and others. This course will also explore the organization and structure of different markets. In each part, we will start with general theory and evidence from developed economies. We will then discuss the unique characteristics of Chinese counterparties. Students are expected to finish a final paper about the Chinese financial markets and institutions in which they are interested at the end of the course.

Theory and Practice of Financial Derivative
Wang Xiaohu, Associate Professor
PhD, Singapore Management University
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

The main objective of this course is to help students gain intuition and necessary skills for pricing and hedging derivative securities and for using them for investment, risk management, and prediction purposes. The course will use "Options, Futures, And Other Derivatives" written by John C. Hull as the textbook. Topics covered in the course include:
1. Introduction of futures, forward contracts, options, and Swaps
2. Hedging stages using financial derivatives
3. Options pricing (Binomial trees, the Black-Scholes-Merton Model)
4. Volatility models and the VaR measure
5. Interest rates and affine term structure models

Financial Theory and Policy
Wu Maoguo, Associate Professor
PhD, University of Aberdeen

Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

From the most basic theories of finance, this course teaches and discusses the theories and policies closely related to the operation of China’s financial market and China’s financial reform.

This course provides a seminar-style teaching of major key theoretical and policy issues such as financial risk and financial crisis and the theory and practice of financial regulation. This course helps students to gain an initial understanding of the basic theories of finance, monetary policy, theories of financial functions and structures, theories of financial markets with corporate finance and asset pricing as the core, theories and policies of open finance, and the development of theories and policies of financial regulation.

Chinese Economy
Li Dan, Professor
PhD, Boston University
Credit: 3
Credit Hours: 54

China is expected to outrun the U.S. as the world’s largest economy in the 21st century. It is regarded as one of the most disruptive events to the global order. For anyone who wants to be globally literate, a basic familiarity with this most dynamic and enormous economy is a must. What factors contribute to the rise of China? How to profit from this growing and huge market? How did/will the rise affect the rest of the world? What are the challenges threatening the sustainable development of China? This course is designed to answer the above questions from multiple perspectives of economy, business, culture, and politics. We will first investigate the historical legacy and its impact on current economic development. Next, we will study the major economic players (governments, various types of firms, and the financial market) and their interactions. Then, we investigate human capital development and technology progress, which are believed to be the keys to future growth. In the fourth part, we identify the challenges undercutting its economic performance with emphasis on the unbalanced economic development pattern. Finally, we look at how China interacts with the rest of the world.

 

OPTIONAL COURSES

Course Name

Course Description

Foreign Direct Investment in Transition Economy
Luo Changyuan, Professor
PhD, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
Credits: 2
Credit Hours: 36

This course will explore the motivation and effects of FDI in host countries. The contents consist of two parts, namely general topics and special issues. As for the part of general topics, we will investigate FDI’s role in economic growth and technological progress. As for the part of special issues, we will focus on inward and outward FDI in China. In this part, the first 5 sessions will discuss facts and effects of inward FDI in China. The last session will turn to outward FDI in China.

China's Taxation System and Fiscal Policy
Zhang Ping, Associate Professor
PhD, University of Georgia
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This course is designed to introduce China’s taxation system and fiscal policy. It will start with a brief description of the level of China’s tax revenue, China’s tax legislation system, tax collection and administration system and the taxes payable in China. Then the course will cover the rules of China’s major taxes. Various elements such as the scope, taxpayers, taxable items, rates and incentives of these taxes will be discussed. After that, we will recall the major measures taken in China’s last two rounds of tax reform and try to forecast the possible steps of future tax reform. In addition, we will discuss China’s budget system, intergovernmental fiscal relationship and the major fiscal policy measures and their effects.

Social Security System and Its Reform in China
Ding Chun, Professor
PhD, Fudan University
Credits: 2
Credit Hours: 36

Through this course, Master students will gain an understanding of the basic concepts of the social security system, relevant theories and the bud, the formation, the question of reform and the trends of the social security system in the world. On this basis, the establishment, development, reform and reconstruction of the Chinese urban and rural social security system are introduced since the founding of New China.

Dissertation Writing in Economics
Zuo Xuejing, Assistant Professor
PhD,University of Houston
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This is a course on Dissertation Writing in Economics. This course is designed to help graduate students to make a transition from coursework to paper writing. It is targeted at first-year master's students. Other students can also benefit from this course but have to fit the material into their own stages in the program. The course will address topics and questions such as:
• What is a good topic? How to choose a good topic?
• How to read the literature? Where can you find it
• How to write a paper in the Economic field?
• How to present the papers?
• How to publish and revise a paper?
We will approach each subject from both theoretical and applied perspectives. In general, instructors will provide the general guidance for each subject. Students and the instructor will work together on specific examples and cases to practice general guidance. Given that the course will heavily rely on on-site discussions participation is strongly encouraged. Note that previous writing or presentation experience is not required: if you have taken writing or presentation in general, you will benefit more from specific subjects in Economics.

Financial Statistics
Wu Ruochen, Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Cambridge
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

The Financial Statistics course introduces EMA students to modern financial statistical methods and applications. The course is based on modern financial statistical theories and methods, and focuses on the application of these theoretical methods to quantitative finance. It is an important course to cultivate students' basic quality and ability to analyze and study financial data using financial statistical theory and methods, and it is also a core professional course in the direction of quantitative finance, which has the characteristics of basic, scientific and practical.

Topics on Development Economics
Liu Yu, Associate Professor
PhD, Yale University
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This course examines why some countries are rich while others are poor with a focus on total factor productivity (TFP). We start from Hall and Jones (1999) by introducing students the significant differences in aggregate TFP that exist across countries and highlight the importance of TFP variation in explaining income variation. We then study the common empirical methods to compute TFP and discuss capital misallocation within countries as a specific source that reduces aggregate TFP and causes a lower income. Next, we discuss the status quo of innovation, which is a key driver of TFP growth, in various countries. Lastly, we discuss the implication of economic development on economic inequality.

Money and Banking
Wu Ruochen, Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Cambridge
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

The course aims to give students an overview of the financial markets and an understanding of the theory and practice of monetary policy. The topics will be a blend of theoretical modelling and empirical / historical discourses.

Enterprise Internationalization: Theory and Practice
Cheng Dazhong, Professor
PhD, Fudan University
Credits: 2
Credit Hours: 36

This course consists of three sections that integrate basic theories, methodologies, and case studies of enterprise internationalization. In the first section, we analyse the background, facts, and general trend concerning the internationalization of enterprises. The second section is mainly on theories and methodologies, ranging from modern firm theories (e.g. Coase theory, contract theory, transaction cost theory, and principal-agent theory) to theories on firms’ trade, international investment, and participation in global value chains (GVCs). The final section discusses the practices and experiences of firms in the process of internationalization, and the implications of internationalization for the firm itself as well as for the whole economy.

International Business Studies
He Xiyou, Associate Professor
PhD, Seoul National University
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

The course is designed to study the hot issues of international business and strategic management fields focusing on multinational corporations in emerging markets, which has become a new and attractive academic stream in recent decades. As Chinese market has been one of the main playing grounds of multinationals for decades and Chinese firms have jumped rapidly into the global market in recent decades, comparative perspective and method are utilized in the course in order to promote students’ deep understanding on the experiences and trends of foreign firms in China, and determinants and performance of Chinese firms’ globalization as well. The content covers four sections as follows: Theories of transnational management; Advanced market-based multinationals in emerging markets; Comparisons of emerging market-based multinationals; Globalization of Chinese firms.

Analytical and Managerial Economics
Jin Fei, Associate Professor
Phd, The Ohio State University
Credits: 3
Credit Hours:54

This course aims to cover widely used techniques and their applications in Analytical and Managerial Economics. Key methods and models include linear regression, panel data models, instrumental variables regression, differences-in-differences estimation, and regression discontinuity design. If time permits, other topics such as synthetic control and quantile regression will also be covered. Relevant STATA commands will be illustrated throughout the semester. By the end of this course, students are expected to know how to properly assess empirical research and how to properly conduct empirical research using STATA in related fields.

International Trade Theory and Practise
Fan Haichao, Professor
PhD, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Credits: 2
Credit Hours: 36

The goals of the course are: (i) to introduce students to current topics of interest in international trade (ii) to help students develop skills for conducting research, including evaluating existing research, presenting their work, working collaboratively, and defining and organizing a research project, and (iii) to help students identify the topic for a research paper. In order to achieve these goals, we focus on the most cutting-edge research in international trade, with a bit introduction of necessary background classical theory. Different from traditional lectures, our class meetings require heavy discussions led by students which in turn require huge efforts from students to read, understand, organize and present.

International Finance
Fan Xiaoyan, Senior Lecturer
PhD, Fudan University
Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This course focuses on the theory and practice of international finance, introducing the concepts and theories of exchange rates and balance of payments, followed by macroeconomic policies in an open economy.



We are going to cover the most important issues of the international economy in the last 20 years. Why could China export so much and accumulate huge foreign reserves? Why was the global economy seriously unbalanced before the 2008 crisis, with China and Germany on one side, and America and the southern European countries on the other side? Was the Euro turmoil just the aftershock of the American crisis, or a doomed disaster of the defective Euro system? And as to the future, what is the reform direction of the international monetary system? What is a better framework of global financial governance, and what is the trend of our global economy?

International Business Law and Environments
Lu Hanyin, Associate Professor
PhD, Fudan University
Credits: 2
Credit Hours: 36

The purpose of this course is to introduce the principal knowledge of international business law systems and global business environments.  Balancing authoritative theories and meaningful analysis, the course engages students on the subject of conducting business in international markets and help students effectively understand the main features of the current world economy.

International Business Negotiation

Zhou Yang, Assistant Professor

PhD, University of Minnesota

Credits: 2
Credit Hours: 36

Through classroom learning and training, students master negotiation skills and learn to create, develop, and improve cooperative relationships with customers, colleagues, competitors, partners, etc., from the perspective of international business negotiation.

Students in this course will learn modern business theory and practical skills, cultivate analytical ability in the field of international business, and decision-making ability. This course enables students to become high-level, applied, and compound international business professionals with good English proficiency and strong cross-cultural communication skills.

China's Financial System
Yang Qing, Professor
Ph.D. in economics, Fudan University

Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This course examines the role of China's financial system in supporting the growth of its economy and explore the directions of its development.

Economic Analysis: Stata and Model Application
Huailu Li, Associate Professor

Credits: 3
Credit Hours: 54

This is a graduate elective course with a focus on applied microeconomics analysis with statistical software Stata. This course teaches students the use of Stata in a detailed way, covering the data cleaning, mining, merging, and appending data, conducting panel data analysis with various types of features, how to run various types of regressions depending on the research question and data limitation and perform post estimation analysis. In the later part of the class, we will go over MLE and its application, discuss applications of probit, logit, tobit regression and hackit model.