The role of financial markets in shaping global economic architecture has gained momentum through the rapid improvements in information and communication technologies. Globalization has led to the standardization of products and technological infrastructure and thus integration and interdependence of the financial markets. Today financial transactions in banking, capital markets, and other financial services take only seconds. This also brings huge competition among the markets. Any small event or crisis in any corner of the World easily affects many financial markets.
Global competition requires high-quality human resources who know financial markets, their structures, and operations very well. This issue is particularly important for Istanbul, as many cities and regions have been competing to be an International Financial Center. Besides, more education and training programs are always needed to increase financial literacy as well as a good understanding of the financial markets for the whole community in general and decision-makers in particular.
The financial Economics MA Program to be run by the cooperation of the Departments of Economics and Management of Ibn Haldun University is designed for the participants who wish to develop their knowledge and understanding of the financial markets and the global economy.
The financial Economics MA Program aims to focus on case studies and econometric analysis in addition to core courses in finance, business, and economics.
The Program may serve particularly useful for;
| IBN HALDUN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES MSc in FINANCIAL ECONOMICS (IN ENGLISH) WITH THESIS PROGRAM COURSE PLAN |
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| I. Semester | |||||
| Course Code | Course Name | Hours | Credit | ECTS | |
| T | U | ||||
| EFIN 501 | Research Methods and Publication Ethics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 503 | Microeconomic Analysis | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 505 | Corporate Finance | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN… | Departmental Elective | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Language Courses | |||||
| Total Credit | 12 | 32 | |||
| II. Semester | |||||
| Course Code | Course Name | Hours | Credit | ECTS | |
| T | U | ||||
| EFIN 500 | Seminar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| ECON 506 | Macroeconomic Theory | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 506 | Financial Econometrics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN… | Departmental Elective | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN… | Departmental Elective | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| Language Courses | |||||
| Total Credit | 12 | 35 | |||
| III. Semester | |||||
| Course Code | Course Name | Hours | Credit | ECTS | |
| T | U | ||||
| EFIN 599 | Master's Thesis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Total Credit | 0 | 30 | |||
| IV. Semester | |||||
| Course Code | Course Name | Hours | Credit | ECTS | |
| T | U | ||||
| EFIN 599 | Master's Thesis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Total Credit | 0 | 30 | |||
| Overall Total Credit | 24 | 127 | |||
| COMPULSORY COURSES | |||||
| Course Code | Course Name | Hours | Credit | ECTS | |
| T | U | ||||
| EFIN 500 | Seminar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| EFIN 501 | Research Methods and Publication Ethics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 505 | Corporate Finance | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 506 | Financial Econometrics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 503 | Microeconomic Analysis | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 506 | Macroeconomic Theory | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| DEPARTMENTAL ELECTIVE COURSES | |||||
| Course Code | Course Name | Hours | Credit | ECTS | |
| T | U | ||||
| ECON 512 | Game Theory | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 513 | Monetary Economics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 523 | Islamic Economics and Finance | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 524 | Economic Jurisprudence in Islam | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| ECON 527 | Behavioral Economics and Finance | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 510 | Capital Markets and Institutions | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 511 | Financial Statements Analysis | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 512 | Globalization and International Financial Markets | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 513 | Derivative Markets | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 514 | Risk Management in Financial Institutions | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 515 | Alternative Finance Channels | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 516 | Market Microstructure and Trading | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 517 | Selected Topics in Financial Economics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| EFIN 518 | Islamic Finance | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| MAN 506 | Strategic Management | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
This course provides a forum for students to discuss and generate ideas on issues related to a variety of applied social research. Students conduct an in-depth study of a research topic of their choice, discuss issues with experts in the field of research, work in discussion groups, debate and solve problems on selected issues. In the research seminar, the students are allowed to integrate their knowledge, skills, and practical experience gained in the program.
This course is organized around the research process where students learn how to formulate a research question and define a research problem, decide upon a research design, assess data collection methods, define a sampling frame, determine types of data analyses, interpret data appropriately, and prepare a research report. The course will also provide theoretical as well as an empirical basis for qualitative research methods such as focus groups and in-depth interviewing, content analysis, as well as quantitative methods such as survey research, basic regression, and time series analysis.
The course focuses on how companies select their projects, how they fund them, and the channels through which the stock markets, bond markets, and other markets affect the real economy. Answering these questions is crucial for understanding the financial world. In the course, the students will also learn how to analyze corporate investment decisions, examine corporate choices of capital structure and dividend policy, and discover how conflicts of interests within a company shape financial decisions. Other topics that will be covered by this course include asset-pricing, capital budgeting under risk, market efficiency, and corporate governance.
This course covers empirical analysis techniques used to investigate the relationships between financial and economic variables. Under this context, topics such as multivariate regression, maximum likelihood, and methods of moments estimation, hypothesis testing, omitted variables, and misspecification, asymptotic theory, measurement error and instrumental variables, time-series modeling; predictability of asset returns, event study analysis, econometric tests of the CAPM and multifactor models; volatility modeling, generalized method of moments estimation will be explained through empirical examples.
This course aims to provide students with the ability to command the basic concepts, theories, and applications of microeconomics and to apply this knowledge to practical problems. For this purpose, first, under the topic of individual decisions; consumer theories, demand theory, production theory, and uncertainty will be discussed. Continuing with game theory, this course will end with an analysis of free-market structure, public goods, and economic externalities.
This course, which is the continuation of the course in the first semester, will be explained in more detail in terms of the functioning of money and foreign exchange markets and methods of struggling against inflation in an open economy. In this frame, Marshall-Lerner condition, Keynesian Theory, the function of money and capital markets in open and closed economies, macroeconomic models and rational expectations in these models, politics effectiveness, and dynamics of macroeconomic modeling will be discussed.
The main purpose of the course is to introduce the participants to the basic information about game theory as a model for rational decision-making in addition to increasing their awareness of the limitations and biases that restrain the rational decision-making process. The course will cover non-cooperative normal or extensive games as classified according to whether they are complete or perfect information games and both theories and economic applications of these games will be introduced. Experimental game theory and advanced topics such as Markov-perfect equilibrium will be discussed. In addition, concepts like rational decision-making and bounded rationality will be analyzed.
This course offers a systematic analysis of monetary theories and the financial system with a special emphasis on the banking sector. The course will cover the structure and importance of the financial system, the concept of banking, the definition and functions of money, the determination of interest rates, and the evolution and functions of central banks. In addition, subjects such as bank management, the risks faced by banks and various ways to manage them, regulations concerning the banking sector, the objectives and tools of monetary policy, monetary transmission mechanism and its effectiveness, the relationship between inflation and monetary aggregates, and rational expectations will also be handled.
In this course, the main principles and contract types of Islamic finance which has grown at a remarkable pace in recent years will be covered by referring to various financial sectors and institutions in comparison to conventional finance. The main aim of the course is to improve the awareness and knowledge base of the participants about Islamic finance as an alternative financing model for both Turkey and the World. The course will include contract types such as Musharakah, Ijarah, Musharabah, Musharakah, Salam, and Istisna together with their usage, management, and their risks. Furthermore, Islamic capital market instruments and institutions such as Sukuk and Islamic investment funds will be explained. The challenges to the further development of Islamic finance will also be discussed.
This course is based on the claim that economic analysis methods are applied in the field of law. In particular, it aims to examine the legal rules and legal institutions from the perspective of economic efficiency. It tries to guide rule-makers and judges by examining how much the legal order and practices such as property, law, compensation, peace, and jurisprudence overlap with the principle of efficiency of the economy.
This course surveys the literature and relevant research which incorporates psychological evidence into economics and finance. It introduces the theories developed by research into cognitive biases, individual emotions, and other psychological effects on decision making. It also explores applications of these theories in economics and finance. In this course, various behavioral frames, biases, and heuristics will be explored and some implications on the market and investors will be examined. In addition, discussing some of the more popular and accepted theories and academic papers on human behavior from the fields of psychology and decision-making, some prominent features of irrational behavior in the economy and financial markets will be characterized.
This course aims to provide the participants with basic knowledge about capital markets and capital market institutions and their operations, together with the skills to make research on and analyze the developments in this realm. In this context, subjects such as stock market business in the World and Turkey, different capital market instruments, trading and pricing in capital markets, indexation and the analyses of indices, and the regulation and supervision of capital markets will be covered. In addition, the roles of various global and domestic capital market institutions and the role of capital markets in the national economy will be discussed.
This course primarily covers how financial statements should be read and benefited from, financial analysis techniques, the limitations and implications of financial accounting information and its effects on firm valuation, and the importance of footnotes. Students also learn how to make forecasts through using financial statements, how to apply this ability in developing the firm’s business activities, how to assess firm valuation and how to analyze the financial performance of companies listed on stock exchanges.
The course aims to introduce the participants to key issues related to the international financial markets, which became more integrated due to the globalization process, and to develop the skills of the participants to understand and interpret the behavior of financial institutions and the operation of global markets within the framework of modern finance theory. The content of the course includes topics such as the structure and functioning of equity, bond markets, and foreign exchange markets. It also focuses on specific topics that include raising capital in domestic and international equity and bond markets, project finance, and the microstructure of major financial markets. In addition, the course will cover the impact of globalization on markets, asset allocation, and the real economy. The theoretical framework will be supported by empirical evidence and by analysis of real-world financial instruments and financial policy issues.
The course delivers the concepts and models underlying the analysis and pricing of financial derivatives. The main aim of the course is to provide the participants with basic skills to understand the operation of derivative products and markets and to teach them how to use these products for different purposes. During the course, special emphasis will be given to the derivative products, which are most commonly traded in World markets. The content of the course also includes basic properties of forwards, futures, and options contracts and various product strategies that might be developed using those derivatives contracts. In addition, topics such as the Black and Scholes Model, The Binomial Model, Arbitrage and Risk-Neutral Pricing, Greeks and Hedging Schemes, Structured Products, Historical and Implied Volatility will be covered.
This course will examine how businesses make an assessment of, control, and transfer risk. The goal is to engage the participants in the active discovery of risk management principles. Students will be prepared to function in a business environment, developing an awareness of the challenges, the tools, and the process of designing and implementing a risk management program. The risk management process involves identification of risks and associated potential costs, analysis of the causes of financial loss, determination of various strategies to treat risk, selection of strategies appropriate to the goals and objectives of the business, implementation of the selected strategies, management, and monitoring of results.
This course covers alternative financial intermediation systems, which are defined as non-bank and other than basic capital market instruments. In this context, alternative financing models such as microfinance, angel investments, venture capital, private equity, crowdfunding, and Islamic finance instruments like Mudarabah / Musharaka that can be used for financing entrepreneurs will be covered by referring to some real practices. Private Market operating at Borsa Istanbul will also be analyzed as an alternative way of fundraising for start-ups.
This course will help students to explore how trading in financial markets works from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. The course will help investigate the motives and strategies of traders, dealers, and other financial market participants. Topics covered include models of trading, trading strategies, empirical analysis of financial data, empirical market microstructure, market volatility, algorithmic trading, arbitrage trading, back-testing trading, and execution strategies.
This course is intended to improve the knowledge base and skills of the students concerning some special topics selected from financial economics.
In this course, the main principles and contract types of Islamic finance which has grown at a remarkable pace in recent years will be covered by referring to various financial sectors and institutions in comparison to conventional finance. The main aim of the course is to increase the awareness of the participants about Islamic finance as an alternative financing model for both Turkey and the World. The course will include contract types such as Musharakah, Ijarah, Musharabah, Musharakah, Salam, and Istisna together with their usage, management, and their risks. Furthermore, Islamic capital market instruments and institutions such as Sukuk and Islamic investment funds will be explained. The challenges to the further development of Islamic finance will also be discussed.
The field of strategic management examines how organizations (both for-profit companies and not-for-profit agencies) gain sustainable competitive advantages systematically and consistently. To be successful, the organization’s strategy must permeate all departments and functional areas. As such, this course integrates knowledge and skills gained from your studies in the functional areas of business. In drawing on these tools, a general management point of view will be applied – decisions and strategies will be analyzed in light of the total enterprise. By the end of the course students will be able to: (i) explain the elements of the strategic management process; (ii) analyze industry structure and environmental trends to assess industry potential; (iii) assess a firm’s resources for their potential to generate a competitive advantage; (iv) be knowledgeable about new business models and strategies for the internet economy
finecon@ihu.edu.tr