Doctoral Programme in Finance

Finance Concentration

This concentration is one of the three concentrations offered in the Frankfurt School's Doctoral Programme.

We conduct scientific research projects, aiming at publishing them in top journals in the fields of asset pricing, corporate finance and financial intermediation. Frequently, these projects are pursued jointly with representatives of our stakeholders from the industry, the public and governments and actively involve our doctoral students.

The prerequisite for a successful participation in research projects is a thorough training in theoretical and empirical topics in the fields of asset pricing, corporate finance and financial intermediation. Currently, the finance concentration consists of core courses and electives taught by resident staff.

Internationally renowned guest professors in their respective fields of expertise complement the curriculum. Students who pursue a Doctoral in Finance at Frankfurt School have to complete the electives in addition to the required core courses.

Finance Seminars

Finance Curriculum

1

Mathematics & Statistics

This class sets the foundations for later applications of analytical methods. This includes linear algebra, calculus, optimisation, and probabilistic inference. Additionally, a preparatory maths class in the summer is offered for those aiming to brush up before entering this course.

Econometrics I

The class provides key knowledge on how different econometric models work and most importantly sheds light on their limitations. The course also provides step by step application of new tools to different data sets in the computer lab. You will be asked to replicate, and in some cases improve prior empirical studies.

Microeconomics

A graduate-level micro-economics course. It begins with consumer decision making and general equilibrium, followed by game theory. Also covered are bi-forms, i.e. the combination of the two game theoretic solution concepts as applied by incomplete contract theory.

Asset Pricing Theory

The course is an in-depth introduction to the modern theory of asset pricing and portfolio choice. Its main focus is on the relationship between arbitrage and equilibrium and how both conditions imply the existence of "state prices," positive discount factors such that the price of any security is simply its discounted expected payoff.

Independent Study Courses

The Finance seminars provide a forum for researchers of all disciplines to present and discuss their research. Before or after the talk there is the opportunity to meet and exchange with members of the faculty in individual discussions.

2

Econometrics II

The class provides key knowledge on how different econometric models work and most importantly sheds light on their limitations. The course also provides step by step application of new tools to different data sets in the computer lab. You will be asked to replicate and in some cases improve, prior empirical studies.

Game Theory

The course aims to familiarise students with the basic concepts of game theory. Students learn different classes of games and a variety of solution concepts to predict strategic behaviour in these games. They will learn how to capture practically relevant situations in a game and the necessary tools to solve these games.

Empirical Methods in Accounting and Finance

The main goal of this course is to enhance students’ understanding of empirical economics-based research in accounting. A secondary goal is to broaden the students’ view of what constitutes accounting research by showing how it is embedded in work in other disciplines such as economics, finance, and biology. Topics discussed include machine learning and firms' disclosures, politics, regulation and enforcement in capital markets. The course also looks at China as a research lab for accounting and firms in the media.

Corporate Finance

The course makes students familiar with the main hidden information and hidden action models. It introduces a concise theoretical principle agent framework that allows analysing the major topics in corporate finance including among others; firms’ debt capacity and the optimal capital structure, corporate risk and liquidity management and corporate control and governance.

Independent Study Courses

The Finance seminars provide a forum for researchers of all disciplines to present and discuss their research. Before or after the talk there is the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with members of the faculty in individual discussions.

3

Financial Insitutions

Financial Institutions

This module introduces students to the latest models that try to explain the role of banks in the economy. Based on those approaches this course presents latest theoretical contributions on modelling the origin of financial contagion and the role of regulation in mitigating systemic risk. Furthermore, it presents the most recent models on competition in the banking sector and its implications for stability.

Advanced Topics in Finance

The course consists of five parts; empirical asset pricing, corporate finance, financial intermediation, market microstructure and household finance. Each of the parts discusses the current issues in the field and presents topics for future research.

Elective

Students can choose up to two elective courses suitable for their chosen area of specialisation. These can be offered by Frankfurt School but often are found at other research universities. The faculty and the programme office help you identify the appropriate courses.

Elective

Students can choose up to two elective courses suitable for their chosen area of specialisation. These can be offered by Frankfurt School but often are found at other research universities. The faculty and the program office help you identify the appropriate courses.

Independent Study Courses

The Finance seminars provide a forum for researchers of all disciplines to present and discuss their research. Before or after the talk there is the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with members of the faculty in individual discussions.

4

Master's Thesis / 2nd year paper

Master Thesis / 2nd year paper

The second year paper is the first piece of the student’s very own presentable research work. It can also be used to obtain a Master’s degree in Business Research and Analytics.

5-10

Research (Dissertation and Defence)

Upon passing the Qualifying Exam at the end of the 2^nd year, students enter the research phase of the programme. Students dedicate themselves to their research projects, produce scholarly papers and present their research at international academic conferences. They also have the opportunity to interact with international scholars visiting Frankfurt School to present research in the seminar series.

Research at FS

Why do managers so often underestimate the risk of their strategic decisions? Management professor Stevo Pavicevic tries to answer this question in his work:

"Making decisions is at the heart of professional lives of managers. Despite managers' best efforts, their decisions are often hopelessly erroneous. Here at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, we investigate why managers make poor strategic decisions, and more importantly, how firms can build safeguards into the decision-making process to reduce the risk of flawed decisions."

Decision making is also important in marketing professor Tetyana Kosyakova’s projects, but her focus is on consumers rather than managers:

"My research is mainly in the area of choice and Bayesian modelling. Currently, I am working on a series of projects, which focus on developing the methodology for estimating consumer preferences based on consumer choice (or purchase) data, when consumers are making choice decisions given a large choice set.

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A typical purchase decision from a large choice set could be a consumer picking a yoghurt in a supermarket, given a large yoghurt assortment on a dairy shelf or a consumer configuring a laptop given multiple options for processor, memory and other technical features. Traditional models do not scale to large choice sets or large product assortments due to the difficulty of likelihood evaluation. My work is aimed at contributing to this research area."

Dr. rer. pol. students at Frankfurt School often work closely together with the faculty on (larger) research projects. Digitalization and its corporate impact is at the core of the project of accounting professor Matthias Mahlendorf:

"In a joint project with Dr. rer. pol. and students and international coauthors, we are currently investigating how senior managers develop their expectations about their company's future performance.

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This is important, because many firms are currently investing in new approaches such as Google's "Objectives and Key Results", OKR as well as in predictive analytics. These tools have the potential to solve some challenges that firms have struggled with for decades, such as slack building in performance goals and biased forecasts. However, we need solid research to distinguish between hype and actual improvements."

Research at Frankfurt School often centres on big problems in society, including climate change and wealth inequality. Take, for example the work of finance professor Yigitcan Karabulut:

"My current research interest lies in household finance, with a particular emphasis on studying the factors that contribute to household wealth dynamics and their implications for the evolution of wealth inequality. In other words, I examine why some families are poor and some are wealthy and how this changes over time. Lately, I am working mostly to understand the impact of robots on differences in wealth."

After a lot of hard work, the tangible output of research is a publication in a scientific journal. We asked Professor Sascha Steffen about the paper that is closest to his heart:

"Even though it is not my best published paper, I am very happy about my paper on the "dash for cash" of firms during the current COVID crisis. It was not only the first paper that scrutinized this but also unearthed some subtle drivers of corporate cash holdings.

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First, cash does not seem to be just "negative debt" (or a waste of resources that some literature seems to suggest) but there is an economic rationale for holding cash. Second, credit risk matters for cash holdings (which has been somewhat neglected in the literature); it is not only default risk, though, but there is a "cliff risk" for firms to become downgraded to non-investment grade which significantly affects cash holdings."

Finance Faculty

Affiliated Faculty

Student funding and scholarships

Frankfurt School offers fully-funded study places for the doctoral programme in order to attract and support the brightest minds in academia.

Students are expected to devote 100% of their working time to their doctoral studies at Frankfurt School for up to five years.

Funding includes a tuition fee waiver and a cost-of-living stipend. The monthly stipend comprises of EUR 1,200.

The stipend will be granted for five years conditional on the continued satisfaction of all academic programme requirements.

From the second year onwards doctoral students may receive an additional EUR 400 for their involvement as a teaching or research assistant. Frankfurt School students thus have a total of EUR 1,600 for their living expenses.

Furthermore Frankfurt School covers costs related to research, including conferences and overseas visits.

Application process

1. Target Group and Admission Requirements

Outstanding graduates of a Bachelor‘s or Master’s programme in business administration, finance, management, accounting or related fields who aspire to launch an academic career.

Candidates in the final year of a Master’s or Bachelor’s programme are welcome to apply with their most recent academic transcript. Please note that the degree has to be completed by the time of the beginning of the programme.

2. Online Application

The first step of our application process is to complete the online application form. You will need to upload the following required documents. Please note that you need a certified English or German translation for all documents, that are not originally in German or English. The application platform will be open between 15 September and 15 January.

Required Documents

CV and list of publications (if existent)
Certified copy of your University Entrance Qualification (Abitur, A-levels or equivalent)
Certified copy of your University Degree Certificate or equivalent and academic transcript of records
Official GMAT or GRE results
Proof of English Language Proficiency Test (TOEFL IBT min. score of 100/IELTS min. score of 7.0)
Statement of Purpose (up to 2 pages): Why are you interested in your chosen field of study? What are the potential areas of research you might pursue? Have you completed any research projects with faculty? Is the research of any member of the FS faculty of interest to you?
Optional Statement: If you would like the committee to consider any of the following factors, you can describe their relevance in a separate statement within the application. This can contribute to the diversity of the entering class: background, extracurricular activities, work experience.
Two letters of recommendation: To request the letters from your recommenders, you have to register on a separate platform and send your request from there.

Please click on this link to access the platform: http://apply.interfolio.com/79802

Create a profile by clicking on the button “Apply now”.

If you require assistance, go to the “Home” tab and click the “Dossier Quick Start Guide”.

Once you send your request to your potential recommender, they will receive an e-mail together with a link where they can upload their recommendation letter confidentially. Please provide a deadline for your recommendation letter to ensure we receive it on time. Once the recommender has uploaded the letter, we will be notified and will be able to access it.

3. Interview

Successful applicants will be invited to an online interview with faculty members of the chosen concentration.

4. Results

The final decision regarding admission to our doctoral programme will be made by the Committee for Doctoral Proceedings. It is based on the applicants' overall portfolio and the interview. The results will be communicated after the final decision.