PhD Course in

Financial Contracting and the Business Cycle

Lecturer: Professor Adriano Rampini, Duke University

University of Oslo, 20-23  August  2007


Professor Adriano Rampini's course page

This short course discusses the implications of financial contracting for the business cycle and should be of interest to students of financial economics and/or macroeconomics. The topics include the effect of financial constraints due to agency problems and collateral constraints on economic activity and asset prices, the role of the capital of financial intermediaries, as well as the impact of financial constraints on capital reallocation. The course focuses on the theoretical literature, but relevant stylized empirical facts will also be discussed. No background beyond first year graduate economics is required. Familiarity with recursive macroeconomics and corporate finance/contract theory is useful, however.

Syllabus

The syllabus suggests that students read the four main papers (marked with a *) that will be discussed in detail in the course in advance. To prepare for the course, a  "practice problem" which might help.

Preliminary Schedule

Monday 20 August             13.15 - 16
Tuesday 21 August             9.15 - 12
Wednesday 22 August          9.15 - 12
Thursday 23 August            9.15 - 12
Research seminar August 14.15-15.30

How to get there

The course is in room 1220 at the Department of Economics.

Subway: Take line 3 (Sognsvann) or line 5 (Storo) westbound, to Forskningsparken. When you leave the train, you'll go straigth ahead passing to the left of one tall building and directly towards another 12 floor building (Eilert Sundts hus B), where the Department is located in the 11th and 12th floor.
Building # 10 on the map .

Tram: Take line 17 or 18 towards Rikshospitalet, and depart at Nils Henrik Abels vei where you see the tall buildings.The Department is in the first tall building to the left.

Exam:

There will be a home exam, scheduled to about three days work for students who have followed the course. The exam will be posted 24 September, and responses should be handed in by 1 October 11 AM, at the department office, or to tone.enger@econ.uio.no. The course is credited with 5 ECTS in the Ph.D. program in economics at the University of Oslo.

Contact:

The course is open to PhD students from all the Nordic countries.  Subject to space limitations, the course is also open to PhD students from other countries, as well as  other interested economists. There is no course fee. If you are interested in following the course, please send a mail to steinar.holden@econ.uio.no, before 1st June 2007Later registration is possible subject to availability

For our planning purposes, please also indicate whether you intend to take the exam.

Accommodation

We suggest that students from other universities book at  Thon Hotel Europa St Olavs gate 31 0166 Oslo Tlf.: +47 23 25 63 00 Faks.: +47 23 25 63 63 , europa.booking@thonhotels.no,  and ask for specific rate associated to UiO,  NOK 890 per night. A limited number of rooms is prereserved for this course untill 19th July, reservation number 344 96 70.
How to get there