Degree Project in Finance

Course Director: Riccardo Sabbatucci

Course purpose

The B.Sc. thesis concludes the specialization in Finance. It is only open to students enrolled in the Finance specialization. It is an independent written work of a scientific character worth 15 ECTS credits.

The B.Sc. thesis is an independent piece of work, where students demonstrate that they can identify and analyze a problem, and present and defend the results. The thesis should pose a theoretical, methodological and/or empirical challenge, illustrating the ability to think systematically and critically, as well as showing an ability to interpret and discuss data and literature.

Course structure: (i) introductory overview of applied research issues in finance, (ii) econometrics and methodology lectures and seminars, (iii) individual (i.e., per student team) and (iv) joint (i.e., all student teams assigned to a tutor) meetings with tutor. Finally, there will be a presentation of the thesis at the end.

Format and process

Based on the thesis proposal (synopsis), the B.Sc. thesis course director will allocate a supervisor for each thesis (students work in pairs). The students should then contact the supervisor to schedule a meeting. The supervisor provides tutoring, support with methods, etc., but the ground rule is that students work independently. Further feedback will be provided in the compulsory midterm group seminar, where the thesis drafts will be discussed by the supervisor and fellow students. The completed thesis will be presented at the end of the semester. Each student, paired with another student, will act as a discussant for one thesis.

General rules are as follows:

• Language: English
• Maximum length: 30-40 pages, plus appendix if necessary
• Should meet formal requirements in academic writing
• Students work in pairs
• No cross-department theses are permitted. That means that if you would like to have the grade for a thesis in Finance on your transcript, you must write a thesis in Finance (supervised by a tutor appointed by the Department of Finance) and team up with a student in Finance.

Process and important dates

• An introductory lecture will provide an overview of how to write a thesis in finance. It is mandatory to attend the lecture. Date TBA
• Students attend lectures in which they will be introduced to the most common econometric methods in finance (cross-sectional regressions, panel data, time series regressions, and asset pricing techniques). These lectures will be led by Morteza Aghajanzadeh, an experienced PhD student who is the teaching assistant on the course. Morteza will also provide office hours for technical issues (coding and data collection) throughout the semester. While attending these lectures is strongly recommended, it is not compulsory. Date TBA.
• Library workshop. Attendance in this workshop is voluntary but highly recommended. Students will be introduced to various databases and literature search strategies etc. Date TBA
• Students should have formulated two research questions and written a two page synopsis (email the course director at ramin.baghai@hhs.se). Based on students’ suggestions, the course director will allocate tutors to each group.
• Mid-term group meeting with tutor: There will be a group seminar with the tutor to assess each group's progress and discuss what remains to be done. The specific date will be decided by the tutor.
• Students will discuss their thesis progress in individual meetings with the tutor (throughout the term). Based on feedback from these meetings, students are expected to work independently on their theses. Students have to attend the individual meetings and the mid-term group meeting with their tutors. Applying the methods and tools discussed in the lectures and seminars to the problem analyzed in the thesis is a key criterion for the grading of the thesis.
• The deadline (December, date TBA) to submit the final thesis online on the course website as well as replication files to anneli.sandbladh@hhs.se.
• Final versions are presented in seminars before the end of the term. Each group must present its own thesis and discuss another group’s thesis. These presentations are in person.
• The grade is based on the quality of the submitted version of the thesis. After the seminar presentation, students have one week to make final corrections before a definite version of the thesis is published on the course web. If the examiner finds that the seminar version of the thesis cannot be given a passing grade, changes may be required. In such case, a specific deadline for changes will be specified.

Writing a thesis with a student from another specialization

Joint or cross-department theses are not supported. You should team up with another student in Finance if you would like to write a thesis in Finance. Of course, if you have done more than one specialization, you can write your thesis in the other specialization.

Datasets

When writing the BSc thesis, students will likely work with data on firm financials. A large number of interesting datasets (such as Compustat and CRSP) are available via WRDS. Instructions and the required class code for setting up a WRDS account are available on the Canvas page for the course.

Additionally, students can use many of the databases from the Research Data Center of the Swedish House of Finance.

There will be likely demo sessions for the following databases. Participation is highly recommended.

• TBA, Holdings Database Demo
• TBA, S&P Capital IQ Database Demo
• TBA, Swedish House of Finance Data Center Demo

Guidelines on the use of AI

Course administrator: Anneli.Sandbladh@hhs.se

Ability to analyze problems in finance, to summarize and to place the work vis-a-vis the existing literature, to use econometric tools in the process and to present the results of the analysis in writing.

To begin writing the Degree Project during the autumn or spring semester in the third year of study, the student must, no later than in the beginning of that fall or spring semester, have passed at least one of the two courses (BE0452/BE0453) within the specialization in which the project is to be written and also have fulfilled all course obligations (for instance, assignments and project work) except for the final written exam in the second course within that specialization.

Useful literature varies across projects. Details can be found in the detailed course syllabus.

The grade is based on the quality of the submitted version of the thesis.

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).