Corporate Finance (Irwin/Mcgraw-Hill Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) [Paperback]

Stephen A. Ross (Author), Randolph W. Westerfield (Author), Jeffrey Jaffe (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0256246408 | ISBN-13: 978-0256246407 | Publication Date: July 14, 1998 | Edition: 5th

This leading Corporate Finance text is designed for the first course at the MBA level but is certainly used at many undergraduate programs as well. CORPORATE FINANCE emphasizes the modern fundamentals of the theory of finance. The authors make the theory come to life through the use of contemporary examples, clarity of exposition, and a balanced presentation of theory and practice. The authors consistently use the intuitions of arbitrage, net present value, efficient markets and options throughout the text. The goal of this text is to present corporate finance as the working of a small number of integrated and powerful intuitions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Ross is presently the Franco Modigliani Professor of Finance and Economics at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the most widely published authors in finance and economics, Professor Ross is recognized for his work in developing the Arbitrage Pricing Theory and his substantial contributions to the discipline through his research in signaling, agency theory, option pricing, and the theory of the term structure of interest rates, among other topics. A past president of the American Finance Association, he currently serves as an associate editor of several academic and practitioner journals. He is a trustee of CalTech, a director of the College Retirement Equity Fund (CREF), and Freddie Mac. He is also the co-chairman of Roll and Ross Asset Management Corporation. Randoloph W. Westerfield is Dean of the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California and holder of the Robert R. Dockson Dean's Chair of Business Administration. From 1988 to 1993, Professor Westerfield served as the chairman of the School's finance and business economics department and the Charles B. Thornton Professor of Finance. He came to USC from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was the chairman of the finance department and member of the finance faculty for 20 years. His areas of expertise include corporate financial policy, investment management and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and stock market price behavior. Professor Westerfield has served as a member of the Continental Bank trust committee, supervising all activities of the trust department. He has been consultant to a number of corporations, including AT&T, Mobil Oil and Pacific Enterprises, as well as to the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Justice and Labor, and the State of California. Bradford D. Jordan is Professor of Finance and Gatton Research Fellow in the Carol Martin Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. He has a long-standing interest in both applied and theoretical issues in corporate finance, and has extensive experience teaching all levels of corporate finance and financial management policy. Professor Jordan has published numerous articles on issues such as cost of capital, capital structure, and the behavior of security prices. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Richard D Irwin; 5th edition (July 14, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0256246408
• ISBN-13: 978-0256246407
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,255,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Core MBA-level Corporate Finance Book--Excellent!, May 24, 2003

By 

Dark Mechanicus JSG "Black Ops Teep" (Fortified Bunker, USSA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Corporate Finance (Hardcover)

Let's say you're seriously twisted and you want to become an investment banker; you get admitted into a top MBA program, prepare yourself for two years of High Finance boot camp, and hop a plane to the school of your choice. Bad news---the plane crashes, and you spend two years on a deserted island before going to Wall Street. What three books do you wish you'd packed away before your flight?

If you're like me, "Corporate Finance" is one of them. The world of financial publishing is a vicious and nasty little gladiatorial arena where a few steely-eyed finance texts shed blood and greenbacks vying for MBA-school presence. But if you're a new MBA, if you're a finance major contemplating a career on Wall Street or business school, or if you just want to lay a nice foundation in core Corporate Finance concepts, "Corporate Finance" is a must-have work.

What professors Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe have done here is remarkable, and possibly a miracle in the often turgid world of finance publishing: they have turned out a remarkably cogent, clear, concise, yet detailed workbook designed to help MBAs and Finance BAs get the most out of core financial concepts like CAPM, Equity Valuation, Present Value, Bond math, options theory, Risk, and Financial Analysis.

All of the vital Corporate Finance theory is covered in crisp language, studded with useful examples, and punctuated by real-world economics, finance, and accounting illustrations; there are also topical articles on essential concepts that shed additional, and practical, light on areas that typically confuse finance novices (the section on Net Present Value and its theoretical competitors is particularly solid).

Capital Structure, Financial Risk, Valuation, Dividend Theory, and Option Theory are all covered in detail, and the clarity, quality, and comprehensiveness of these sections are all excellent. For students struggling with other MBA-level textbooks that purport to cover the basics, here's the bottom line: stop struggling and buy this book.

One caution: Corporate Finance is a foundation book, meaning that it is best used to gain a broad, solid understanding of the key concepts in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. This is not an Excel-oriented or modelling-based text, nor does it approach subjects like Bond analysis or Options Theory with anything like the academic depth of a John Hull or Frank Fabozzi.

That said, Corporate Finance provides an excellent basis for a broad and deep knowledge of modern corporate financial theory; it covers all the essentials, and it does its job thoroughly, engagingly, and very competently. It is crisp, concise, user-friendly, and comprehensive, a rarity in finance textbooks.

Oh---the other two Desert Island MBA books, you ask? Easy: Mike Lewis's hysterical "Liar's Poker" and Simon Beninga's invaluable "Financial Modeling".

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Finance (Irwin/Mcgraw-Hill Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) (Paperback)

We use this book for both the undergraduate Intermediate Finance and MBA Introduction to Finance courses at University of Central Florida. This book is very easy to read no what your background in finance is. It serves as an excellent reference as well.

It seems there are a few people here who try to counterbalance each review that is awarded a 5-star rating with one that is a 1-star rating although their arguments do not hold water. My suggestion is to take a look at this book for yourself and simply return it if you're not happy with it. The fact the so many universities have adopted this text AND continue to use it says a lot.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE book for serious study of corporate finance !, December 1, 2000

By 

Xtynkt (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corporate Finance (Irwin/Mcgraw-Hill Series in Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) (Paperback)

I am a student with science background. When I started my research on corporate finance, I had ZERO knowledge of investment and business ! I have tried very hard to swallow through the famous Bryley and Myers text recommended by my supervisor, and what I can conclude was : boy, is this how finance people write their text ? After beating about the bush for tens of pages, you still have no idea what they are talking about !

Thankfully this book by Ross and also another by Haim Levy save my day and correct my almost biased opinion about business academics (disorganized to the extent that can't even produce an honest and sincere introduction of finance with clarity and organized structure, that I sometimes wonder do these people know their work or not ?).

Really I don't know why some people discount Ross completely, because this is really one of the more decent and organized texts available about corporate finance. Anyone who wants to have serious learning about corporate finance should really take a look at Ross and also Haim Levy. Have patience and you will see where the author is leading you to. I am speaking from someone with ZERO background and experience in finance and business.