The Theory of Corporate Finance [Hardcover]

Jean Tirole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0691125562 | ISBN-13: 978-0691125565

The past twenty years have seen great theoretical and empirical advances in the field of corporate finance. Whereas once the subject addressed mainly the financing of corporations--equity, debt, and valuation--today it also embraces crucial issues of governance, liquidity, risk management, relationships between banks and corporations, and the macroeconomic impact of corporations. However, this progress has left in its wake a jumbled array of concepts and models that students are often hard put to make sense of.

Here, one of the world's leading economists offers a lucid, unified, and comprehensive introduction to modern corporate finance theory. Jean Tirole builds his landmark book around a single model, using an incentive or contract theory approach. Filling a major gap in the field, The Theory of Corporate Finance is an indispensable resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as researchers of corporate finance, industrial organization, political economy, development, and macroeconomics.

Tirole conveys the organizing principles that structure the analysis of today's key management and public policy issues, such as the reform of corporate governance and auditing; the role of private equity, financial markets, and takeovers; the efficient determination of leverage, dividends, liquidity, and risk management; and the design of managerial incentive packages. He weaves empirical studies into the book's theoretical analysis. And he places the corporation in its broader environment, both microeconomic and macroeconomic, and examines the two-way interaction between the corporate environment and institutions.

Setting a new milestone in the field, The Theory of Corporate Finance will be the authoritative text for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A magnificent new book. . . . This is far more than the mere textbook it purports to be; it has a plausible claim to be the first truly comprehensive overview of corporate finance by an economist. -- The Economist

Impeccably systematized. . . . Tirole's book will have a prominent place in my library, and I am sure that I shall have plenty of occasions to refer to its authority in the future. It fully deserves a 'buy' rating. -- Rudi Bogni, Times Higher Education Supplement

Jean Tirole has provided the profession with its first comprehensive, advanced treatment of corporate finance theory. . . . [T]he overall result is far from idiosyncratic and it will have a major impact upon teaching and research in corporate finance. -- David Webb, Economic Journal

From the Inside Flap

"Using a single elementary model Tirole brings out with refreshing ease an unsuspected unity and simplicity in a field that might otherwise be perceived as dishearteningly fragmented and complex. This masterful book will be a formidable teaching tool at the graduate level and an essential reference for research in corporate finance."--Marco Pagano, Professor of Economics, University of Naples Federico II

"The field of corporate finance has developed rapidly and extensively in the last twenty years, but those who want to teach it face a barrier: the absence of a widely accepted textbook. Jean Tirole's book fills that gap. Applying his celebrated analytical and expositional skills, Tirole synthesizes and unifies the field in a clear and accessible manner, emphasizing particularly the connections between corporate finance and contract theory and the role of incentives and control in firms' financial decisions. The result is a book that will be an important resource for students and teachers alike."--Oliver Hart, Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics, Harvard University

"With this book, Tirole has provided a comprehensive treatment of modern corporate finance theory in one place with one integrated framework. As a bonus, he also describes many of the important empirical results in corporate finance and how they relate to the theories. The book will be a valuable asset to students (and professors) of corporate finance."--Steve Kaplan, Neubauer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

"This is a remarkable book. Theoretical work in corporate finance over the past thirty or so years has yielded a bewildering array of individual models, yet Tirole manages to give a beautifully clear and unified treatment of the field. There is a real coherence both within and across the chapters, and one is in many places able to see the close connection between topics that are ordinarily treated as being distinct. The book will no doubt be the standard reference for researchers and students in corporate finance for many years to come."--Jeremy C. Stein, Harvard University

"Jean Tirole, one of the preeminent economists of his generation, has put together the first integrated treatise of modern corporate finance theory. He succeeds in unifying the dispersed theories on financial and ownership structure, building on his excellence in information economics and contract theory. The book should be required reading for any Ph.D. course in corporate finance."--Arnoud W. A. Boot, University of Amsterdam and Centre for Economic Policy Research

"The Theory of Corporate Finance is a towering achievement. Jean Tirole's vision is exhaustive, systematic and original. The major findings of the last two decades are recast in a unified framework, describing the multiple levels of contracting relationships created by firms' financial decisions. The book offers a significant number of new insights and it will have a profound impact on our understanding of corporate finance."--Antoine Faure-Grimaud, Professor of Finance, London School of Economics

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (December 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691125562
• ISBN-13: 978-0691125565
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, February 4, 2006

By 

armchair theorist - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Theory of Corporate Finance (Hardcover)

Tirole's book is one of the very few formal texts to cover corporate finance theory. It is structured around a few basic models which are changed/extended in myriad ways in order to illuminate this or that topic. This allows the reader to cover a lot of ground with minimal investment.

I have taught a master's level finance course based on the notes that the book is built on and found it a pleasure.

I found it useful to cover some basics of principal agent theory before covering Tirole's material, as some knowledge of information economics is assumed. Laffont and Martimort's book makes the transition smooth as they essentially use the same basic two action two outcome setup as Tirole's first couple of chapters.

I very much doubt that a superior book will appear on the shelves for some time, that is of course, until Tirole decides to update his text some years from now.

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Theoretical Approach, April 5, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Theory of Corporate Finance (Hardcover)

Even a few years ago the theory of corporate finance was relatively simple. To be sure, everyone knew that the models weren't perfect. The close cooperation between favorite trading partners and/or between companies and their governments, the impact of taxes, currency issues, and a whole raft of financing instruments that never existed before has forced drastic changes in the basic theories of corporate financing.

This book employs a single, elementary model in order to illustrate the main economic insights. While this approach doesn't take into account all of the various extentions that more complex models might give, it is much easier for the student to get accustomed to one model and then to modify it as circumstances warrent.

This book is aimed at the advanced undergraduate student, or more likely one at the graduate level. While not nearly as mathematically oriented as some books, this one does include enough that the student should consider calculus as a prerequisite.

All in all, this book does a supurb job of developing a theory that reflects the real world as it exists today.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great theoretical reference, May 26, 2009

By 

The Wild Gunman "man on the run" (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Theory of Corporate Finance (Hardcover)

I found this book to be a very clear, step-by-step introduction to the fundamental theories of corporate finance. It relies heavily on a simple Investment -> {R,0} payoff model to unify and explain basic theories. You might quibble with this approach, but it proves to be an excellent way of structuring and outlining finance theory in a cogent, step-by-step conceptual framework. I wish they could use it at the MBA level, given the horrendously awful understanding of basic issues that most MBA's have. To be clear, it's definitely a Ph.D. level text, but I'd say it's reasonably accessible to anyone with good math skills and a strong desire to learn the fundamentals of modern financial economics.

As a bonus, it's also relatively cheap. Thanks Jean.