e-Masters in Business Finance

The curriculum for eMasters in Business Finance comprises Core (C), Specialization (S), and Electives (E) modules and Projects (P). Participants are given flexibility in deciding on electives and projects and follow the 6C + 3S + 2E + P structure.

The Core Modules include

• Pricing:
  The module covers the fundamental concepts including cost, demand curves, price response estimation, monopoly and regulation, price discrimination, and strategic decision making under uncertainty. As the program introduces you to the tools to understand the basics of modern economic analysis, the initial emphasis has been placed on the pricing concept. The topics covered include
• Economics and Financial Data Analysis:
  Through this module, participants will be introduced to various statistical tools and techniques and their applications in economics and finance. It covers concepts including descriptive statistics, correlation, covariances and population, hypothesis testing, regression, and its models, and time series analysis. As part of the module, you will also learn to use statistical software such as R to demonstrate your learnings.
• Introduction to Finance and Accounting:
  The module provides a foundational understanding of finance and accounting. Further, it will prepare you for advanced knowledge of electives and real-life applications. You will gain an insight into concepts like time value of money, risk and return analysis (optimal portfolio analysis, capital allocation framework), fixed income securities, derivatives, financial statements, financial ratios, dividends, business risk, and credit analysis.
• Game Theory and Strategy:
  Strategic interactions are pervasive in all walks of life. The module aims to present a systematic study of these strategic interactions, focusing on their applications in businesses and public policy. Accordingly, you will learn in-depth about game trees, simultaneous move games, extensive form games, mixed strategy Nash equilibrium and applications, and cooperative game theory and applications.
• Money and Banking:
  The module aims to provide a broad understanding of the different instruments of money markets and banking operations. Concepts highlighted in this module include money and its forms, banking management principles, interest rate analysis, banking, and monetary policy and financial regulation.
• Global Economy and International Finance:
  Get introduced to the economics of international markets and how international considerations affect financial and economic models. The concepts included in the study cover globalization, the foreign exchange market, currency, quotes and prices, the balance of payments, exchange rate systems, interest rate parity conditions, and exchange rate determination.
• Project-I

The Specialization Modules include

• Applied Macroeconomics:
  In this module, you will have gained a firm understanding of tools to analyze economies subject to macroeconomic influences, both foreign and domestic. The topics coming under its purview include inflation, deflation, monetary policy and accounts, fiscal systems, external accounts, risk assessment, and a glimpse into current macroeconomics prevailing during and after pandemics.
• Applied Corporate Finance:
  The module is designed to provide an applied role of corporate finance in investment decisions from investors' and firms' perspectives. The topics covered include corporate finance concepts, capital budgeting, stock valuation, capital asset pricing model, portfolio and factor models (APT, Fama, French), cost of equity estimation, and long-term financing.
• Economics of Platforms:
  Digital platforms such as Amazon, Zomato, Uber, Netflix, and Facebook, among many others, have become an essential part of our life. In this module, you will systematically study the economics of these platforms, emphasizing their applications in public policy and businesses.

The Elective Modules include

• Machine Learning Applications:
  In this module, you will be introduced to machine learning (ML) and computational tools to implement ML schemes on economic data sets.
• Advanced Financial Econometrics:
  The primary aim of this module is to provide you, an insight into various tools and techniques along with their applications used for better understanding and investment decisions. The topics covered include autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models, panel data modeling, limited dependent variable model and their applications in policy design and implementation, simulation methods and event-study analysis.
• Probability and Stochastic Systems:
  An understanding of probability is critical to study a world replete with randomness and uncertainty. Through this module, you will learn not only how to solve challenging technical problems but also be exposed to various ways in which probability is applied in the real world.
• Public Policy:
  In this module, you will get a glimpse into the role and processes of government in the economy. It also reviews the empirical tools, including the role of data and statistical tools required to study the efficacy of government policies.
• Contemporary Issues in the Indian Economy:
  The primary aim of this module is to introduce you to the basic macroeconomic indicators of the Indian economy. Gain an insight into the analysis of the income sources and various fiscal indicators, tax devolution, cooperative federalism, finance commission, sectoral understanding and its contribution to the economy. Further, learn about the monetary and financial developments of the country and indicators covering socio-economic aspects of India's economy.
• Program Evaluation:
  This module aims to equip you with tools and techniques for policy evaluation. The module is particularly useful to the bureaucrats and industry experts involved in the grassroots-level monitoring and implementation of public policies.
• Innovation Systems and Policy:
  The course explores how to build a national innovation ecosystem that makes firms globally competitive, shifts focus from low to high-end technology, and increases R&D investment. It covers public funding for private sector research, leveraging Indian demand for innovation, and prioritizing research in higher education through government support. The course examines policy frameworks like the National S&T Policy, Startup India, Digital India, Make in India, and the Atal Innovation Mission, while identifying gaps in the current system. It also addresses innovation demands in high-tech areas such as semiconductors, AI, quantum tech, minerals, and the blue economy, using case studies and practical experiences for deeper insights.
• How to Read an Economy’s Report-card:
  We encounter news on macroeconomic concepts like GDP, inflation, unemployment etc. every day in the newspapers and magazines of general interest. The objective of this course is to introduce students to look at macroeconomic data critically. Students will be introduced to the key macroeconomic concepts, followed by demonstration of the corresponding data. By the end of the course, students should be able to read and critically assess news pieces concerning macroeconomic concepts and articles from The Economist, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times etc.
• Public Policy and Implementation in Indian Context:
  The module introduces students to the theoretical constructs of public policy and illustrates how it is applied in India with case studies relevant to India. The objective of this analytical course is to prepar e students for critical evaluation of public policy issues and to make them informed participants in the related constructive dialogue.