Posted: March 26th, 2015

Assignment for International Finance

Assignment for International Finance

Project description
Assignment for International finance

In sum, you have to:
Choose a subject from your studies in international finance
Construct a question relevant to the subject
Devise a plan of research
Complete a pro forma and get it signed.
Carry out the plan as in the pro forma.

You must read ALL the following notes about the project IT IS NOT THE SAME AS OTHER PROJECTS

The project has a maximum length of 1,500 words. You need to complete a form (pro forma) and get it signed by the lecturer by the 8th week of the semester and hand in the project on or before the last Friday of the semester.

SUBMISSION WILL BE VIA BLACKBOARD YOUR PROJECT MUST THEREFORE BE IN A SINGLE WORD FILE

Remember that this is a project, AN INVESTIGATION, not an essay. Do not leave things to the last minute and then be caught out because there is a difficulty, the system is down or some data is unavailable. Your ability to produce a piece of work in a less structured environment is an integral part of undertaking a project.

The project has run for many years. It is intended to be a pleasant change from an exam and a chance to improve on your exam score; but you must read the following notes carefully.

Assessment

Marks for the project are made up as follows:
Overall presentation of project 20%
Communication 10%
Use and presentation of resources 20%
Quality of analysis 50%

Good presentation: clear title, index, appropriate use of diagrams, clear layout, minimal cross referencing (i.e. diagrams, analysis, findings in the text and not listed at the back), keys to all equations, good referencing (no bibliographies see below for references)..

Good communication: deadlines met, consultation hours used, a pro forma with notes etc written on, project completed before the Christmas vacation

References should be as follows: (note that books must have page references)

Example in text: Arya et al (1988) found that 20% of all seats in lectures had an ejector button, a finding moderated by the late Dr Gerbil (1988, p.201) who discovered that few worked.

Arya A., J.C. Fellingham and J.C. Glover (1998), Capital budgeting: Some Exceptions to the Net Present Value Rule, Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 13, No. 3 (August) pp.499 508.

Gerbil, A. (1988), Decision Theory: an introduction to the mathematics of rationality, Ellis Horwood.

good management of resources: good use of University/other information sources, relevant up to date material, clearly presented, good basic description of the data (mean, outliers etc), reasons why the time period and data was chosen.

Poor management of resources: inappropriate data, better sources easily available, old data, poorly described data

Good quality of analysis: clear explanations, clear development of line of investigation, honest appraisal of your methods

Poor quality of analysis: vague explanations, poor development of your theme, issues left outstanding, getting lost in the detail, claiming too much, careless, erroneous statements and/or inferences, failure to reflect on the shortcomings of your analysis, no analysis, vague descriptive approach showing no ability to analyse the sources but merely replicate them badly

The project is intended to fit within a degree module. Excellent projects can be less than the word limit. Much more important is that you fulfil a carefully and narrowly designed scheme of investigation.

You must consult with the lecturer.

Do not leave the project until the Christmas vacation you will have 10%, marks are deducted in accordance with University regulations for late submission! Complete the project before the vacation.

As ever, projects are marked on a 100% scale very high marks are obtainable, but. It is perfectly possible to fail the project. The project will be given a fail mark if for example:
i)there is no pro forma
ii)There is no element of investigation as defined here, for example if you hand in a referenced essay it will fail.

You may be asked for a viva. Students who hand in projects but who are unable to explain the content of their project cannot expect to receive ANY marks. Poor explanations will also reduce overall marks. You are not expected to make any special preparations for your viva if asked.

Being asked to attend a viva does not mean that you are under suspicion.

Plagiarism is a very serious offence University rules will be applied where plagiarism is suspected see course manual.

The first point is that the project has run for many years. Language students have in the past produced very successful (first class) projects you are not being asked to attempt the impossible.

This project differs from many others in that you are not given a subject area or details on how to carry out the project. Instead you are given guidance as to how you might go about these tasks and offered consultation services. How you construct the project is an important part of the project itself.

In sum, you have to:
Choose the subject
Construct a question relevant to the subject
Devise a plan of research
Complete a pro forma and get it signed.
Carry out the plan as in the pro forma.

The end result need not be especially long by consulting effectively with me you will avoid the main pitfalls

Subject of project:

A technical project will involve some interpretation and manipulation of numbers. Your source is EIU, you will then need to export data to MINITAB (Excel is a poor alternative) and then save the results of the analysis in Word notes are available.

This is NOT a test of your numerical ability. Projects with regressions can get low marks for badly explained models, poorly analysed results etc; projects with no more than histograms and averages can get high marks for well explained and relevant analysis. The tools you use do not determine your marks.

The project is executed at the terminal that is why you can complete it in the given timetable. DO NOT write off for information.

If you get in a mess with the numbers, consult with me so do not worry. Consultation is part of the exercise. NO MARKS ARE DEDUCTED BECAUSE OF ASSISTANCE. Consultation is strength not a weakness.

Choice of subject

Subject areas: (this will make more sense when you have studied the subject areas!)

Generally, find an area and think small.

Areas chosen by previous projects in rough order of popularity, but not merit, are:

1)PPP theory, variations are choosing different: countries, time periods, indices, lags, periodicity (i.e. monthly quarterly etc), and expectations.
2)IFE theory, variations are choosing different: countries, time periods, indices, lags, periodicity (i.e. monthly quarterly etc), and expectations.
3)Market efficiency, runs tests.
4)Forward rates (you will have to ask me for the data).
5)Exchange rate variation and correlation tests with each other and with Stock Market returns.
6)Balance of payments and the exchange rate.

The write up

The following format is offered as a guide, why not use it? It shows that you have read this far!

Section1.Introduction – What is being tested/reviewed? Why is the test/review important?

Section2.Test design: How are you going to carry out your tests – be absolutely crystal clear in this section.
Review design: How are you going to conduct your review?

Section3.Test: Results and further tests.
Review: Carry out review.

Section4Reflections on results and suggestions for further tests.