An Outline of Financial Economics

＂An Outline of Financial Economics＂ presents a systematic treatment of theory and methodology of finance and economics. It begins by discussing financial instruments, which form the basis of the theory of finance and are defined as legal documents recording monetary transactions. The text then goes on to analyze bonds - which are regarded as fixed income securities - in a simple framework, and to discuss the valuation of stocks and cash flows in detail.

The text follows an analytical and geometric methodology, explaining technical terms and mathematical operations in nontechnical language. It also provides intuitive explanations of the mathematical results of questions concerning important issues such as risk aversion, uncertainty, prospect theory and the theory of stochastic dominance.

The text also covers two alternative approaches to portfolio analysis - namely the mean-variance and mean-Gini approaches - and features an analysis of the Modigliani-Miller theorem, which has played a major role in the development of business finance. It discusses the capital asset pricing model and the intricacies of the methods for determining prices of different types of options, which give the right to buy or sell an asset. Conditions for non-arbitrage that do not allow advantage of price discrimination between markets are also developed.

Because of its wide coverage and analytical, articulate and authoritative presentation, ＂An Outline of Financial Economics＂ will be an indispensable book for finance researchers and undergraduate and graduate students in fields such as economics, finance, econometrics, statistics and mathematics.

Satya R. Chakravarty is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, India.