LUT’s research on finance aims to produce high-level, internationally acknowledged research results. It is mostly basic research, and it is funded by e.g. the Academy of Finland. At a general level, the research aims to examine how actors in financial markets work towards their goals, optimally and within prevailing constraints.
One area of emphasis is research on the financial and stock markets. In this field, research is focused on e.g. pricing models for shares, volatility, and local and international market mechanisms. One of the most interesting mechanisms dealt with involves the operation of investers and financiers on developing markets. Research on pricing models endeavours to find out the factors that affect share pricing, and their effects on the optimal management of an investment portfolio.
Corporate financing research examines e.g. factors in the profitability of a business, corporate investment practices and financial structure. One of the latest areas of emphasis involves company ownership and its effects on the finance decisions and profitability of the company. Together with elements of profitability, corporate financing research studies share pricing models from the perspective of the company’s outlook.
The research also seeks to exploit the university’s expertise in Russian affairs. Research is mostly conducted in research groups which bring together researchers from different universities both in Finland and abroad. Moreover, finance researchers at LUT cooperate with researchers in accounting, strategy research, applied mathematics and electricity markets.