This book clarifies several ambiguous arguments and claims in finance and the theory of the firm. It also serves as a bridge between derivatives, corporate finance and the theory of the firm. In addition to mathematical derivations and theories, the book also uses anecdotes and numerical examples to explain some unconventional concepts. The main arguments of the book are: (1) the ownership of the firm is not a valid concept, and firms' objectives are determined by entrepreneurs who can innovate to earn excess profits; (2) the Modigliani-Miller capital structure irrelevancy proposition is a restatement of the Coase theorem, and changes in the firm's debt-equity ratio will not affect equity-holders' wealth (welfare), and equity-holders' preferences toward risk (or variance) are irrelevant; (3) all firms' resources are options, and every asset is both a European call and a put option for any other asset; and (4) that a first or residual claim between debt and equity is non-existent while the first claim among fixed-income assets can actually affect the market values of these assets.

This textbook takes on a systematic approach to elaborating on the different subjects within corporate finance. The chapters bring together existing concepts with examples and stories that allow students to easily understand and apply financial tools. In doing so, the book strives to clarify misconceptions in the literature on topics related to firm’s ownership and control, problems of the Modigliani-Miller first and second propositions, relationship between options and corporate finance, behavioral finance versus corporate finance, etc.   The book takes into consideration the growing importance of the Asian economy and financial markets in recent years, and constructs the P-index to measure and compare the risk structures of US and China’s stocks and stock indexes.   This book is a primary text written for the introductory courses in corporate finance at the M.B.A. level and for the intermediate courses in undergraduate programs, but can also be of great use to Ph.D. students as well as professionals.