CONCEPT QUESTIONS - CHAPTER 1 1.1What are the three basic questions of corporate finance?a. Investment decision (capital budgeting): What long-term investment strategy should a firm adopt? b. Financing decision (capital structure): How much cash must be raised for the required investments? c.Short-term finance decision (working capital): How much short-term cash flow does company need to pay its bills. Describe capital structure. Capital structure is the mix of different securities used to finance a firm's investments. List three reasons why value creation is difficult. Value creation is difficult because it is not easy to observe cash flows directly. The reasons are: a. Cash flows are sometimes difficult to identify. b. The timing of cash flows is difficult to determine. c. Cash flows are uncertain and therefore risky. 1.2What is a contingent claim? A contingent claim is a claim whose payoffs are dependent on the value of the firm at the end of the year. In more general terms, contingent claims depend on the value of an underlying asset. Describe equity and debt as contingent claims. Both debt and equity depend on the value of the firm. If the value of the firm is greater than the amount owed to debt holders, they will get what the firm owes them, while stockholders will get the difference. But if the value of the firm is less than equity, bondholders will get the value of the firm and equity holders nothing. 1.3Define a proprietorship, a partnership and a corporation.A proprietorship is a business owned by a single individual with unlimited liability. A partnership is a business owned by two or more individuals with unlimited liability. A corporation is a business which is a "legal pers...
