Finance and the Search for the “Big” Question in International Business

Any assessment of IB’s place in the intellectual galaxy is driven by advances in international business as well as in other business disciplines. This essay identifies topics from the Finance literature that appear to hold the most interest or promise for the IB realm. Topics include extensions and elaborations of existing knowledge in the areas of financial market segmentation/integration, country risks, risk management, cost of capital, and corporate control. More ambitious studies plot new trajectories in behavioral finance, real options analysis, sources of value, agency theory and financial contracting, and international private equity.