Understanding Corporate Finance: Experience of Emerging Economies and Case of a High-Income Small Developing Country.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the theories, concepts and issues involved in the area of corporate finance and the implications for emerging economies. A secondary research approach was adopted based on a review of published texts, journals, and technical reports. The results of the study demonstrate that based on the indicators of capital market development, the high-income developing country of Trinidad and Tobago used as a case study, lags behind in critical areas of development of its capital market and, along with related developing countries, can benefit from the fundamental principles involved in the practice of corporate finance. The practical implications of the study are the potential use by students in tertiary level institutions engaged in MBA or financial management studies, participants pursuing professional qualifications in accounting and finance, employees in financial institutions, and general stakeholders seeking to invest funds. The value of this paper is that it explores and presents data on an area of study which is considered esoteric and largely ignored in the formal literature on small developing states, particularly the island-states of the Caribbean. Its value further lies in its contribution to the understanding of the field of corporate finance and related issues and identification of implications for developing economies. The research is limited to the extent that only secondary data sources were explored and insights from practitioners through interviews were not obtained thus pointing to scope for future research