Course 2025-2026 a.y.

1. Market Power and Market Structures

• Market Power: Monopoly and Perfect Competition
• Concentration and Market Power

2. Oligopoly and Strategic Interaction

• Price Competition and Quantity Competition
• Price Competition with Capacity Constraints
• Competition with n Firms
• Dynamic Competition and Collusion
• Product Differentiation
• Strategic Investments: Advertising
• Entry Costs
• Horizontal Mergers
• Vertical Relationships
• Entry Deterrence and Product Proliferation

3. Pricing Strategies

• Price Discrimination

4. Innovation Economics

• Market Structure and Innovation
• Measuring Innovation
• Diffusion of Innovations
• Network Externalities
• Two-Sided Markets

5. Intellectual Property

• Functioning of the Patent System
• Trademarks and Copyright

6. Competition Policy and Antitrust

• Competition Policies and Antitrust

• Competition Policies in High-Tech Sectors

• Analyze specific industrial contexts by identifying the role of key competitive forces.

• Understand the rationale and objectives behind particular corporate strategies.

• Appreciate the role and significance of competition policy and industry regulation.

• Assess the impact and sources of innovation across different sectoral environments.

• Demonstrate the ability to critically interpret industry reports, academic case studies, and specialized articles from publications such as The Economist and Business Week.

• Identify and select relevant data and information sources suitable for analyzing specific industrial sectors.

• Apply economic reasoning to examine data on competition, industry dynamics, and innovation across diverse sectoral contexts.

• Lectures
• Practical Exercises
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The course is structured around traditional lectures, complemented by:

1. Exercise sessions, where students work through problem sets to apply concepts and frameworks introduced in class.

2. Case‐study sessions, which foster critical thinking and analytical skills by having students analyze real‐world scenarios using the theories and tools covered in the course.

In‐class exercises reinforce the practical application of key ideas, while case studies encourage students to evaluate complex industry situations, formulate strategic insights, and defend their conclusions using the course material.

The course assessment consists of a final written exam and group case-study assignments:

1. Final Written Exam

   • Format: Two semi-open questions covering all course material, plus one applied exercise.

   • Purpose: To evaluate students’ ability to employ the analytical tools and frameworks introduced during lectures.

   • Duration: 1½ hours.

2. Case‐Study Assignments (for attending students only)

   • Structure: During designated class sessions, students are divided into small groups and tasked with analyzing a real‐world case. Each group must submit a written report detailing their findings and recommendations.

   • Evaluation: Reports are graded on a pass/fail basis. These case studies serve to verify students’ capacity to apply course concepts in a practical context and to communicate their analyses clearly and persuasively.

   • Attendance Requirement: To qualify as an attending student (“frequentante”), each student must receive a passing grade on at least three separate case‐study reports.

The assessment consists of a final written examination.

The final exam includes three semi‐structured questions covering all course material, plus two exercises based on the concepts, models, and cases presented in the prescribed texts and exam materials.

These questions and exercises are designed to evaluate students’ ability to apply what they have learned and to demonstrate their mastery of the course content.

The duration of the final exam is 2 hours and 15 minutes.

• Required Textbook

Cabral, L. (2017). Introduction to Industrial Organization (2nd ed.). MIT Press.

Course Materials & Distribution
Throughout the semester, students will receive the following resources, all accessible via the course’s Blackboard page:

• Case Studies

  • A curated set of real‐world industry cases, which will be evaluated during classroom sessions (see Assessment Methods).

• Exercise Sets with Solutions

  • Problem sets designed to reinforce key concepts; solutions will be provided for self‐review.

• Lecture Notes (PDFs)

  • Detailed outlines and supplemental commentary corresponding to each lecture.

• Additional Readings

  • As the course progresses—especially in the second half—targeted journal articles, working papers, or book chapters will be assigned to deepen understanding of specific topics.

Notes on Case‐Study Material

• Case studies will be used for in‐class analysis and graded on a pass/fail basis as part of the continuous assessment (see above).

• Importantly, these cases will not appear on the final exam. In other words, the final written examination will focus solely on the concepts, models, and case examples presented in the prescribed textbook and any explicitly assigned readings for exam preparation.

• All case‐study packets, exercise solutions, lecture notes, and additional articles will be available well in advance on Blackboard to allow sufficient time for preparation and review.

• Required Textbook

Cabral, L. (2017). Introduction to Industrial Organization (2nd ed.). MIT Press.

Course Materials (Available on Blackboard)

• Exercise Sets with Solutions

  • Problem sets designed to reinforce core concepts; complete solutions are provided for self‐assessment.

• PDF Lecture Notes

  • Comprehensive notes accompanying each lecture, outlining key models, definitions, and examples.

• Supplementary Readings

  • Selected articles and book chapters for certain topics in the second half of the course, intended to deepen your understanding.

Note on Case-Study Materials

• As is the case for attending students, all case-study materials are used exclusively for in-class exercises and continuous assessment.

• These case studies will not be part of the final written exam. In other words, there will be no exam questions or exercises directly tied to any case study.