20628 - INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION AND COMPETITION POLICY

Competition policy is today one of the main public interventions on the supply side. It requires to apply economic tools to real market situations and to combine an economic and legal approach. Industrial organization is the main theoretical tool applied in competition policy. It is a rich and active area of research and practice.

Competition in prices (Bertrand), product differentiation, capacity constraints and quantity competition, collusion, mergers, unilateral practices and foreclosure, two-sided markets, antitrust in digital markets.

At the end of the course students will have an advanced and comprehensive knowledge of the main areas of market analysis and firms practices, their impact on competition and their treatment in antitrust intervention. They will be able to cover up to date economic literature and antitrust cases. 

The course gives the instruments that are used in public agencies and consultancy firms to deal with antitrust cases.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)

The course is based on lectures where the theoretical material is presented and discussed and on classes where excercises are solved.

Self assessment during the classes where exercises are solved. Assessment is based on written exam papers where the student is required to solve excersises and to write short essays on the topics covered in the course.

• Slides.
• A reading list based on chapters of textbooks and relevant papers.
• A set of excersises.