Course 2015-2016 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 31

EMIT (7 credits - I sem. - OBCUR  |  SECS-P/06)

Course Director:
STEFANO BRESCHI

Course Objectives

The course provides a broad examination of the conceptual tools needed to understand business strategies and to carry out industry analyses. A special emphasis is placed on understanding how firms interact strategically in imperfectly competitive markets, how they compete or cooperate, and how those interactions affect market structures, firms’ profitability and social welfare. The role played by competition policies and authorities will be discussed throughout the course. The course is ideally divided into two parts. The first part of the course reviews some basic notions of microeconomics and provides an introduction to the basic toolkits and models of industrial organization. This is followed by a positive analysis of the price and non-price strategies used by firms to exercise market power. The second part of the course is devoted to study the interaction between the monopolist and the consumers, and introduces a few topics in related to the theory of the firm.

Course Content Summary

• Introduction to industrial organization.
• Market power; markets and market boundaries; firms, costs and profit maximization.
• Static and dynamic models of imperfect competition.
• Horizontal mergers and vertical restraints.
• Strategic barriers to entry and predatory behavior.
• Price discrimination.
• Theory of the firm.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

For non attending students

Written exam.

For attending students

Two partial written exams or one final written exam.

Textbooks

To be defined.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Prerequisites

The course is self-contained but a good knowledge of microeconomics represents a pre-requisite.

Last change 11/05/2015 10:39