Industrial Organization
Summer semester 2015-2016 - B.Sc. in Economics - Universitaet Konstanz

Prof. Vincenzo Valori
E-mail: vincenzo.valori@uni-konstanz.de

 

THE INFORMATION BELOW IS PRELIMINARY AND SUSCEPTIBLE OF (MINOR) ADJUSTMENTS AND CHANGES

 

Course Content
The nature of Industrial Organization
Monopoly power
Strategic interaction and basic oligopoly models
Anticompetitive behavior and antitrust policy
Non-price competition
Suggested readings
Lynne Pepall, Dan Richards, George Norman
Industrial Organization: Contemporary Theory and Empirical Applications, 5th Edition
Wiley 2014

Some supplementary material might be made available during the course.
Learning Objectives
This course will introduce you to the essential ideas of industrial organization, which is essentially the economic analysis of imperfectly competitive markets and their relationship to the structure of firms. Attention to the regulation of real-world competition distinguishes this course from related courses of microeconomics and game theory. The goal is an understanding of the qualities of actual markets found in advanced capitalist economies, where outcomes and their assumed foundations differ substantially from those of models of perfect competition.
Prerequisites
Some simple Math (basic ideas of calculus) and Microeconomics (basic ideas of theory of consumption, production, perfect competition and monopoly).
Teaching Methods
Lectures, tutorials and "experimental" classes (depending on the number of enrolled students).
Type of Assessment
2/3 Class activities and problem sets. 1/3 Written exam with questions and exercises.
Course program
Weeks 1-2: An introduction to Industrial Organization, basic microeconomics concepts, market structure and market power
Weeks 3-4: Monopoly, price discrimination, product variety and quality
Weeks 5-6: Cournot competition, oligopolistic price competition, sequential moves
Weeks 7-8: Entry deterrence, predatory conduct, collusion
Weeks 9-10: Horizontal and vertical mergers
Weeks 11-12: Advertising, research, development and patents.