ECONOMICS OF STRATEGIC COMPETITION

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

ECSA16

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2020/2021

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

Disciplinary Sector:

Political Economy

Language:

Italian

Location:

PESCARA

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

EBOLI MARIO

Cycle:

Third four months

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

171

Prerequisites:

Although no prerequisites are required, an exam of Microeconomics is recommended, not less that 6 cfu's, covering fundamental topics such as perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly.

Objectives

The aim of the course is to pursue the general objective of the degree course furnishing knowledge and expertise concerning the functioning of competitive and non-competitive markets and the optimizing behavior of companies. We consider it important to make students acquire the logic of strategic competition among firms, with particular attention to the role that market imperfections (in terms of competition and/or information) have in defining such strategies. This objective is inserted in the context of the degree course aimed at training business managers with the necessary knowledge to operate in an environment of non-competitive markets where companies can exercise market power.

EXPECTED RESULTS OF LEARNING
At the end of the course the student must possess knowledge and skills related to the functioning of competitive and non-competitive markets, the antitrust rules, the strategic behavior of companies. The objective is to contribute to the formation of a professional figure (envisaged in the Degree Course) assigned to the administrative-financial management of private companies, both as an internal profile and as a consultant. To this end the course propose s to transmit the following skills and knowledge:

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY
- distinguishes the markets based on the degree of competition
-recognizes the principles that guide industrial policies and strategies
- knows the long-term implications of market penetration strategies

AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT:
- translates the logic of economic models into management and corporate policies.

Contents

The course is dedicated to the study of the strategic behavior of companies operating in markets of imperfect competition (monopolies, oligopolies, cartels, etc.) and in conditions of information asymmetry between producers and consumers.
The program consists of the following chapters of the Carlton-Perloff text 'Industrial Organization': Enterprise and Costs (chapter 2); Perfect competition (chapter 3); Monopolies, monopsonies and dominant firms (chapter 4); The cartels (chapter 5); The oligopoly (chapter 6); Product differentiation and monopolistic competition (7); Price discrimination (chapter 9); Complex methods for determining the price (chapter 10); Strategic behavior (chapter 11); The role of information (chapter 13).

Extended Syllabus

The program consists of the study of the following topics of 'Industrial Organization':
1. Firms' objectives and technological constraints (cost curves);
2. The functioning of perfectly competitive markets in the short and long run;
3. Market power: Monopolies, monopsonies and dominant companies;
4. The cartels, their sustainability and their regulation;
5. The oligopoly a là Cournot, Bertrand and Stackelberg;
6. Product differentiation and monopolistic competition. The Hotelling model and the Salop model;
7. Price discrimination of first, second and third type;
8. Complex methods for pricing, bundling, two-part tariffs;
9. Strategic behavior of companies, dumping strategies and limit pricing;
10. Asymmetric information, adverse selection and moral hazard. Markets with informed and not consumers.

Recommended Bibliography

Carlton, D. e Perloff, J. 'Organizazione Industriale', McGraw-Hill 2013.

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

The course consists of fifty-four hours of frontal teaching, divided into two-hour lessons each. The lessons focus on the contents of the textbook, to which they are the accompaniment.
Attendance is optional, although recommended, and the final exam will obviously be the same for attending and non-attending students.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The assessment of learning takes place through a written exam, consisting of seven multiple choice questions and two or three 'open' questions. There is no oral exam. The exam lasts two hours.
The examination procedures are the same for attending and non-attending students.

Contacts/More Information

All course information, teaching material and communications will take place over the e-learning platform.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree