NMAK11020U Microeconomics 3 – Industrial Organization (MikØk3)

Volume 2016/2017
Education

MSc programme in Mathematics-Economics

Content

The course provides an introduction to modern industrial organization based on game-theoretic analysis. Industrial organization concerns how markets work and firms compete, especially when there are a limited number of firms in the market.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge in:

After having successfully completed the course a student will be familiar with a number of basic topics in industrial organization theory, including: monopoly; price discrimination; short run price competition and Cournot oligopoly; dynamic price competition, tacit collusion and cartels; empirical tests of oligopoly; product differentiation; vertically related markets.

 

Skills at:

After having successfully completed the course a students will be able to:

 

  • Describe the main theories of monopoly behavior and of oligopoly competition and to compare them in terms of central features such as prices and welfare.
  • Describe the different kinds of price discrimination, the ways in which price discrimination can be implemented, and how price discrimination affects the different economic agents involved.
  • Describe the main theories of collusion and to identify factors that hinder and facilitate collusion.
  • Solve formal models using tools from mathematical optimization theory and game theory.
  • Analyze formal models that are variations of the models and theories covered in the course and to provide economic intuition for the results obtained.
  • Read professional journal articles on industrial organization and to use insights from this field when analyzing and thinking about questions where imperfect competition plays a role.

 

Competences to:

The primary aim of the course is to introduce students to modern industrial organization (building on and adding to the students’ knowledge about industrial organization from Microeconomics 2). A broader aim is that students who take the course will, by working extensively with theoretical models, acquire analytical skills that are transferable to other kinds of intellectual problems.

The course is based on combined lectures/exercise classes. There will be six hours of classes a week for seven weeks, where each class can contain lecture material or discussion of a problem set.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 27
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 137
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment, 27 hours
27-hour take-home assignment.
Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Re-exam

Same as ordinary. If only ten or fewer persons are registered for the re-exam, it will be replaced by a 30-minutes oral exam (with 30 minutes preparation time and all aids allowed).

Criteria for exam assesment

The student must in a satisfactory way demonstrate that he/she has mastered the learning outcome of the course.