LOJA10280U Contract and Cooperatives

Volume 2013/2014
Education
MSc Programme in Agricultural Economics
MSc Programme in Agricultural Development
Content
Part 1 Cooperatives: 
a. What is a cooperative?
b. Economic objectives and conditions.
c. Single product payment schemes.
d. Multi product payments schemes.
Part 2 Contract Theory:
a. What is contract theory?
b. Hidden information, adverse selection
c. Hidden action, moral hazard
d. Contract design, rules of thumb
e. Examples of production contracts
Learning Outcome
The objective of this course is to learn to apply the concepts and techniques taught in the microeconomics theory course and other related courses in economic theory and econometrics, to problems faced by decision-makers in the agri-food industry and business organizations, as well as policy analysts.

After completing the course the student should be able to:

Knowledge:
Students are expected to know the basic concepts, models and results from the theoretical and the applied literature on 
- Contract theory (in particular with applications on the agri-food industry)
- Cooperatives, pricing schemes and revenue sharing rules.

Skills:
Students should be able to understand and practice 
- modern contract theory, specifically: Complete contracting, Incomplete contracting and Mechanism design.
- modern economic theory concerning cooperatives, specifically: organizationally setup and payment schemes.

Competences:
Students should be able to identify and analyze current issues related to:
- Incentives, risk sharing, coordination and information in the agri-food industry
- decisions in cooperatives
Literature
Bogetoft and Olesen, Cooperatives and Payment Schemes, CBS-Press, 2007.
Bogetoft and Olesen, Design of Production Contracts, CBS-Press, 2004.
Bolton and Dewatripont, Contract Theory, MIT-Press, 2005. (chapters, 1-4). Alternatively, a similar type of text book in contract theory
Hougaard, Introduction to Allocation Rules, Springer, 2009.
None
Coursework coresponding to LOJA10279 Industrial Organization
Lectures, exercises, assignments, group work and group discussions.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 1
  • Lectures
  • 32
  • Preparation
  • 125
  • Project work
  • 20
  • Theory exercises
  • 28
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral defence, 20 minutes
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Exam registration requirements
A written synopsis is a prerequisite for attending the exam but is not evaluated in itself.
Aid
Without aids
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
One internal examiner
Re-exam
If 10 or fewer register for the reexamination the examination form will be oral.
Criteria for exam assesment
To receive 12 the student have to show complete fulfillment of the learning outcomes.