The goals are threefold. The first goal is to develop an understanding of when and how markets fail to reach an efficient outcome, and how such market failures can result in the need for regulatory intervention. Participants will learn to identify market failures and to critically assess the policy implications and responses that result. The second goal is to introduce game-theoretic methods that are used in modern industrial organization. The third tool is to apply these methods to the analysis of competition policy.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE IS BASED ON THE COURSE SETUP PRIOR TO THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS. AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE CRISIS, COURSE COORDINATORS MAY BE FORCED TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS. The course starts by reviewing key concepts in the classical theory of regulation – such as monopoly pricing, externalities, the provision of incentives to innovate – and the common regulatory responses. Game theoretic models of firm behaviour, such as price competition by firms in oligopolistic market, are discussed next. Following the development of the analytical toolkit, the course turns to the analysis of competition policy: competition policy aims at maintaining or improving competitive interactions in market economies. The course assesses the pro-competitive effects of existing antitrust legislations, and introduces empirical methods to determine relevant markets, to analyse market power, and to detect collusive and abusive conduct. These ideas are applied to a number of real cases, such the telecommunications industry and the music/software industry.