Courses NonDegree Display 2023-2024

Course Description To PDF
Course title Industrial Organisation
Course code EBC2005
ECTS credits 6,5
Assessment Whole/Half Grades
Period
Period Start End Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 30-10-2023 15-12-2023 X X
Level Intermediate
Coordinator Iwan Bos
For more information: i.bos@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Language of instruction English
Goals
The objectives of the course are:

1. To develop understanding of core concepts and theories in industrial organization.

2. To develop understanding of how industry structure and strategic firm behaviour affect market performance and the welfare of society.

3. To develop skills in searching for, and making good use of, information and data on firms and industries and carry out basic research.

4. To develop teamwork and presentation skills.
Description
This course introduces you to the economics of industrial organization. The field of industrial organization is concerned with how firms compete with each other in a variety of market structures and how this affects their performance, their customers and the welfare of society at large. It developed as a separate discipline in the U.S. in the 1930s and takes as its starting point that competition in the market place is often imperfect. Moreover, it takes a broad perspective on the nature of competition by considering industry rivalry along both price and non-price dimensions. Examples of the latter include product positioning, advertising and research & development.
The implied strategic firm behaviour can have far-reaching welfare consequences and gives rise to important policy questions. For instance, should the government intervene in a market that is controlled by a single (or a combination of) powerful enterprise(s)? Should certain pricing strategies be prohibited? Answers to these types of question are often far from trivial. It is then not surprising that there are different schools of thought in industrial economics; each with its own view on the workings of markets. In this course, you will learn about this variety of viewpoints and the corresponding policy recommendations.
Literature
Textbook + Articles.
Prerequisites
An advanced level of English
First-year microeconomics
First-year statistical methods
Teaching methods (indicative; course manual is definitive) PBL / Presentation / Lecture / Assignment / Groupwork
Assessment methods (indicative; course manual is definitive) Participation / Written Exam / Assignment / Presentation
Evaluation in previous academic year For the complete evaluation of this course please click "here"
This course belongs to the following programmes / specialisations
Bachelor Economics and Business Economics - Emerging Markets Year 2 Elective Course(s)
Bachelor Economics and Business Economics - Economics and Management of Information Year 2+3 Elective Course(s)
Bachelor Economics and Business Economics - International Business Economics Year 2 Compulsory Course(s)
Bachelor Fiscal Economics Transition Elective Course(s)
SBE Exchange Bachelor Bachelor Exchange Courses
SBE Exchange Master Bachelor Exchange Courses
SBE Non Degree Courses Bachelor Courses