Insegnamento a.a. 2016-2017

Course Objectives

The course provides a broad examination of the conceptual tools needed to understand business strategies and to carry out industry analyses. A special emphasis is placed on understanding how firms interact strategically in imperfectly competitive markets, how they compete or cooperate, and how those interactions affect market structures, firms’ profitability and social welfare. The role played by competition policies and authorities are discussed throughout the course. The course is ideally divided into two parts. The first part of the course reviews the basic models of industrial organization. This is followed by a positive analysis of the price and non-price strategies used by firms to exercise market power. The second part of the course is devoted to study the high-technology sectors characterized by network effects.

Course Content Summary

• Introduction to industrial organization.
• Static and dynamic models of imperfect competition.
• Horizontal mergers and vertical restraints.
• Strategic barriers to entry and predatory behavior.
• Price discrimination.
• Network externalities
• Two-sided markets
• Intellectual property rights and innovation
• Antitrust issues in high-tech markets

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

For non attending students:

• Written exam.

• Two partial written exams or one final written exam.

Textbooks

Prerequisites