Aims: The aim of the course is to provide a rigorous understanding of contempoary theories of industrial organisation.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course students will have acquired familiarity with key topics in industrial organisation (e.g. pricing theory, advertising, innovation, the analysis of market structure, barriers to entry) and will be able to apply these concepts to contemporary industrial developments. Students will also have gained an understanding of industrial and competition policy.
Skills:
The following are facilitated and assessed: Abstract reasoning; information synthesis; diagrammatic skills; writing skills; numeracy skills.
Content:
The course provides a descriptive review of contemporary industrial structure and of the relationship between industry in the UK, Europe and beyond. It reviews the two main paradigms for analysing industry, namely the Structure-Conduct-Performance model and the New Industrial Economics. It applies microeconomic theory to explain why firms exist and how they select price, output and marketing strategies. It also examines the role played by government policy in the operation and regulation of industry.
Key texts:
* Philips, L. (1998). Applied Industrial Economics. Cambridge University Press.
* Shy, O. (1995). Industrial Organisation, MIT Press.
* Tirole, J. (1989). The Theory of Industrial Organisation. MIT Press.
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