Social Sciences: Economics, University of Southampton

The aim of this module is to equip the students with the basic tools of non-competitive microeconomic analysis. This unit, together with the material on competitive markets in ECON2003, aims to provide the student with a thorough understanding of the pursuit of individual objectives in different institutional frameworks.

The aim of this module is to equip the students with the basic tools of non-competitive microeconomic analysis. This unit, together with the material on competitive markets in ECON2003, aims to provide the student with a thorough understanding of the pursuit of individual objectives in different institutional frameworks.

On successful completion of this unit. You will be able to
• analyse the economic efficiency of alternative social institutions;
• identify institutional factors in actual markets and organisations that may be detrimental for welfare;
• assess the efficiency of various economic policies aimed at correcting these
inefficiencies.

This unit develops the basic models of non-competitive behaviour in modern microeconomics. It builds a framework for the analysis in markets where traditional price theory fails. Central elements in the development of this framework are choice under uncertainty, choice in strategic situations and choice under asymmetric information. Building models from first principles, we see why the good welfare properties of the competitive market system fail in the presence of either informational asymmetries or strategic motives. The theories are applied to the analysis of oligopolistic markets,
markets for insurance, the theory of auctions and other applications.

There will be two lecture periods per week, plus a series of masterclasses and surgery sessions.

Available on Blackboard.

15% mid term; 10% prob. sets; 75% two hour final exam. In the event of you having to resit this unit, your coursework marks will not be carried forward.