Industrial Economics

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the central theoretical and practical concepts and fundamental analytical methods in industrial economics
• the nature of strategic competition and its implications for policy

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• communicate policy recommendations based on analytic modelling of strategic interaction in written form.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• apply a set of analytical techniques to a variety of industrial economics (and non-economic) problems.

In most markets, firms need to be aware of their rivals, and even potential rivals, when making decisions. In other words, they must act strategically. We will analyse strategic decision making on prices, product specifications, and investments which will be relevant to anyone with an interest in corporate strategy. But our concern will extend beyond the firms concerned, to the implications for welfare more generally. The module thus begins with a discussion of competition policy in the UK, the European Union and the USA. Throughout the module, theoretical and empirical analysis will be linked to contemporary and classic cases.

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures and Tutorials

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Church, Jeffrey and Roger Ware (2000). Industrial Organization: A Strategic Approach. London: McGraw-Hill.

Tirole, Jean (1988). The Theory of Industrial Organization. Cambridge Massachussetts: MIT press.

Carlton, Dennis W. and Jeffrey M. Perloff (2005). Modern Industrial Organization. London: Pearson/Addison Wesley.

Assessment strategy

Assessment in this module will be in form of two coursework assignments (each wroth 15% of the final mark) and long take-home assignment at the end of the module (70%). This is supported by formative assessment in form of problem sets. This is the same for internal repeats. Referral and external repeat assessment are through 100% end of module take-home assignment.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External