Module overview
This module 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 in strategic situations and choice under asymmetric
information. Building models from first principles, students will 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 public goods, externalities, oligopolistic markets,
markets for insurance, the theory of auctions and other applications. This module applies the analysis
of market failure in a variety of policy contexts.