ECO-30046 - Module Specification
Keele Business School
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

This module explores topics in industrial organization and regulation. The module examines imperfect competition, effect of market structure on firm behavior, pricing, cartel formation and anti-competitive practices. Non-cooperative game theory is used to study the strategic behavior of firms. The implications of market structure and market power for public regulation of industries are examined.

This module focuses on the study of imperfectly competitive markets, a much more realistic setting than the perfect competition case. The emphasis is on the behaviour of firms in such settings, in particular their quest for, and use of, market power. The strategic interaction of firms, including their pricing decisions and the possible equilibrium outcomes, are analysed in detail. The basic game-theoretic tools necessary for the study of industrial organisation will be taught in the context of the models being developed. The welfare implications of alternative market organisations, the consequences of market power, and the scope for government regulation and antitrust/competition policies will be considered.

Intended Learning Outcomes

demonstrate knowledge of key questions in the field of industrial organisation and regulation and their relevance
: 1
explain the implications of taking strategic considerations into account and relate how behaviour may be different in strategic environments compared to non-strategic environments: 1
translate real-world situations into an abstract model in order to critically analyse and derive predictions of real-world behaviour: 1
solve the "equilibrium" in various models of markets including oligopolistic markets, markets with dynamic interaction, markets with price discrimination and markets with vertical interaction: 1
use strategic thinking to predict market outcomes in simple settings.: 1
analyse basic economic and strategic models of industrial organisation using game theoretic solution concepts such as Nash equilibrium and subgame perfect equilibrium: 1

Study hours

Lectures: 20 hours
Small-group teaching: 4 hours
Reading/revision of lecture material: 86 hours
Preparation of problem sets: 20 hours
Class preparation: 20 hours

School Rules

ECO-30047, Advanced Topics in Microeconomics

Description of Module Assessment