363-0546-00L  Industrial Organization and Competition Policy

SemesterSpring Semester 2019
LecturersJ.‑P. Nicolai
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractIndustrial organization focuses on firm behavior (the choice of price, quantity or investment) in imperfectly competitive markets and analyzes the acquisition and use of market power by firms, strategic interactions among firms, and the role of government competition policy. It uses microeconomic theory instruments. The course combines theory with case-studies.
Learning objectiveThe first objective of the course is to provide a modern treatment of industrial organization using microeconomic theory. The students will learn the basic tools to tackle with the firms' behaviors and the competition policy. The second objective of the course is also to provide a presentation of some important issues in Industrial Organization. For each one that will be covered in this course, both theory and applications will be discussed.
ContentThis course is compound of two parts. The first one will be devoted to the framework required to analyze firms' behaviors, the different kinds of competition and the relation between welfare and market structures.

The last part focuses on several issues that we will approach from both theoretical and applied perspectives.
Cartels and tacite collusion
Horizontal mergers
Vertical relations
Barriers to entry
Switching costs
LiteratureThe Theory of Industrial Organisation, Tirole, Jean, MIT press, 1988

Industrial Organization: Contemporary Theory and Empirical Applications Pepall, Lynne, Daniel Richards and George Norman, Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.

Introduction to Industrial Organization, Cabral, Luis, MIT Press, 2000.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe students must be comfortable with basic calculus, and need to have passed at least one course in microeconomics, for instance: Principles of Microeconomics or Intermediate Microeconomics.

The lecture notes are not self-explanatory. Sufficient learning of the covered material requires attendance in the class, individual reading of a textbook and doing exercises.