Italian.
Summaries of teaching contents in English.
Didactic material for attending students also in English
In written exams questions can be formulated both in Italian and in English. Written and oral responses either in Italian or in English (student's choice).
Course Content
Structures, strategies, and performance in markets and imperfect competition; antistrust, industrial development, innovation policies
L. Pepall, D.J. Richards, G. Norman, G. Calzolari, Organizzazione industriale, Milano: McGraw Hill, 2017 + didactic material for attending students
Students of years before 2017/2018 may prepare the exam on the 2016/2017 programme, following the text:
J. Lipczynski, J. Wilson, J. Goddard, Economia industriale, Roma, Milano-Torino 2017
Learning Objectives
The relations between oligopolistic competition, business strategies, industrial and competition policies, policies of industrial development and innovation are a fundamental field for a graduate students in economic sciences in terms:
- knowledge of general micro-economic analyses
- deeper competence of critical assessment of contemporay market tendencies, between competition, market power, public policies
- ability of application of well-structured conceptual tools to empirical cases concerning market structures and productive systems, private and public conducts, performances in terms of individual and social objectives,
The course contributes to a high education like that fostered by the LM Scienze dell'economia. It is favoured job placement in various positions demanding the critical approach and the capacity recalled above, within for example: team of economic research in public officies, NGOs, unions, consulting companies; management in big firms; entrepreneurs in SMEs. The course in particular helps in the preparation of access to post-graduate programmes in economics and policy of markets and productive systems.
Prerequisites
Undergraduate Microeconomics, in particular: basic consumer demand theory; production, cost, profit functions; supply of competitive firms; basic model of perfect competition; basic models of monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly (Cournot, Bertrand)
Teaching Methods
Lectures (32 hours), exercises (6 hours), seminars (4 hours); attending students may elaborate presentations on cases related to the topics of the course and some of them are discusses within the laboratories of the course (6 hours)
Further information
ATTENDING students:
a) Chapters and texts from Pepal et al. Organizzazione industriale, for written/oral exams (see section "modaLità di verifica dell'apprendimento") [BUT FOR CHANGES DEFINED IN THE COURSE OF THE LECTURES]:
1.3, 3, 4.2, 4.3 (esclusa produzione flessibile), 4.4, 5 (escluso 5.4), 6 (escluso 6.4), 7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 8.5, 8.6, 9 (escluso 9.1), 10.1 e 10.1.2, 10.4, 11, 12.1, 12.4, 13.1, 13.2, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 15 (escluso 15.4.1), 16, 17.1, 17.2, 18.1, 19.
b) Parts that, corresponding to pre-requisites (i.e. basic microeconomics), are not themes for specific questions within exams, but are used in parts that are included within the exams (see above):
2, 4.1, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 9.1
c) The "laboratories" (see section "modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento") are selected by students (individually or in groups) within a list more precisely specified at lesson and including: antitrust cases; models and cases of predatory pricing (chapt. 12), vertical restraints (16), advertising, market power, competition and information (17), R&D and patents(18), networks economies (19), regulation and liberalization (20); industrial districts, external economies, local development, innovation, international industrial strategies (didactic material from the teacher on the moodle platform - available after the beginning of the course); policies for innovation and industrial development (didactic material from the teacher on the moodle platform - available after the beginning of the course).
NON attending studens (only oral exam):
a) the same as attending students
b) the same as attending students
c) laboratories are replaced with 2 chapters of the book, slected individually by the student, in addition to a), to be possibly discussed at the exam, within: 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Type of Assessment
ATTENDING students:
- written exams (following the format seen at "esercitazioni"), and presentations (see section "altre informazioni")
- written exams have marks on a 30 scale; the presentations can have a bonus adding to the marks of the written/oral exam between 1 and 3 points
- the written exam may be replaced by the oral exams on the same programme (see section "altre informazioni")
NON attending students:
Oral examination (preliminary written answers) on the programme (see section "altre informazioni")
Course program
Market structure and market power; industrial structure; price discrimination with linear and non linear pricing; product differentiation and quality; variation on Cournot; variation on Bertrand; sequential strategies in price and product competition; limit pricing and barriers to entry; collusion; mergers and acquisitions.
Specific thems on : antitrust cases; models and cases of predatory pricing, vertical restraints, advertising, R&D and patents, networks economies, regulation and liberalization, industrial districts and external economies, innovation and international industrial strategies in local development cases; policies for innovation and industrial development