GRA 1305 Industrial Economics
 |
APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 |
GRA 1305 Industrial Economics
Responsible for the course
Christian Riis
Department
Department of Economics
Term
According to study plan
ECTS Credits
6
Language of instruction
English
Introduction
The field of Industrial Economics recognizes that most markets are oligopolistic, in which a relatively small number of firms dominate the market. In this course we will be studying strategic interaction among firms in such markets with respect to product development (quality), pricing, R&D and innovation, contracts and localization decisions.
Learning outcome
Successful students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the economic principles underlying competitive strategies in the market place. Students will be well acquainted with modern economic modelling framework for analyzing imperfect competition and competition policy. The course emphasizes on teaching students cutting edge research and public policy developments.
Prerequisites
GRA 6031 Microeconomics or equivalent
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Compulsory reading
Books:
Pepall, Lynne, Dan Richards and George Norman. 2014. Industrial organization : contemporary theory and empirical application. 5th ed. Wiley. Selected chapters
Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.
Selected articles
Recommended reading
Course outline
The course covers topics as:
- Market power and quality and product variaty
- Dymanic games of price competition
- Price-fixing and collusion
- Horizontal mergers
- Competition policy and antitrust
- Advertising
- R&D and innovation
- Contract theory
Computer-based tools
Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours. Lectures and cases.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on It's learning or text book.
Examination
3-hour written exam
| Form of assessment | Weight | Group size |
| Written examination 3 hours | 100% | Individual |
Specific information regarding student assessment will be provided in class. This information may be relevant to requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several components of the overall assessment. This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded using points on a scale from 0-100. The final grade for the course is based on the aggregated mark of the course components. Each component is weighted as detailed in the course description. Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam components will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the points system and the mapping scale in the student portal @bi.
Examination code(s)
GRA13051 3-hour written examination accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 1305.
Examination support materials
BI approved exam calculator
Bilingual dictionary
Peter Berck og Knut Sydsæter. 1993. Economists' Mathematical Manual. 2nd ed. Berlin: Springer Verlag
Permitted examination support materials for written examinations are detailed under examination information in the student portal @bi. The section on support materials and the use of calculators and dictionaries should be paid special attention to.
Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught. The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code. Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes. All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee. Please note that you need to retake the latest version of the course with updated course literature and assessment. Please make sure that you have familiarised yourself with the latest course description.
Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.
Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.