APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

GRA 6031 Microeconomics

Responsible for the course
Erling Røed Larsen

Department
Department of Economics

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction


Learning outcome
The aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the economics of monopoly, oligopoly, and competition, in order to demonstrate how microeconomic theory can facilitate private and public decision making.

Prerequisites
Bachelor degree qualifying for admission to the MSc Programme

Compulsory reading
Books:
Pepall, Lynne, Dan Richards and George Norman. 2014. Industrial organization : contemporary theory and empirical application. 5th ed. Wiley

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
- Competition and efficiency
- Monopoly pricing and price discrimination
- Oligopoly
- Product differentiation
- Mergers and acquisition
- Vertical relations and contracts
- Competition policy and antitrust
- Advertising
- Auctions

Computer-based tools
It's learning/homepage

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.
Lectures over 42 hours.

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 the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
Term paper (pass/fail). Written individually or in groups of max. 3 students.
3 hours written exam (100%)

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

Examination code(s)
GRA 60312 term paper (pass/fail).
GRA 60313 three hour written exam accounts for 100% of the final grade in GRA 6031
Both evaluations must be passed in order to get a grade in the course.

Examination support materials
A bilingual dictionary and BI-approved exam calculator.
Examination support materials at written examiniations are explained under examination information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on support materials.

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.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Please note that students who only retake the exam need to be aware that the exam may be based on the termpaper given this semester. Students should therefore regard the termpaper as a part of the course literature, even if the students already have a passing grade in the termpaper.

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.