APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

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
A bachelor degree qualifying for entry to the MSc Programme, GRA 6031 Microeconomics (may be taken in the same term).

Compulsory reading
Books:
Pepall, Lynne, Dan Richards and George Norman. 2008. Industrial organization : contemporary theory and empirical application. 4th ed. Blackwell Publ. Utvalgte kapitler

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
It's learning

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
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
Compulsory assignment during the course (pass/fail). Three hours written exam.

To get a final grade in the course, students need to complete and achieve a passing grade in all parts of the evaluation.

In this course class attendance is mandatory. Absences can result in a lower score. Specific Information regarding student evaluation 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 elements of the overall evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA13051 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 1305.

Examination support materials
Berck, Peter og Knut Sydsæter. 1993. Economists' Mathematical Manual. 2nd ed. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
BI approved exam calcualtor. A bilingual dictionary.

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.

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.