Aims

At the end of the class, students should be able to
- Understand the workings of markets
- Understand the way firms compete with each other on markets
- Understand how firms design their internal organization
- Apply these concepts to real-life firms

Main themes

Starting from the microeconomic foundations students acquired in the previous years of teaching, this module focuses on those elements of microeconomic theory (1) that serve as stepping stones for business and financial models developped in 3rd year courses, and (2) that lead to an understanding of the economic environment facing firms.

The main goal of this module is to introduce students to analysis of the firm, seen as an economic organization.

Content and teaching methods

Content
The following themes are addressed.
1. Market structures and short term (tactical) decisions
2. Pricing strategies with market power
3. Long-term (strategic) decisions
4. The boundaries of the firm
5. The internal organization of the firm

Methods
The teaching is done through lectures (during which the theoretical concepts are presented), tutorials (based on simple numerical problem sets, aiming at applying the theory) and individual readings (textbook, additional readins and case-studies).

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisite : introductory level in microeconomics
Evaluation : final exam (100% of the final mark)
Support : Cabral, L.M.B. (2000). Introduction to Industrial Organization, MIT Press.

Other credits in programs