ECON 7237 - Industrial Organisation PG

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2016

This course in applied microeconomics is concerned with the behaviour and performance of firms in markets, with a focus on strategic interactions. It goes beyond the perfectly competitive model by considering the nature of firms? market power and how it affects their behaviour and subsequently consumers? welfare and policy-makers. Topics covered may include theories of monopoly, price discrimination, oligopoly, auctions, vertical and horizontal integration, economies of scale and scope, advertising, and regulation. Case studies related to these topics will be presented and discussed in the weekly seminars.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code ECON 7237
    Course Industrial Organisation PG
    Coordinating Unit Economics
    Term Semester 2
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Assumed Knowledge ECON 7011
    Assessment Typically a project, assignments, mid-semester test & final exam
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Paul Pezanis-Christou

    Associate-Professor Paul Pezanis-Christou

    Office location: Nexus 10, Level 4, Room 4.09
    Telephone: 8313 4928
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
    1 Evaluate how competition among firms affects economic welfare
    2 Analyse models of monopoly, oligopoly and competitive markets
    3 Evaluate how market structure affect firm behaviour and vice versa
    4 Identify complex antitrust and regulatory policy issues
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    1-4
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    1-4
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    1-4
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    1-4
    Intercultural and ethical competency
    • adept at operating in other cultures
    • comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts
    • able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes
    • demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges
    1-4
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    1-4
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Industrial Organisation: A Strategic Approach, by J. Church and R. Ware, McGraw-Hill, 2000. Freely available at: http://homepages.ucalgary.ca/~jrchurch/page4/page5/page5.html
    Recommended Resources
    Introduction to Industrial Organization, L. Cabral, MIT Press, 2000.

    Modern Industrial Organization, by D. Carlton and J. Perloff, Pearson Addison Wesley, 4th Edition, 2005.

    Industrial Organisation: A Strategic Approach, by J. Church and R. Ware, McGraw-Hill, 2000. Freely available at: http://homepages.ucalgary.ca/~jrchurch/page4/page5/page5.html
    Online Learning
    Lecture notes, recordings and assignments will be posted on MyUni.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    LECTURES: The purpose of the lectures is to provide a logical structure for the topics that make up the course, to emphasize the important concepts and methods of each topic, and to provide relevant examples to which the concepts and methods are applied.

    WORKSHOPS: The purpose of the workshops is to apply the concepts presented in the lectures to the analysis of real world cases.      

    TUTORIALS: The purpose of the tutorial meetings is primarily to provide an opportunity for small group discussion of the economic concepts and methods, and to use those concepts and methods to understand applied problems (the exercises) which are assigned every week.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    Students of this course are expected to:
    • study the lecture material posted online
    • do weekly tutorial exercises
    • study the real world case studies to be covered in the workshops  
    • commit approximately 8 hours per week to private study, that is, outside regular classes.
    Learning Activities Summary
    A tentative list of topics to be covered in the course is as follows:

    TOPICS
    Week 1 Introduction and review of main concepts
    Week 2 Monopoly: Sources of Market Power
    Week 3 Monopoly: Non-Linear Pricing and Price Discrimination
    Week 4 Static Models of Oligopoly
    Week 5 Dynamic Models of Oligopoly
    Week 6 Product Differentiation
    Week 7 Entry Deterrence
    Week 8 Mid-Term exam
    Week 9 Antitrust Economics: Predatory Pricing
    Week 10 Antitrust Economics: Vertical Integration and Vertical Restraints
    Week 11 Antitrust Economics: Horizontal Concentration
    Week 12 Regulatory Economics: Optimal Pricing for Natural Monopoly
    Specific Course Requirements
    This course is closely associated with an undergraduate course “ECON 3516 Industrial Organisation”. The lecture material will be the same as for ECON 3516 but tutorial and workshop meetings will be run separately for students enrolled in ECON 7237.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Mid-Term Examination: Weight: 30%, Learning objectives assessed: 1 to 4
    This exam will be held during lecture time. It will assess the topics covered in Weeks 1 to 6 and will consist of exercises to be solved and/or discussion questions to be answered.

    Workshop & Tutorial Assignments: Weight: 20%, Learning objectives assessed: 1 to 4
    Every week, there will be an assignment of discussion questions (for the workshops) and/or exercises (for the tutorials). Students are requested to attempt to do the assignments and to have their answers and solutions written on a separate sheet to be handed in at precise dates and time (to be determined at the start of the semester). See the Assessment Detail section below for the grading of assignments and the determination of the tutorial grade.

    Final Examination: Weight: 50%, Learning objectives assessed: 1 to 4
    This exam will be held in the University examination period and will be three hours long. It will be on materials from the entire course though approximately 70% of the questions will be from post-midterm topics.
    Assessment Related Requirements
    In order to pass this course, students must achieve:
    · a composite mark of at least 50 out of 100,
    · at least 45 out 100 in the final exam. 
    Assessment Detail
    Mid-Term Examination: Failure to sit the mid-term examination will result in receiving zero points, whether a medical certificate is provided or not. The grade of the final exam will then account for 80% of the overall grade.

    Workshops and Tutorials: Every week, the lecturer will randomly select one of the assigned exercises or questions to be graded. The grade will be 0, 1, 3 or 5, depending on the quality of the answer provided. Particular attention will be given to the work out of the exercise’s solutions or of the answer provided. The solutions’ work out will be ‘documented’ if it shows the details of the calculations performed (if any) and the reasoning used to reach the reported answers or solutions.

    The grading rule to be used is: 0: no attempt to do the selected exercise, 1: a majority of incorrect or undocumented answers, 3: a majority of correct and documented answers, 5: all answers are documented and correct.

    Attendance to the tutorial meetings is compulsory. If, owing to exceptional circumstances, you are unable to attend your usual tutorial, you may try to attend another tutorial in the same week. Occasional absence will be tolerated only once during the semester. If you are unable to attend a tutorial for medical reasons, you should provide a medical certificate. If the medical certificate covers a period longer than a week, you will need to organise some other arrangements with the lecturer. The same applies if you provide more than two medical certificates during the semester. Collaboration on assignments is allowed and encouraged, but final solutions must be written independently. Each student should participate fully in solving each problem and understand the answer.
    The grade for the tutorial is determined by the average of the eight best grades obtained for the assignments.

    Final Examination: This exam will be held in the University examination period and will be two hours long. It will be on materials from the entire course though approximately 70% of the questions will be from post-midterm topics.
    Submission
    No late assignments will be accepted. Failure to hand in an assignment will result in a zero mark. Assignments must be handed in at the Professions Student Hub, located at Nexus 10 (corner of Pulteney St. And North Terrace).

    No assignment will be collected by your lecturer.

    Each assignment should include a signed copy of the University’s cover sheet.

    Assignments will be handed back at tutorials meetings. The last assignment will be available for collection at the hub only.

    There will be no alternative assessment opportunities.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

    Additional Assessment
    If a student receives 45-49 for their final mark for the course they will automatically be granted an additional assessment. This will most likely be in the form of a new exam (Additional Assessment) and will have the same weight as the original exam unless an alternative requirement (for example a hurdle requirement) is stated in this semester’s Course Outline. If, after replacing the original exam mark with the new exam mark, it is calculated that the student has passed the course, they will receive 50 Pass as their final result for the course (no higher) but if the calculation totals less than 50, their grade will be Fail and the higher of the original mark or the mark following the Additional Assessment will be recorded as the final result.
  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

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