THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Business Studies

Undergraduate Course: Business Economics (BUST08005)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course gives students an understanding of economic principles which enable managers to make optimal decisions and also makes students aware of some government policies which affect the decisions managers can make. The course encourages students to develop a critical and evaluative approach to the principles they are taught.
Course description The course is divided into topics. Firstly we consider the objectives of owners and managers. Secondly we consider demand and forecasting followed by cost theory and measurement. Then we put these two topics together and consider pricing policy with a particular interest in the interactions between firms. Next we consider pricing and other behaviour which is constrained by government competition policy. We then turn to another managerial policy: advertising decisions and then consider a very common problem: markets where the buyer or seller has different information compared with the other. Finally we look at the implications of being part of a network (e.g. a mobile telephone network).

Syllabus
1. Demand Analysis and Estimation
2. Productivity and Efficiency Analysis
3. Market Structure, Conduct and Performance
4. Pricing with Market Power
5. Introduction to Game Theory
6. Oligopoly
7. Asymmetric Information
8. Network Economies

Student Learning Experience
The lectures will outline the economic principles with case examples. The tutorials will give students the opportunity to apply the principles to particular cases. The coursework essay will give students the opportunity either to apply economic principles to a particular case or to businesses in general.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: ( Industrial Management 1 (BUST08002) AND Techniques of Management (MAEE08002)) OR Introduction to Business (BUST08026) OR Economics 1 (ECNM08013) OR ( Global Challenges for Business (BUST08035) AND The Business of Edinburgh (BUST08036)) OR ( Economic Applications (ECNM08003) AND Economic Principles (ECNM08004))
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students must have at least 1 introductory level Business Studies course at grade B or above for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 20, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 166 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework 100 %
1. Coursework (50%): One individual essay of 2000 words (+/- 10%) (focusing on mini case-studies about demand, pricing and productivity analyses).
2. Coursework (50%): One individual essay of 2000 words (+/- 10%) (focusing on mini case-studies about network effects and/or asymmetric information plus a problem set about game theory and/or profit maximization).
Feedback Each student will receive feedback in the following ways:
1. Individual feedback on your essay in the form of the marker's essay report sheet posted on Learn along with your essay mark and annotated comments on your text.
2. Generic feedback on the common strengths and weaknesses of the essays as a whole.
3. Answers to questions asked in class.
4. Feedback on common strengths and weaknesses of essay answers.
5. Ad hoc meetings with the lecturer as requested.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Apply economic concepts for the quantitative analysis of demand, pricing, productivity or efficiency as well as the qualitative understanding of market structure and its implications on firm performance.
  2. Formalize and solve decision-making problems related to profit or value maximization in competitive contexts, as well as achieve a qualitative understanding of how network effects and asymmetric information affect market outcomes and business decision-making.
Reading List
Recommended to buy: M R Baye Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, McGraw Hill, 7th ed., 2010.
Additional reading: H. Davies & P. L. Lam Managerial Economics, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 2001.
I Png & D Lehman, Managerial Economics, 3rd ed., Blackwell, 2007, would be useful.
Other suggested reading:
W D Reekie & J N Crook, Managerial Economics, 4th ed., Prentice Hall, 1994.
D Besanko, D Dranove, S Schaefer and M Shanley, Economics of Strategy, John Wiley and Sons, 6th ed., 2013.
T. Jones Business Economics and Managerial Decision Making, John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
J Buckley, C Smith & J Zimmerman, Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture, McGraw-Hill, 5th International Edition, 2009
P G Keat & P Young Managerial Economics, Pearson, 2009.
M Moschandreas, Business Economics, Business Press, 2000.
G.A. Petrochilos Managerial Economics, Palgrave, 2004

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Cognitive Skills
1. Be able to demonstrate that (s)he can work in a tutorial group to use economic principles to recommend decision to managers.
2. Be able to demonstrate the application of relevant economic principles to certain decisions faced by mangers.
3. Be able to demonstrate the ability to evaluate certain opposing economics ideas, approaches, methods and theories.
4. Be able to demonstrate that (s)he can evaluate certain decisions that managers make in the light of economic principles and models

Key Skills
1. Be able to demonstrate an ability to use a small number of numerical problem solving techniques to solve certain specific problems which managers face as taught in lectures and practised in tutorials.
2. Be able to demonstrate an ability to assemble literature to synthesise and evaluate economic thinking or to discover some primary information about organisations so as to apply economic ideas to decisions they make.
Additional Class Delivery Information 1 hour tutorial per week for 8 weeks. Tutorials are held in Weeks 3-5, 7-11. Each week's tutorial exercises are uploaded in the Tutorials folder on the course Learn site.

For the academic year starting in September 2021, we currently plan to deliver a mix of in-person and digital teaching. Our teaching model will depend on the Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time but we are planning on the basis that all students will be with us in Edinburgh.
KeywordsBusiness Economics
Contacts
Course organiserDr Augusto Voltes-Dorta
Tel: (0131 6)51 5546
Email: Augusto.Voltes-Dorta@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Mark Woodfine-Jones
Tel: (0131 6)50 3825
Email: mark.woodfine-jones@ed.ac.uk
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