Undergraduate Course: Economics of Organisations (ECNM10101)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course studies the behaviour of firms and organisations regarding two important dimensions that determine how they make decisions and organise their production. First, it analyses how firms interact with each other in markets or industries that are non-perfectly competitive. Second, it looks at the internal organisation of the firm and the interactions among workers within it (e.g. the role of incentives, the effect of managers or the importance of social interactions between co-workers). |
| Course description |
The course combines theoretical models, that allow us to explain and predict the behaviour of decision makers, with empirical applications from the literature that demonstrate the existence and relevance of these theoretical mechanisms in practice.
The first part of the course starts by discussing the theory behind the pricing and production decisions of firms that have some type of market power (e.g. monopoly and price differentiation strategies, oligopoly, product differentiation, collusion and cartels). This is followed by a discussion of welfare considerations and practical issues on measuring market power and regulation of non-competitive markets. Finally, this part studies some problems inherent to upstream-downstream markets such as vertical integration and double marginalisation.
The second part of the course starts by reviewing some agency problems within organisation which explain many trade-offs that workers and managers face. This second part has a stronger empirical component and focuses on some topics that include: managers and management practices, communication, social interactions/peer effects within firms, intrinsic motivation, multitasking and rent sharing.
The course is taught through a series of lectures, problem sets and readings of empirical papers. The examination includes group work and presentations.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have an equivalent of at least 4 semester-long Economics courses at grade B or above for entry to this course. This MUST INCLUDE courses in Intermediate Macroeconomics (with calculus); Intermediate Microeconomics (with calculus); Probability and Statistics; and Introductory Econometrics |
| 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 6,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessed Exercises: 15%
Presentation: 15%
Degree Exam: 70%
Final mark for visiting students as above.
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- An understanding of the development of the theories studied and an evaluation of competing theories.
- Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
- Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
- Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
- Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | organisations,behavior,firms,production |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Diego Battiston
Tel:
Email: Diego.Battiston@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Becky Guthrie
Tel:
Email: becky.guthrie@ed.ac.uk |
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