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 : School of Economics : Economics

Undergraduate Course: Economics of Organisations (ECNM10101)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Economics CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis 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.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Economics 2 (ECNM08006)
Students MUST have passed: Essentials of Econometrics (ECNM10052)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting 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:
  1. An understanding of the development of the theories studied and an evaluation of competing theories.
  2. Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
  3. Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
  4. Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
  5. Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Keywordsorganisations,behavior,firms,production
Contacts
Course organiserDr Diego Battiston
Tel:
Email: Diego.Battiston@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Becky Guthrie
Tel:
Email: becky.guthrie@ed.ac.uk
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