| Unit name | Industrial Economics |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ECON30076 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Tran |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
OR OR |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Economics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Have you ever wondered why firms operate in the way that they do? How do they determine which prices to set? How do strategic firm decisions affect consumers and society?
Industrial Economics is the study of firms, industries, and markets and provides the opportunity to explore why firms make the decisions that they do, how those decisions affect consumers, and why sometimes regulators need to step in to protect competition in markets.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit will build on the microeconomics that you have learnt in your first two years of study, and will apply the microeconomic models to real-world situations.
Overview of content
This unit examines strategic interactions between firms and the determinants of industrial structure. The unit covers both theoretical as well as applied and empirical models in industrial economics.
The theoretical parts focus on the analysis of various aspects of oligopolistic industries, including collusion, foreclosure, and networks and how the firms' behaviour can be constrained by competition policy. Furthermore, students apply economic theory to case studies such as the battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
The applied parts cover issues in competition policy and its applications to different environments such as online markets. The unit will help students to interpret empirical evidence and to apply economic theory to practical policy questions.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of this unit?
Students will develop an understanding of the economics that underpin firms decisions. Students will further develop their analytic problem solving, as applied to real-world problems.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of large and small group classes, supported by online resources.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Mock take-home exam.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Assesses all learning outcomes.
When assessment does not go to plan:
Normally, there are no opportunities for reassessment in final-year units. Where students are taking this unit as a non final-year unit (such as an MSci), or where there are validated exceptional circumstances:
If students fail the unit such that credit points cannot be awarded at the first attempt, they will be given a reassessment to replace the failed element(s).
Assesses all learning outcomes
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ECON30076).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
