The purpose of this course is to give a comprehensive treatment of the theory of Industrial Organization, understood as the study of the market interactions between consumers and firms, as well as between firms. The main focus of the course is on the analysis of markets with imperfect competition, building on and complementing the analysis of perfectly competitive markets developed in Microeconomics courses.

On completion of the course, the students will be able to:
Knowledge and understanding
Skills and abilities
Judgement and approach

• Understand the working of specific models.
• Understand the links between different topics within the extant literature.

• Identifying the main threads in the Industrial Organization literature, in connection with the development and the positioning of the own research.
• Use and extend existing models to develop relevant testable implications.
• Sharpen the existing analytical tools and develop new models.

• Appreciate the limitations that may derive from specific, operational modelling assumptions.
• Evaluate the typical outcomes of the interactions that take place within different market structures, considering their welfare implications and their ethical aspects

The main topics covered are:

• Imperfect competition and market power.
• Product differentiation and advertising.
• Pricing strategies and market segmentation.
• Information and product quality.
• Competition policy.
• Market intermediation.

Lectures, workshops devoted to exercises on selected problems and student presentations.

The teaching is conducted in English.

The course is open to students who took courses in Microeconomics at the Doctoral level, for a total of at least 15 credit points.

The course is graded Fail (U) or Pass (G).

The students’ performance will be assessed through:

• The contribution to the solution of the problems tackled in the workshops, testing ILOs 1, 4 and 5.
• The presentation of relevant papers, testing ILOs 1, 2, 6 and 7.
• The writing of a paper, testing ILOs 3, 5, 6 and 7.

A course evaluation will be conducted at the end of the course.

Paul Belleflamme and Martin Peitz, Industrial Organization: Markets and Strategies. Cambridge University Press, Second Edition, 2015.
Jean Tirole, The Theory of Industrial Organization. MIT Press, 1988.

Research papers on specific topics, to be assigned during the lectures.