Syllabus

The lecture consists of two blocks.

The first part of the lecture introduces structural models of firm behaviour. In particular, illustrations are provided for the translation of theoretical models into econometric specifications and the trade-offs involved in the process. The first block concludes with homework assignments involving simple estimation exercises with market data.

The second part of the lecture aims to broaden the students’ knowledge by introducing a wider range of topics and applications which tie to the simple exercises from the first block. Recent contributions to the literature are analysed  and students are encouraged to underline the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen models. These discussions take the form of student presentations.

The relevant literature and topics will be available online on Learn@WU and will be discussed during the first lecture.

In the first block students will learn to derive optimal behavior in the context of simple decision-making situations. This allows them to make use of the models introduced in their microeconomics courses and to apply the methods reviewed in the mathematics sessions from the first half-semester. Furthermore, they will have an understanding of the data necessary for the estimation of models pertaining to industrial and regulatory economics.

In the second block students will read recent emprical work. The chosen papers will focus on issues of importance from the perspective of economic policy such as the quantification of competitiveness, the analysis of entry behavior and the effects of concentration on pricing in chosen markets. The active discussion will help them to discern both the merit and the potential weaknesses of contemporary research in the field of microeconomics (while the focus will be on industrial and regulatory microeconomics, parallels will be drawn to complementary fields such as labor economics). This part of the lecture will shift the focus from the methods of microeconomics to the content of the field by introducing some of the current topics of contention.

Topics in Microeconomics is a course with continuous assessment (PI), therefore attendance is necessary. Two lectures can be missed without excuse, absence in further lectures has to be excused/ explained via email. 

The first block will consist mainly of presentations by the lecturer. Examples similar to the homework set will be solved and explained. Students will be encouraged to repeat the steps presented in class as part of an assignment.

The second block will require active student participation during the class, including presentations and discussions of recent research papers. 

Homework assignment (40%)

Presentations (45%)

Discussion (15%)