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Regular version of the site
Master 2018/2019

Empirical Industrial Organization

Area of studies: Economics
When: 1 year, 4 module
Mode of studies: offline
Instructors: Sergey G. Kokovin
Master’s programme: Applied Economics and Mathematical Methods
Language: English
ECTS credits: 4
Contact hours: 44

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course appeals to the economic intuition rather than formal models. However, it requires from the students some knowledge in microeconomics. Knowledge of some basic calculus and basic optimization is also strongly appreciated, though not absolutely necessary.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The main purpose of the course is that students get the first idea of what imperfect markets are.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Students should acquire a deeper understanding of the process of market functioning, aims, objectives and the role of the government in market regulations.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Demand, welfare and demand estimation
    We discuss the two competing ways of modeling demand used in industrial organization: the representative-consumer model and the discrete choice model. Within the representative consumer model, we derive the linear demand system and cover the standard issues of linear demand estimation. To stress how it helps in policy evaluation, we pay special attention to the consumer surplus and welfare issues. Within the discrete-choice setting, we explain the basics of the multinomial logit model of consumer choice (Anderson et al., 1992) and show how to apply it for demand estimation using micro-level consumption data (Train, 2003).
  • Market structures
    We study the standard bundle of market structures, including pure monopoly, Cournot and Bertrand oligopoly,monopolistic competition. We discuss the concept of market power and the ways of its measurement. We also study the consequences of endogenous firm entry, and show how to estimate general-equilibrium models with entry (based on Berry et al., 1995). The role of business-stealing effect in creating a tendency to over-entry in equilibrium will be considered based on Mankiw and Whinston (1986). Finally, we show how to use conjectural variations to quantify strategic interactions and assess market power.
  • Product differentiation
    Here we plunge deeper into product differentiation issues. We use the Hotel-ling’s (1929) linear city model to explain the minimum differentiation principle. Furthermore, we show why a discontinuity in demand in theHotelling model is problematic and why the shape of transport costs matters (based on d’Aspremont et al, 1979). We proceed by showing how differentiated product oligopoly models are estimated using the discrete-choice toolkit (Goldberg, 1995). Finally, we discuss vertical product differentiation and its role in formation of natural monopolies and natural oligopolies (Gabs-zewicz and Thisse, 1979) and show an example of an empirical analysis of a vertically differentiated market (Smith and Brynjolfsson, 2001).
  • Price discrimination
    We discuss three types of price discrimination: personalized pricing, group pricing and menu pricing (Shapiro and Varian, 1999), and derive empirically testable implications of these types of behavior.
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Coursework
  • non-blocking Intermediate written exam
  • non-blocking Final written exam
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (4 module)
    0.2 * Coursework + 0.5 * Final written exam + 0.3 * Intermediate written exam
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Victor J. Tremblay, & Carol Horton Tremblay. (2012). New Perspectives on Industrial Organization. Springer. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4614-3241-8

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Berry, S., Levinsohn, J., & Pakes, A. (1995). Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium. Econometrica, (4), 841. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.ecm.emetrp.v63y1995i4p841.90
  • Smith, M. D., & Brynjolfsson, E. (2001). Consumer Decision-Making at an Internet Shopbot: Brand Still Matters. Journal of Industrial Economics, (4), 541. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.bla.jindec.v49y2001i4p541.58
  • Zhelobodko, E., Kokovin, S., Parenti, M., & Thisse, J.-F. (2012). Monopolistic competition: beyond the constant elasticity of substitution. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.9302983D