MBM2225 - The Economics of Markets and Industries

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1 explain the process of resource allocation in a market economy and apply economic analysis to a systematic understanding of that process;
2 explain the nature of business costs and revenue and use economic principles to critically analyse their structure and behaviour under different market conditions;
3 explain the nature and functioning of market structures and critically analyse business behaviour under different market structures;
4 evaluate alternative models of business decision making and assess their explanatory value.

Content:

(1) Resource allocation and market processes; price determination; static and dynamic models of market behaviour; the analysis of product and factor markets.

(2) The theory of business costs in the short run and the long run; costs and organisational form and structure; the relationship between demand, price and business revenue; profit as an economic concept.

(3) Theories of the firm; different market structures and the competitive process; imperfect competition and the impact of uncertainty and imperfect information; price and output outcomes under different market structures.

(4) Alternative theories of the firm and business decision making; the boundaries of the firm and transactions cost analysis; issues related to the agent –principal problem, imperfect information, and non-maximising models of business behaviour.

Learning and Teaching Information:

The module will be delivered by a combination or lectures and seminars with active participation of and presentations by both the module coordinator and the students. The students will be encouraged to debate and discuss the issues under consideration.

Lectures
Contact hours:10
Number of Groups: one

Seminars
Contact hours: 10
Number of Groups: one

Assessment: