Basic knowledge in microeconomics, interest in strategic market and policy analysis,
some knowledge of game theory is helpful.
At the end of the course, the student should be able to:
– Understand and analyze the sources and strategic use of market power
– Understand how competition policy shapes the market environment and steers firm strategies
– Learn about and analyze important competition policy cases, such as European Commission vs. Google
In 2018, the European Commission fined Google €4.34 billion. What’s behind this fine? Google’s practices regarding Android mobile devices to strengthen dominance of Google’s search engine were deemed illegal.
In this course, we will approach the analysis of firm behavior through the lens of competition policy. Competition policy is the set of policies and laws which are in place to ensure that competition in the marketplace is not restricted in a such a way as to reduce economic welfare.
In the course, we will take a case-based approach: We will discuss important competition policy cases, such as EC. versus Google, EC. versus Intel or the Booking.com case, amongst others. Looking at these cases, we will analyze the strategic behavior of firms, regarding pricing, product, entry deterrence and other decisions, and how these affect the market.
