Economics Of Competition Policy

    Course Code: 
    4149
    Semester: 
    7th
    Specialization Courses
    B. International and European Political Economy
    Professor: 

    MILLIOU CHRYSOVALANTOU VASILIKI

    Type of course: Compulsory for the specialization “International and European Political Economy”

    Number of credits allocated: 6 ECTS Credits

    Objective of the course (expected learning outcomes and competences to be acquired)

    The aim of the course is the economic analysis and the understanding of a series of practises that firms undertake in markets in which they have market power. We will also study the treatment of these business practises by the Competition Policy of the EU. More specifically, we will analyze the incentives, the consequences, and the treatment by the competition policy authorities of the following practices: mergers and acquisitions, cartels, abuse of dominant position.  We will also study the regulation of markets. Besides the theoretical analysis, we will see a series of real world cases in Greece and in the EU.

    After the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

    • Understand the basic economic rationale and methodology of Competition Policy.
    • Use tools of microeconomics in order to analyze the incentives and the consequences of cartels, mergers and acquisition and of abuse of dominance practices.
    • Argue about practices that restrict market competition and the need of market intervention
    • Understand and interpret the decisions of the competition policy authorities.

    Prerequisites: There are no formal requirements, but a good knowledge of microeconomics would be useful.

    Course contents

    1. Introduction to Competition Policy

    2. Methodology (Types of Markets, Market Features)

    3. Collusion: Incentives, Effects, Treatment and Applications

    4. Mergers and Acquisitions: Incentives, Effects, Treatment and Applications

    5. Abuse of Dominant Position

    6. Regulation of Network Industries

    Recommended reading

    • Belleflamme, P. και Peitz, (2016), Βιομηχανική Οργάνωση, Εκδόσεις Σοφία.
    • Βέττας, Ν. και I. Κατσουλάκος  (2004), Πολιτική Ανταγωνισμού και Ρυθμιστική Πολιτική, Τυπωθήτω.

    TEACHING METHOD: Lectures

    Assessment methods:

    Final written exam (100%) or final written exam (70%) and midterm exam (30%).

    Language of instruction: Greek