Business Management

The course is divided into the two parts indicated below. Part one: Regulatory economics 1. Introductory notions a. Regulatory goals b. Costs and benefits of regulation c. Regulation and competition d. The theory of natural monopoly 2. Theory of regulation a. The first best: marginal cost pricing b. Peak-load pricing, non-linear pricing, Ramsey pricing c. Incentive schemes (rate of return, price cap) d. Competition for the market 3. The regulation of network industries a. Cost measures: economic costs, accounting costs, incremental costs b. Vertical relationships: theory of essential facilities, access pricing, public service obligations, functional and corporate separation. Second part: Competition Policy 1. Introductory notions a. Competition policies: history, objectives and legislation b. Market power and social welfare c. Relevant market definition and the assessment of market power d. The concept of dominance: individual dominance and collective dominance 2. Restrictive agreements a. Horizontal agreements: collusion theory b. Vertical agreements 3. Abuse of dominant position a. Predatory pricing and other pricing abuses b. Foreclosure and leveraging c. Bundling and tying and other monopolization practices 4. Merger control

Good knowledge of Microeconomics and Industrial Organization would be beneficial.