316-210 Competition and Strategy

Credit Points

Coordinator

Prerequisites

316-202 Intermediate Microeconomics

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

The subject introduces students to the rapidly growing literature in economics and business on strategic interaction with an emphasis on applications to business and public policy. It will provide students with the basic tools to be able to read the literature on real world situations. Topics covered include; game theory; decision making under uncertainty, the prisoners' dilemma, dynamic strategy and strategic positioning, credible commitments and deterring competitors, cooperation and coordination, brinkmanship and industry shakeouts, strategic negotiation, horizontal and vertical integration, tacit collusion, sustaining collusion and collusive devices, uncertainty and reputation as a competitive advantage. The subject will emphasise applications.

Assessment

A 2-hour end-of-semester examination (60%) and four assignments of up to 1000 words, each worth 10%. The assignments will involve firm case studies and strategic analysis of actual competitive situations.