Introduction to economics. Microeconomics: content and method of analysis. Mathematical tools for microeconomic analysis. Supply and demand. Individual and market demand. Elasticity. Consumer surplus. Production function, profit maximization and supply function in the short and long term. Cost functions (different types). Producer surplus. Perfect competition. Non-competitive markets: monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. Game theory and competitive strategies in oligopoly. Price discrimination in monopoly. Economic efficiency. Welfare economics. Market failures and government intervention: markets with asymmetric information , externalities and public goods. Elements of mathematical analysis. Investments in conditions of certainty and uncertainty. The net present value and capitalization operations. Public and private investments. Examples of investments : earth , water , environmental protection etc.
The course aims to provide students with the tools to analyze the factors affecting organization choices, identify and analyze the ways in which firms interact and evaluate the results this interaction process. In addition, special attention is paid to the role of factors such as incomplete information, transaction costs, mechanisms used by firms to shift the competitive pressure, as well as intervention in the economy to eliminate market failures. A further objective is the study of the differences between public and private investments; also investment decisions under uncertainty (applied to specific problems of environmental engineering) are studied.
Prerequisites
none
Teaching Methods
lectures and students' presentations
Type of Assessment
written exam and students presentations (if possible); mid term on standard topics of induastrial economics.
Course program
Elements of Political Economy:
introduction, make up classes in microeconomics, decision-making and organizational strategies of the (successful)firm, study of the market structure in which the firm operates, the role that consumers play in the firms' decision-making processes. Natural monopoly, regulation, price discrimination, oligopolistic competition, determinants of market concentration
Investment under uncertainty:
starting from the theory of investment under certainty, analysis of the main changes changes if the environment is uncertain, models à la Dixit
Innovation and Research and Development:
Innovation and R & D: the macroeconomic point of view, the point of view of the company, technology policy in the EU and in Italy