Undergraduate Course: Business Economics (BUST08005)
Course Outline
School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | This course gives students an understanding of economic principles which enable managers to make optimal decisions and also makes students aware of some government policies which affect the decisions managers can make. The course encourages students to develop a critical and evaluative approach to the principles they are taught. |
Course description |
The course is divided into topics. Firstly we consider the objectives of owners and managers. Secondly we consider demand and forecasting followed by cost theory and measurement. Then we put these two topics together and consider pricing policy with a particular interest in the interactions between firms. Next we consider pricing and other behaviour which is constrained by government competition policy. We then turn to another managerial policy: advertising decisions and then consider a very common problem: markets where the buyer or seller has different information compared with the other. Finally we look at the implications of being part of a network (e.g. a mobile telephone network).
Syllabus
1. Demand Analysis and Estimation
2. Productivity and Efficiency Analysis
3. Market Structure, Conduct and Performance
4. Pricing with Market Power
5. Introduction to Game Theory
6. Oligopoly
7. Asymmetric Information
8. Network Economies
Student Learning Experience
The lectures will outline the economic principles with case examples. The tutorials will give students the opportunity to apply the principles to particular cases. The coursework essay will give students the opportunity either to apply economic principles to a particular case or to businesses in general.
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Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have at least 1 introductory level Business Studies course at grade B or above for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
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Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
166 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework 100 %
1. Coursework (50%): One individual essay of 2000 words (+/- 10%) (focusing on mini case-studies about demand, pricing and productivity analyses).
2. Coursework (50%): One individual essay of 2000 words (+/- 10%) (focusing on mini case-studies about network effects and/or asymmetric information plus a problem set about game theory and/or profit maximization). |
Feedback |
Each student will receive feedback in the following ways:
1. Individual feedback on your essay in the form of the marker's essay report sheet posted on Learn along with your essay mark and annotated comments on your text.
2. Generic feedback on the common strengths and weaknesses of the essays as a whole.
3. Answers to questions asked in class.
4. Feedback on common strengths and weaknesses of essay answers.
5. Ad hoc meetings with the lecturer as requested.
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No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Apply economic concepts for the quantitative analysis of demand, pricing, productivity or efficiency as well as the qualitative understanding of market structure and its implications on firm performance.
- Formalize and solve decision-making problems related to profit or value maximization in competitive contexts, as well as achieve a qualitative understanding of how network effects and asymmetric information affect market outcomes and business decision-making.
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Reading List
Recommended to buy: M R Baye Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, McGraw Hill, 7th ed., 2010.
Additional reading: H. Davies & P. L. Lam Managerial Economics, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 2001.
I Png & D Lehman, Managerial Economics, 3rd ed., Blackwell, 2007, would be useful.
Other suggested reading:
W D Reekie & J N Crook, Managerial Economics, 4th ed., Prentice Hall, 1994.
D Besanko, D Dranove, S Schaefer and M Shanley, Economics of Strategy, John Wiley and Sons, 6th ed., 2013.
T. Jones Business Economics and Managerial Decision Making, John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
J Buckley, C Smith & J Zimmerman, Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture, McGraw-Hill, 5th International Edition, 2009
P G Keat & P Young Managerial Economics, Pearson, 2009.
M Moschandreas, Business Economics, Business Press, 2000.
G.A. Petrochilos Managerial Economics, Palgrave, 2004
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Cognitive Skills
1. Be able to demonstrate that (s)he can work in a tutorial group to use economic principles to recommend decision to managers.
2. Be able to demonstrate the application of relevant economic principles to certain decisions faced by mangers.
3. Be able to demonstrate the ability to evaluate certain opposing economics ideas, approaches, methods and theories.
4. Be able to demonstrate that (s)he can evaluate certain decisions that managers make in the light of economic principles and models
Key Skills
1. Be able to demonstrate an ability to use a small number of numerical problem solving techniques to solve certain specific problems which managers face as taught in lectures and practised in tutorials.
2. Be able to demonstrate an ability to assemble literature to synthesise and evaluate economic thinking or to discover some primary information about organisations so as to apply economic ideas to decisions they make.
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Additional Class Delivery Information |
1 hour tutorial per week for 8 weeks. Tutorials are held in Weeks 3-5, 7-11. Each week's tutorial exercises are uploaded in the Tutorials folder on the course Learn site.
For the academic year starting in September 2021, we currently plan to deliver a mix of in-person and digital teaching. Our teaching model will depend on the Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time but we are planning on the basis that all students will be with us in Edinburgh. |
Keywords | Business Economics |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr Augusto Voltes-Dorta
Tel: (0131 6)51 5546
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Emily Davis
Tel: (0131 6)51 7112
Email: |
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