Module Directory

This policy-oriented module probes the role and limits of government interventions in the microeconomic management of developed economies.

In so doing, the analysis emphasises the examination of the most common market failures and evaluation of options available for government to address them, and the factors that determine the choice and design of economic and regulatory policies to address these market failures given governments' political objectives.

The aims of this module are:

• To provide students with an analytical grasp of public policy at the microeconomic level, with a focus on: competition policy; urban planning and policy, and health care provision.


• To enable students to be able to analyse the behaviour of monopoly firms and to assess the difficulties faced by a regulator in controlling these behaviours.


• To equip students with a critical appreciation of why governments can play pivotal role in urban planning and the health care sector.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the main types of market failure and the key reasons for government intervention to address these failures.


2. Demonstrate knowledge of the basis of: competition policy; urban policy; health care policy.


3. Demonstrate knowledge and critically evaluate the current debates in each of the areas of study.

The module will explore the emergence of government failures and the reasons why the interactions between economics and politics impose constraints on the design of public policies, thereby enabling students to appreciate the associated policy issues and trade-offs.

More specifically, the module focuses on three aspects of the economy. First, the module examines competition policy by analysing monopoly industries: the sources, creation and exercise of monopoly power and the associated practice of monopoly regulation in the context of the general principles noted above.

Second, the module probes the challenges and opportunities that arise in urban economies. Cities are the locus of global economic dynamism. Dense urban spaces offer external economies that find expression as: improving the access of firms to markets and their prospects for innovation, and benefits for workers, by increasing both their productivity and their leisure opportunities. However, density also creates external diseconomies taking the form of greater congestion, higher housing costs, and elevated risk of disease exposure. The module formulates and evaluates key policy issues in this context, based around the monocentric city model.

Finally, the module identifies a broad range of concepts, theories, and topics related to the economics of health and health care. It enables students to build on the insights of microeconomic theory and to gain an appreciate of how governments balance efficiency and equity concerns in setting health policy.

Syllabus

• Introductory Concepts in the Regulation of Markets.


• The Regulation of Market Structure and Conduct.


• Mergers with Homogeneous Products, A Primer. Research Handbook on Global Merger Control, forthcoming.


• Innovation.


• Introduction to Urban Economic Policy – Key Economics Concepts for Urban Areas.


• Amenities and Agglomeration – Sprawl and Market Failures in Cities.


• Private and Public Policy Responses – Tiebout, Trams, and more.


• Socioeconomic disparities in health.


• Equity and efficiency concerns in health policy.


• Different models of health policy.


• Student Presentations and Review.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 1-hour lecture per week.

Lectures are intended to be face-to-face but can easily be extended to dual delivery or purely online. The lectures will be designed to be inclusive to all, including those with additional learning needs.