Applied Economics

Course: Applied Economics
Instructor: Stuart Dixon

Course Objective:
The aim of this course is to provide the student with an understanding of how to use economics as a means of analyzing the business environment of the firm. Immediately applying theories to case studies, students will be able to understand and explain why firms take certain actions and what the consequences of these actions are.

Course Description:
The business environment of the firm is a complex one. It is affected by economical, political, legal and cultural factors and as such, the study of management would not be complete without an understanding of economics. Economics provides the manager with a rigorous analytical tool that can reveal hidden truths behind many common observations. Why is it that mergers also benefit competitors not involved in the merger? Why do price wars indicate collusion? How can price transparency with the Internet increase the chance of higher prices? How can low quality/low price products cost more than their high quality/high price alternatives? Why do we see many brands when only a few firms dominate the market? All these questions and many more will be answered during the course.

There are four sessions in the course and students are required to read the case study for the session beforehand. For each session there is also a related chapter(s) to the textbook. Students are not required to read this for class but the textbook will be provided and is to be used as post-course reading to help students prepare for a written assignment and exam.

The sessions will cover the nature of competition, developing new products and new markets, eliminating the competition and getting the most of your product and customer through various pricing models.

There are various instructors used for each course; the ones named here may not be the same professors assigned to every start module.