MN430 Half Unit
Strategy for the Information Economy
This information is for the 2012/13 session.
Teacher responsible
Availability
MSc Management and Strategy, MSc Management and Regulation of Risk, MSc Risk and Finance, MSc Economics and Management, and MSc Management. Students are required to obtain permission from the teaching department to take this course.
Pre-requisites
Basic knowledge of economics.
Course content
The internet has created many new market opportunities. Web-based technology allows for new kinds of market interactions and products. Understanding the design and functioning of these new markets is central for business strategy and success. This course develops the relevant economic principles and applies them to the formulation of strategies for the provision of information goods and the design of online market platforms.
The first part of the course is concerned with strategic aspects of the provision of information goods (such as music, software, product reviews, search results). Topics include the pricing of information goods, versioning, rights management, network effects, lock-ins and the discussion of e-commerce institutions and business models. The second part of the course covers the use and design of online-market transaction mechanisms for business-to-consumer and business-to-business e-commerce. Topics include principles of market engineering, design of standard (online-)auction markets and multi-unit auction markets, reputation and collusion in online markets and matching markets. The course provides a theoretical background and relates theory to various examples and case-studies (such as the design of Google's ad-auctions and eBay's feedback mechanism).
Teaching
Ten hours of lectures and ten hours of seminars in LT. Two hours of lectures in ST. Formative coursework
Two exercise sets with a mixture of qualitative and quantitative questions. These will be marked and students will receive written feedback on them.
Indicative reading
Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian: Information Rules, HBS Press, 1999 (selected chapters): Nir Vulkan: The economics of e-commerce, Princeton University Press, 2003 (selected chapters); Ockenfels et al: Online auctions in Hendershott (Ed), Handbook in Information Systems, Vol. 1, 571- 628, Elsevier, 2006;
Kittsteiner and Ockenfels: Market Design: A selective review, ZfB Special Issue 5/2006, 121-143
Assessment
Two-hour written examination in the ST (100%). ^
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