Prerequisites | Recommendations: Basics of microeconomics obtained within the undergraduate programme (B.Sc) of economics are required. |
Description | Network or infrastructure industries like telecommunication, transport, and utilities form the backbone of modern economies. The lecture provides an overview of the economic characteristics of network industries. The planning of networks is complicated by the multitude of aspects involved (like spatial differentiation and the like). The interactions of different companies - competition or cooperation or both - are characterized by complex interdependencies within the networks: network effects, economies of scale, effects of vertical integration, switching costs, standardization, compatibility etc. appear increasingly in these sectors and even tend to appear in combination. Additionally, government interventions can often be observed, partly driven by the aims of competition policy and partly driven by the aims industrial policy. All these issues are brought up, analyzed formally (in part) and illustrated by several examples in the lecture. |
Bibliography | Will be announced in the lecture. |
Content of teaching | Anknüpfend an die Mikroökonomie im Grundstudium (VWL 1) wird zunächst das "partialökonomische Modell" dargestellt, welches der adäquate Analyserahmen für die Industrieökonomik und viele wirtschaftspolitische Anwendungen ist. Sodann wird der für die Netzwerkökonomie zentrale Begriff der Kostensubadditivität (bzw. natürliches Monopol) dargestellt und in seinen Implikationen diskutiert. Weitere Themen: vertikale Beziehungen in Netzsektoren, Verkehrsmodellierung, Preise in Stromnetzen und Prinzipien der Infrastrukturfinanzierung nach Ramsey und Shapley. |
Entryrequirements | Basics of microeconomics (VWL1) |
Workload | The total workload for this course is approximately 135.0 hours. For further information see German version. |
Aim | Bachelor The Students
Master The Students
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Exam description | Result of success is made by a 60 minutes written examination during the semester break (according to §4(2), 1 ERSC). |