HIGH TECH MARKETS, INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH

1. Knowledge and understanding (Conoscenza e capacità di comprensione). The unit aims to provide knowledge of the main economic aspects related to Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) along with both their link to some Industrial Organisation (IO) issues and their implications for economic growth.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding (Capacità di applicare conoscenza e comprensione). The unit aims to develop skills in applying information, using appropriate methods, concepts and theories regarding the ITC, IO, and growth to the analysis of real-world cases.
3. Making judgments (Autonomia di giudizio). Successful students will be able to select a proper economic model in order to analyse both theoretical and real-world cases.
4. Communication skills (Abilità comunicative). Successful students will be familiar with both the terms and the narrative related to High Technology, Industrial Organisation and Growth. Furthermore, they will be able to communicate to a variety of audiences including experts, practitioners, and the general public.
5. Learning skills (Capacità di apprendimento). Successful students will be able to understand which theoretical concept is appropriate to deal with specific problems in the field of high technology, industrial organisation, and its link to growth.

In-class lectures and seminars.

Please be advised that the actual delivery of the unit might differ from what here stated as a consequence of eventual risk mitigating measures in response to the ongoing pandemic. Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

Basic background in microeconomics and game theory.

Recommended

Industrial Organisation of Hi-Tech Markets. The economics of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT): an introduction. ICT investments in Research and Development (R&D). Small firms grow online. ICT as general-purpose technologies. ICT and information goods. ICT as a product. Facebook: network effects in action. There’s an app for that: a mention to apps pricing issues and strategies. Google: the new Big Brother? ICT, the economic value of information, and related privacy issues.

Digital Markets. Market efficiency. Empirical evidence on digital markets efficiency. Price dispersion on digital markets. Versioning and building. Dynamic pricing.

Network Externalities. Network externalities and critical mass. The dynamics of technology adoption. Competition, compatibility and standardisation. Strategies towards standardisation. Switching costs and network externalities.

Access and Interconnection in Telecommunications. One-way access. Access pricing with imperfect downstream competition. Local loop unbundling. Access and investments: the ladder of investments theory. Two-way access and interconnection. Interconnection fee and collusion. Interconnection and calling rates. Interconnection and the “receving party pays” regime.

Cumulative Innovation in Dynamic Industries. Patents and other appropriability mechanism. Standing on the shoulders of giants. Patent thickets and anticommons. The issue of weak patents.

High-technology industry and growth. Innovation and Growth: The Schumpeterian Perspective. Cross-country comparative analysis.

• Comino, S., & Manenti, F. M. (2014). Industrial Organisation of High-technology Markets: The Internet and Information Technologies. Edward Elgar Publishing.

This unit will be assessed by means of two pieces of assessment: a written report and an oral exam. The former consists in a 3000-words report which examines real-world cases related to the content of the unit. During the oral exam, each student will have the opportunity to discuss her/his own report and will be invited to answer open-ended questions. The report and the oral exam will be weighted equally. The report will be assessed according to the following criteria: general presentation, grammar, vocabulary, text building, critical thinking, and the use of ICT resources. The oral exam will assess the relevance of the answers with respect to the question, its content, the ability to create proper links to additional topics, the ability to report examples, the use of proper technical language, and the overall communication skills.

Please be advised that the assessment might differ from what here stated as a consequence of eventual risk mitigating measures in response to the ongoing pandemic. Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it.

Market effciency and digital markets; ICT and investment strategy; Access pricing with different regimes; Innovation in IoT; IoT and growth.