Master of Science in European Economy
and Business Law

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The main goal of the course is to introduce the students to the main concepts of Public Choice, with both a theoretical and an empirical approach. The course deals with the theoretical problems related to the behavior of voters and politicians; additionally, it introduces the students to the empirical methodology applied to political economy problems. Particular attention is given to issues related to the electoral competition and bureaucracy.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The final goal is gain a comprehensive knowledge
of the political environment from a rational-choice perspective.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The final goal is to gain knowledge of
the analytical tools to study and understand the political environment and operate in the field of policy making.

MAKING JUDGEMENTS: At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the
theoretical and methodological tools to analyze and understand the political environment both in its structural characteristics and in its recent developments. She will also have gained familiarity with the tools necessary to design, implement and evaluate public policies.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Students must be able to use the tools learned during the course to interpret the political phenomena.

The ideal prerequisites are having completed a three-year program in economics, particularly with a focus on microeconomics. In particular, basic knowledge of microeconomics, game theory, and industrial organization is useful.

This is an indicative list of arguments that will be covered by the first part of the course. The division in weeks is also purely indicative, as the time dedicated to the various topics and both the order and timing with which we will discuss them may change depending on the interests of the class and the debate they will generate.
The first week will offer some introductory elements: a) Why do we need Regulation and Competition Policy? b) Market power and welfare; c) Market power and market definition. The focus will often be on the novel challenges created by digital markets.
The second week will have students participating to an experimental market game. The lectures will continue discussing Antitrust laws, but focusing mostly on cartel formation, facilitating factors and practices, and legal standards.
The third week will then introduce the main methods to detect and deter cartels, both in terms of private and public enforcement, including Leniency Programs.
It will also give an overview on optimal law-enforcement contrasting standard crime wit organized one. Cartels are the closest infringement in antitrust laws to more classic forms of (organized, economic) crime, like corruption, and will be the bridge between Antitrust laws and the wider set of topics included in the scholarly field known as "economics of crime".
Week four will continue covering asymmetry-enhancing enforcement tools like leniency, accomplice-witnesses and whistleblowers programs, data-based screens, and their design, pros and cons in the deterrence of organized cartels and other forms of multi-agent economic crime.
The fifth week will introduce the concept of dominance and will discuss theories of harm in antitrust with a particular focus on abuses.
It will cover topics on in vertical restraints and vertical mergers. In particular, the topics covered will include: a. Different types of vertical restraints; b. Intra-brand competition: double marginalisation and free-rider problem; c. Inter-brand competition; d. Exclusive dealing; e. Policy implications; f. Vertical mergers; it will discuss various recent antitrust cases.
The last week we will cover horizontal mergers, and novel topics in antitrust, linked labor markets, digital markets and possibly artificial intelligence.

The necessary material is uploaded on the website. The textbooks are:
1. Competition Policy: Theory and Practice, (2004), by Massimo Motta, CUP
2. Exclusionary Practices, (2018), by Calcagno, Fumagalli and Motta, CUP
Further readings will be made available on the website.

Additional materials, such as scholarly articles on particular topics, and lecture slides will be made available on the course page.

Lessons and practice in class

The exam consists of a one-and-a-half-hour written test composed of three questions. Each question may be divided into sub-questions. The final grade of the course (12 CFU) is determined by the average score across the three questions of this module and the three questions taken in the Political Economics module, conditional on having obtained at least 18 in at least two questions for each module. For each question, grades range from 0 to 34. In addition, students may choose to give presentations during the course. Presentations will be assigned a score ranging from 0 to +3, which will be added to the final grade. Presentations may only be given once (i.e., they cannot be repeated in subsequent academic years).
 
There is one summer exam session and one autumn exam session, plus two winter exam sessions (in this case, students may participate in only one of them; participation is considered effective from the moment the student views the exam paper). In addition, at the end of the module there is a midterm exam session, whose results are officially recorded in the summer exam session (provided that the student has also passed either the midterm or the summer exam of Political Economics). During the summer exam session, students may take both modules (Political Economics and Public Economics) or only one of them, in which case the grade obtained in the midterm exam (if positive) will be cancelled. It is not possible to retain a positive grade obtained in a single module for exam sessions after the summer session. After that session, the exam must be taken in its entirety, i.e., covering both modules simultaneously. Students may refuse the final grade only for the midterm sessions and for the summer session (by indicating this on Delphi). After that, grades obtained in all other sessions will be considered automatically accepted and will be officially recorded. Presentation scores are valid only for the summer exam session.
 
Criteria for the formulation of the evaluation on a scale of 30:
- Unsuitable: significant deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited capacity for analysis and synthesis, frequent generalizations.
- 18-20: barely sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible imperfections; sufficient capacity for analysis, synthesis and autonomy of judgement.
- 21-23: Routine knowledge and understanding of the topics; Correct analysis and synthesis skills with coherent logical argumentation.
- 24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; good capacity for analysis and synthesis with rigorously expressed arguments.
- 27-29: Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; Considerable ability to analyze, synthesize. Good autonomy of judgement.
- 30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and understanding of the topics. Remarkable analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an original manner.

Not compulsory, but strongly recommended. Active class participation is very much appreciated and rewarded at the exames.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The main goal of the course is to introduce the students to the main concepts of Public Choice, with both a theoretical and an empirical approach. The course deals with the theoretical problems related to the behavior of voters and politicians; additionally, it introduces the students to the empirical methodology applied to political economy problems. Particular attention is given to issues related to the electoral competition and bureaucracy.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The final goal is gain a comprehensive knowledge
of the political environment from a rational-choice perspective.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: The final goal is to gain knowledge of
the analytical tools to study and understand the political environment and operate in the field of policy making.

MAKING JUDGEMENTS: At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the
theoretical and methodological tools to analyze and understand the political environment both in its structural characteristics and in its recent developments. She will also have gained familiarity with the tools necessary to design, implement and evaluate public policies.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Students must be able to use the tools learned during the course to interpret the political phenomena.

The ideal prerequisites are having completed a three-year program in economics, particularly with a focus on microeconomics. In particular, basic knowledge of microeconomics, game theory, and industrial organization is useful.

This is an indicative list of arguments that will be covered by the first part of the course. The division in weeks is also purely indicative, as the time dedicated to the various topics and both the order and timing with which we will discuss them may change depending on the interests of the class and the debate they will generate.
The first week will offer some introductory elements: a) Why do we need Regulation and Competition Policy? b) Market power and welfare; c) Market power and market definition. The focus will often be on the novel challenges created by digital markets.
The second week will have students participating to an experimental market game. The lectures will continue discussing Antitrust laws, but focusing mostly on cartel formation, facilitating factors and practices, and legal standards.
The third week will then introduce the main methods to detect and deter cartels, both in terms of private and public enforcement, including Leniency Programs.
It will also give an overview on optimal law-enforcement contrasting standard crime wit organized one. Cartels are the closest infringement in antitrust laws to more classic forms of (organized, economic) crime, like corruption, and will be the bridge between Antitrust laws and the wider set of topics included in the scholarly field known as "economics of crime".
Week four will continue covering asymmetry-enhancing enforcement tools like leniency, accomplice-witnesses and whistleblowers programs, data-based screens, and their design, pros and cons in the deterrence of organized cartels and other forms of multi-agent economic crime.
The fifth week will introduce the concept of dominance and will discuss theories of harm in antitrust with a particular focus on abuses.
It will cover topics on in vertical restraints and vertical mergers. In particular, the topics covered will include: a. Different types of vertical restraints; b. Intra-brand competition: double marginalisation and free-rider problem; c. Inter-brand competition; d. Exclusive dealing; e. Policy implications; f. Vertical mergers; it will discuss various recent antitrust cases.
The last week we will cover horizontal mergers, and novel topics in antitrust, linked labor markets, digital markets and possibly artificial intelligence.

The necessary material is uploaded on the website. The textbooks are:
1. Competition Policy: Theory and Practice, (2004), by Massimo Motta, CUP
2. Exclusionary Practices, (2018), by Calcagno, Fumagalli and Motta, CUP
Further readings will be made available on the website.

Additional materials, such as scholarly articles on particular topics, and lecture slides will be made available on the course page.

Lessons and practice in class.

The final exam is a 1,5-hour written test consisting of three questions. Within each question there might be a choice of "sub-questions". To pass the exam it is necessary to obtain a mark of 18 in at least 2 questions. The final mark for the course (12 CFU) is given by the average mark of the three questions, plus the three questions from the Political Economics module. In each question, the scale of marks goes from 0 to 34, so students can obtain a final mark of 30 even without answering perfectly all the questions.
In addition, students can volunteer to give presentations and have their mark added to the mark of the exam. Each presentation will be given a mark from 0 to +3, which is added to the mark of the first exam session after the course only, and rounded to the nearest integer to determine the final mark of the students. Withdrawals from scheduled presentations will be marked with -1.

Not compulsory, but strongly recommended. Active class participation is very much appreciated and rewarded at the exames.