Economics of the Internet

llsms2374  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Economics of the Internet
Note du 29 juin 2020
Sans connaitre encore le temps que dureront les mesures de distances sociales liées à la pandémie de Covid-19, et quels que soient les changements qui ont dû être opérés dans l’évaluation de la session de juin 2020 par rapport à ce que prévoit la présente fiche descriptive, de nouvelles modalités d’évaluation des unités d’enseignement peuvent encore être adoptées par l’enseignant ; des précisions sur ces modalités ont été -ou seront-communiquées par les enseignant·es aux étudiant·es dans les plus brefs délais.
5 crédits
30.0 h
Q2
Enseignants
Belleflamme Paul;
Langue
d'enseignement
Anglais
Préalables


A course in Industrial Organization or in Advanced Microeconomics
In addition, this course is reserved for students with a bachelor's degree in business engineering or students with equivalent quantitative method skills
Thèmes abordés
This course aims at providing a thorough and rigorous analysis of the impacts that the Internet has on the structure of existing markets, the creation of new markets, and the strategies that economic agents (firms, consumers and regulators) deploy on these markets. The tools of the theory of industrial organization are used to understand a wide array of online market phenomena, including multi-sided platforms, impacts of 'big data' (targeted advertising and pricing, recommendation systems, and privacy), and online business models. The course makes use of case studies to make parallels between theory and reality.
Acquis
d'apprentissage

A la fin de cette unité d’enseignement, l’étudiant est capable de :

1 At the end of the course, students should be able to :
  • master an array of concepts from the theory of industrial organization, so as
  • understand how the Internet affects the working of markets,
  • as well as the strategies implemented by firms, consumers and regulators on these markets, and
  • to apply these theoretical concepts to the analysis of real-life situations.
 

La contribution de cette UE au développement et à la maîtrise des compétences et acquis du (des) programme(s) est accessible à la fin de cette fiche, dans la partie « Programmes/formations proposant cette unité d’enseignement (UE) ».
Contenu
Ce cours est enseigné uniquement en anglais.
The course aims at providing a thorough and rigorous analysis of the impacts that the Internet has on the structure of existing markets, on the creation of new markets, and on the strategies that economic agents (firms, consumers and regulators) deploy on these various markets. The tools of the theory of industrial organization are used to understand a wide array of online market phenomena, including multi-sided platforms, impacts of ‘big data’ (targeted advertising and pricing, recommendation systems, privacy), net neutrality and online business models. The course makes use of case studies to make parallels between theory and reality.
Méthodes d'enseignement
The theoretical material is presented during the lectures. Students are asked to work in groups and individually in order to apply the theoretical framework to specific case studies and/or to topical issues.
In-class activities
  • Lectures
  • Group discussions and work
  • Testimonies by external experts 
At home activities
  • Readings to prepare the lectures
  • Assignments
Modes d'évaluation
des acquis des étudiants
The final grade in this course is based on grades in individual coursework (45%), group coursework (25%) and final exam (30%).
  • Individual coursework. The individual coursework consists of written answers to quiz questions about the cases discussed in class. Each quiz will consist of a single question, asking for a justified opinion. Your response to each quiz should be 300-500 words long. All quizzes are required to be completed, and the mark will consist of quiz answers relating to three cases, to be selected at random at the end of the course. Please bear in mind that – in addition to being marked – the quizzes have the purpose to prepare you for the class discussion.
  • Group coursework. The task is to pick an existing product or service and to describe how the chosen product/service could be turned into a platform. The deliverables will be detailed at the start of the course.
  • Final exam. The final exam is a 1-hour, close-book, written exam covering the entirety of the course. The focus is on economic intuition and interpretation of cases, and not on mathematical reasoning. The exam will be organized in the two regular exam sessions (June and August).
  • Important note. The marks for the individual coursework are set once and for all (this part of the assessment cannot be retaken). However, students have the possibility to retake the final exam in August and, if the mark of the group coursework is below 10/20, to replace it with an individual coursework (to be handed in August).
Ressources
en ligne
See the Moodle web site of the course.
Bibliographie
References: Provided during the class
Lecture notes and Slides provided through Moodle
Faculté ou entité
en charge
CLSM


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Intitulé du programme
Sigle
Crédits
Prérequis
Acquis
d'apprentissage
Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion