Course description
Rapid development in the fields of privatisation and regulation in the UK and throughout the world has led to an increasing need for specialists in the economics and law of regulation and competition policy.
The Department of Economics offers an MSc in Economic Regulation and Competition designed specifically to provide specialised training in the concepts and skills involved in the regulatory process and competition policy, as well as giving a grounding in the legal background and the technical side of financial analysis employed in the field.
To achieve this aim the teaching side of the programme involves the use of both academic and practitioner experts; while the seminar series involves talks by eminent figures in the fields of regulation and competition as guest speakers.
Although primary consideration is given to the unique UK framework of regulation, the programme also compares international approaches.
Modules: MSc Economic Regulation&Competition
Students complete seven compulsory core modules. Students also take part in a dissertation workshop and produce a dissertation over the summer period.
Academic Period 1
ECM101 Economics for Regulation
ECM103 Economics for Competition
ECM104 Competition Law
Academic Period 2
ECM105 Applied Competition Policy
ECM106 Quantitative Techniques for Regulation & Competition
ECM107 Sectoral Regulation and Competition
ECM018 Economics Research Project
Core Elective Modules
ECM003 Quantitative Methods
ECM108 Econometrics
ECM003 Quantitative Methods
This course provides and introduction to quantitative techniques that are currently employed by competition and regulatory agencies around the world to aid the conduct of competition and regulatory agencies around the world to aid the conduct of competition policy and regulation.
ECM018 Economics Research Project
Gives the students experience and skills of addressing a particular research question relevant to their field of study in economics.
ECM101 Economics for Regulation (20 credits)
The aim of this module is to:
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provide an analysis of the theories and techniques of industrial economics relevant to the economic analysis of problems in regulation.
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provide a knowledge of and an insight into the implications of an industrial microeconomic approach to regulation.
ECM103 Economics for Competition (20 Credits)
The aim of this module is to
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provide an analysis of the theories and techniques of industrial economics relevant to the economic analysis of problems in competition.
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provide a knowledge of and an insight into the implications of an industrial microeconomic approach to competition.
ECM104 Competition Law (20 credits)
This module aims to provide the student with a solid grasp of the legal framework of competition policy in the UK and the EC, both generally and within regulated sectors of the economy. The intent of the module is not to produce (yet more) lawyers, but rather to develop a professional recognition of situations which involve essential competitive parameters; a basic understanding of the regulatory process, and a good grasp of basic legal and policy orientations of competition law and policy in the UK and EC.
The main aims of this module are to:
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provide the student with a solid grasp of the legal framework in the UK and the EC, both generally and within the regulated sectors of the economy.
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enable the student to identify situations that involve essential competitive parameters.
ECM105 Applied Competition Policy (20 credits)
The objective of this module is to give a thorough understanding of the key economic aspects of competition policy.
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Provide students with a grounding in economic principles for the conduct of competition policy
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Help students improve their understanding in the issues faced by competition authorities and to enable them to evaluate competition policy cases
ECM106 Quantitative Techniques for Regulation and Competition (20 credits)
This course provides an introduction to quantitative techniques that are currently employed by competition and regulatory agencies around the world to aid the conduct of competition policy and regulation.
The main aim is to make you comfortable with the use of quantitative techniques in regulation and competition policy issues. This involves three elements:
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practice in using techniques,
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understanding the limitations of the techniques,
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practice in applying results of techniques to regulatory situations.
By the end of the module, you should also be able critically to evaluate quantitative work carried out by others.
ECM107 Sectoral Regulation and Regulation (20 credits)
The main objective is to enable module participants to apply an understanding of competition and regulatory economics to the problems that they will face as professionals working for competition authorities, regulatory agencies, regulated companies, government departments, consultancies, etc.
The aim of this module is to provide:
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a good understanding of the practical application of regulatory economics to industries such as energy, telecommunications, health, finance and environment.
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a good understanding of the principles of regulatory governance and their application both in the UK and other OECD countries as well as in developing economies
ECM108 Econometrics (20 Credits)
The module is desinged to provide the students with an advanced level of applied econometrics and economet theory.
