HIGH TECH MARKETS, INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH

Academic Year 2024/2025 - Docente: GIANPIERO TORRISI

Risultati di apprendimento attesi

  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.

Course Structure

In-class lectures and seminars. 

Please note that the structure might change due to the ongoing pandemic.  

Required Prerequisites

None. 

Attendance of Lessons

Highly Recommended.  

Detailed Course Content

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.

Textbook Information

Recommended textbook

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

Further readings

  • Aghion, P., Akcigit, U. 2015. Innovation and growth: the Schumpeterian perspective. Paper presented at the COEURE Coordination Action Workshop, June, 23rd, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.
  • Benko, G. (2000). Technopoles, high-tech industries and regional development: A critical review. GeoJournal51(3), 157-167.
  • Jenkins, J. C., Leicht, K. T., & Jaynes, A. (2006). Do High Technology Policies Work? High Technology Industry Employment Growth in US Metropolitan Areas, 1988–1998. Social forces85(1), 267-296.
  • Keeble, D. E. (1989). High-technology industry and regional development in Britain: the case of the Cambridge phenomenon. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy7(2), 153-172.
  • Lucchese, M., Nascia, L., & Pianta, M. (2016). Industrial policy and technology in Italy. Economia e politica industriale43(3), 233-260.
  • Stam, E., De Jong, J. P., & Marlet, G. (2008). Creative industries in the Netherlands: Structure, development, innovativeness and effects on urban growth. Geografiska Annaler: series B, human geography90(2), 119-132.
  • Tong, J. (2005). High‐Tech And High Capability In A Growth Model. International Economic Review46(1), 215-243.

Course Planning

 SubjectsText References
1Industrial Organisation of Hi-Tech MarketsChapter 1
2Digital markets- efficiency, pricing, and competition (part I)Chapter 2
3Digital markets- efficiency, pricing, and competition (part II)Chapter 2
4Digital markets- efficiency, pricing, and competition (part III)Chapter 2
5Digital markets - versioning and bundling (part I)Chapter 2
6Digital markets - versioning and bundling (part II)Chapter 2
7Digital markets - versioning and bundling (part III)Chapter 2
8Network Externalities - demand side Chapter 2
9Network Externalities - adoption of technology Chapter 2
10Network externalities - analysis of competitionChapter 3
11Access and Interconnection in Telecommunications - one wayChapter 5
12Access and Interconnection in Telecommunications - two wayChapter 5
13Cumulative Innovation in Dynamic Industries - patents (part I)Chapter 6
14Cumulative Innovation in Dynamic Industries - patents (part II)Chapter 6
15Cumulative Innovation in Dynamic Industries - patents (part III)Chapter 6
16High-technology industry and growth - The Schumpeterian Perspective (part I)Aghion, P., Akcigit, U. 2015. Innovation and growth: the Schumpeterian perspective. Paper presented at the COEURE Coordination Action Workshop, June, 23rd, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.
17High-technology industry and growth - The Schumpeterian Perspective (part II)Tong, J. (2005). High‐Tech And High Capability In A Growth Model. International Economic Review, 46(1), 215-243.
18High-technology industry and growth - Cross-country comparative analysis (part I)Benko, G. (2000). Technopoles, high-tech industries and regional development: A critical review. GeoJournal, 51(3), 157-167.
19High-technology industry and growth - Cross-country comparative analysis (part II)Keeble, D. E. (1989). High-technology industry and regional development in Britain: the case of the Cambridge phenomenon. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 7(2), 153-172.; Jenkins, J. C., Leicht, K. T., & Jaynes, A. (2006). Do High Techno
20Guidance on how to write an essay
21Revision (Q&As)Neugeboren, R. H. (2005). The student's guide to writing economics. Routledge.

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Assessment strategy.

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-word essay that 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 essay 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.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

ICT as a product. Market efficiency in Hi-Tech markets. Access pricing with the imperfect downstream competition. Patent thickets and anticommons. Perspectives on Innovation and Growth

ENGLISH VERSION