Introduction into the Information Society

School of Business and Economics

Introduction into the Information Society

Full course description

The course consists of an extension of the microeconomics topics that have been discussed in the first year microeconomics course (EBC1011) such as basic game theory, industrial organisation, and issues on asymmetric information. In addition, the theories learned are immediately applied to markets that are characterized by properties that are specific for the information society. In the discussions, next to the economic aspects, also legal and policy aspects will be addressed.

Course objectives

The objective of this course is to understand the impact of information on the economy and society. After having learned basic theory on oligopolistic markets and the economics of (asymmetric) information, this knowledge is applied to analyse markets that are characterized by factors related to information, such as: infrastructure, standardization, compatibility, intellectual property rights and patenting, versioning, switching costs and lock-in, consumptive externalities (network effects), and reputation.

Prerequisites

Knowledge and understanding of introductory microeconomics, comparable to course first-year Microeconomics, which is based on the first half of
Perloff, J.M. (2012), Microeconomics, Pearson, Addison Wesley, Boston.
an advanced level of English

Introduction into the Information Society