• Explain the competition rules in Europe and their economic rationale with regard to cartels, tacit collusion, horizontal and vertical mergers, abuse of a dominant position and state aid.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the very basic economic arguments in favor and against having such rules.
• Compare the basic characteristics of the European approach to competition policy with the approaches of other regions in the world (for example the US or New Zealand).
• Demonstrate an understanding of the conflict of interest between national (for example German or Danish) and supranational (here EU) institutions in competition policy.
• Analyze and discuss current competition cases by using the material taught and the knowledge acquired in the course.

The idealized perfect (static) competition in Microeconomics leads to an efficient allocation of resources. In addition competition is also considered as a process to create new knowledge which improves the dynamic efficiency of an economy. The objective of competition policy is to protect and support static and dynamic competition.  How the European competition policy tries to do this and whether it achieves its sometimes conflicting goals is at the focus of this course. Therefore I intend to present the European competition rules and their economic rationale with regard to cartels, tacit collusion, horizontal and vertical mergers, and abuse of a dominant position and to discuss relevant recent cases. If time allows, I also intend to give insights into alternative approaches towards competition policy (for example in the US or New Zealand) and to introduce the students to the conflict between national (for example Danish or German) institutions of competition policy and supranational institutions.

To be announced on Learn