Managerial Economics

- Choice and demand
- Estimating demand
- Production
- Cost
- Profit maximization
- Monopoly and oligopoly
- Price setting mechanisms: price discrimination
- Price setting mechanisms: bundling
- Asymmetric information
- Risk and uncertainty

This course is one of the mandatory core courses in the Master in Management Science curriculum at Solvay Brussels School, ULB. The course objectives are: (i) to train students to be business practitioners with a strong background in standard economic models with a focus on price setting mechanisms; (ii) to learn theoretical concepts and apply these to real business situations; and (iii) to introduce the foundations of data-driven decision making for managers.

The course draws from microeconomic theory, industrial organization and quantitative analysis, with an applied focus throughout. The broad frameworks we study, combined with exercises and case studies, will help students analyze the markets they encounter throughout their careers as managers and develop pricing and production strategies across different competitive environments.

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

This course assumes a basic understanding of calculus (including optimization, partial derivatives, and functions of multiple variables) and introductory microeconomics (utility maximization, profit minimization, marginal concepts, and elasticities). Familiarity with basic statistics and regression analysis is also expected.

The initial lectures will review core microeconomic principles that form the foundation for more advanced topics covered throughout the course.

Some useful references to prepare for this course include:
- Nicholson, W. and Snyder, C. (2016). Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions (12th ed.). Cengage Learning. (Chapter 2: Mathematics for Microeconomics)
- Varian, H. (2014). Intermediate microeconomics with calculus, Norton New York.
 

This course consists of 12 weekly theory sessions of 2h each, and 6 sessions of practice sessions of 2h each. Both theory and practice sessions are integral part of this course, and build on each other. All course content is in English.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

While the lectures draw from multiple sources, the main textbook is  Nicholson, W. and Snyder, C. (2016). Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions (12th ed.). Cengage Learning.

The online course materials on UV are designed to be self-contained, so purchasing the textbook is not required. However, the textbook provides additional depth and alternative explanations that some students may find helpful.

Contacts

ruben.savelkoul@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination

written examination

• Closed question with multiple choices (MCQ)
• Open question with short answer
• Open question with developed answer

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

To pass this course, you must achieve a final grade of at least 10 out of 20 points. The final grade consists of:
- 25% mid-term exam (March 31^st).
- 75% final exam (June exam period).

Both exams are closed book and include theoretical and quantitative questions. Students who fail the course over the semester can do a retake exam during the August exam period, where the final grade is on 100% of that exam.

Language(s) of evaluation

• english