69211 - TOURISM MICROECONOMICS

Contenuti

PART I: Analysis of Tourism Demand (Maurizio Mussoni - 30 hours)

1. Review of microeconomic theory.

• Neoclassical (or Walrasian) general equilibrium theory.
• Pareto efficiency and the two fundamental theorems of welfare economics.
• Market failures, asymmetric information and uncertainty.

2. The tourism demand and the tourism markets.

• The tourist as a consumer and the purchase of the tourism good.
• The timing in consuming a tourism good.
• The characteristics of the tourism good.
• The role of information in tourists choices (incomplete and imperfect information).
• Market failures and asymmetric information in tourism markets.
• Search and experience goods in the tourism market.

3. Contract theory and information theory.

• Economic theory of contracts (implicit and explicit contracts, complete and incomplete contracts).
• Trading and bargaining games.
• Contracts enforcement and enforcement mechanisms.
• The Coase theorem.
• Social efficient outcome, first best and second best contracts.
• The contracts in tourism markets.

4. Uncertainty and tourism.

• Consumer decisions under uncertainty.
• Expected utility theory and attitude towards risk.
• Insurance and risk-sharing contracts.
• Insurance contracts in tourism: insurance against the "economic risk" of ruined holiday.
• Future (forward) contracts in tourism: "Free Sale" and "Allotment" Contracts.

5. Asymmetric information and uncertainty: the principal-agent model.

• Incomplete, imperfect and asymmetric information.
• The moral hazard problem (hidden action): incentive contracts and the trade-off between incentives and insurance. Incentive contracts in tourism.
• The adverse selection problem (hidden information): signaling and selection mechanisms in tourism.
• Implicit contracts and reputation mechanisms in tourism.

PART II: Industrial Organization and Market Structure in Tourism (Lorenzo Zirulia - 30 hours)

1. Monopoly

• From linear prices to price discrimination.
• Temporal price discrimination: first minute and last minute strategies.
• Applications to tourism markets.

2. Competition

• Price competition.
• Quantity competition and capacity constraints.
• Product differentiation.
• Entry, exit and market structure.
• Applications to tourism markets.

3. Policy

• Antitrust policy.
• Industrial policy.
• Regulation.
• Applications to tourism markets.

LABORATORY: How to plan, undertake and interpret a sample survey (Simona Cicognani - 20 hours)

Testi/Bibliografia

PART I: Analysis of Tourism Demand (Maurizio Mussoni - 30 hours)

• R. Cooter, R. Ulen. Law and Economics, Pearson Addison Wesley, Sixth Edition, 2011 (chapters 2 and 4).
• G. Candela, P. Figini. The Economics of Tourism Destinations, Springer, 2012 (chapters 10 and 11).
• M. Castellani, M. Mussoni. An Economic Analysis of Tourism Contracts: Allotment and Free Sale, in "Advances in Modern Tourism Research", Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2007, p. 51-85 (available on the faculty member's website).

Optional

• P. Bolton, M. Dewatripont. Contract Theory, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.
• B. Salanie'. The Economics of Contracts, MIT Press, 2005.

PART II: Industrial Organization and Market Structure in Tourism (Lorenzo Zirulia - 30 hours)

• Candela, G. and Figini, P. The Economics of Tourism Destinations, Springer, 2012.
• Cabral, L. Introduction to Industrial Organization, The MIT Press, 2000.
• Other specific references to tourism applications will be given in class.

LABORATORY: How to plan, undertake and interpret a sample survey (Simona Cicognani - 20 hours)

• Readings will be assigned during the lectures.
• Program and teaching material can be found on the following website: http://simonacicognani.weebly.com/teaching.html

Metodi didattici

60 hours of lectures + 20 hours of laboratory

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

The exam is composed of a written exam (2/3 of the final mark) and a short essay (1/3 of the final mark).

The written exam covers Part I and Part II of the course, and aims at evaluating the skills and the critical abilities developed by the students as regards to the microeconomic theories explained during lectures, and their applications to tourism. The written exam consists in “open questions”, and to pass the exam students must obtain a sufficient grade for both Part I and Part II.

For students attending lectures it is possible to give the exam through two mid-term assessments (partial exams):

- the mid-term assessment for Part I (1/3 of the final mark) is scheduled at the end of the first term of lectures, and it is 45 minutes exam;

- the mid-term assessment for Part II (1/3 of the final mark) is scheduled at the end of the second term, and it is 45 minutes exam.

Only students who pass the first mid-term assessment are admitted to the second mid-term assessment.

The short essay (1/3 of the final mark) is done by groups of 2/3 students and covers the topics discussed during the Laboratory. An oral discussion of the short essay will complete the individual mark of each student. It is an on-going assessment with statistical/econometric analysis of some data and discussion and presentation of the results, and aims at verifying the ability of students to replicate the empirical analysis presented and discussed during classes.

The final mark is computed as the simple average of the three marks obtained for Part I, Part II and Laboratory, it is out of 30 points, and the minimum mark required to pass the exam is 18 / 30.

It is not possible to bring books, personal notes or electronic devices in the exam. Registration for the exam is compulsory, and students have to register through AlmaEsami according to the general rules of the School of Economics, Management and Statistics. Only the final marks will be published and registered on AlmaEsami website, while the single marks relating separately to Part I, Part II and Laboratory will be published on the faculty member's website or communicated directly to the students.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Maurizio Mussoni

Consulta il sito web di Lorenzo Zirulia