78361 - COMPETITION IN TOURISM MARKETS

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to economic tools for understanding competition in tourist markets, both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. At the of the course, students will be able to i) make sense of tourist firms' choices concerning pricing, product characteristics, innovation and advertising, with a particular attention to the international dimension of competition; ii) evaluate the social consequences of these choices, and judge public policies aimed at improving the market outcomes.

Contenuti

First module (Prof. Alice Guerra)

• Firms, consumers and the market
• Perfect competition
• Monopoly
• Game theory and Bertrand
• Cournot
• Differentiation
• Stackelberg

Material:

(1) Primary: Slides

(2) Suggested Book Chapters:

• Firms, consumers and the market [Part I]
• Imperfect competition, static and dynamic aspects [Part II]
• Basic concepts of theory of competition policy [Part VI]

Second Module (Prof. Stefano Bolatto)

• Product differentiation and non-price strategies (location models, quality choices, advertising and marketing strategies)
• Pricing strategies and market segmentation (group vs. personalized pricing, menu pricing, intertemporal price discrimination, bundling)
• Product quality and information (asymmetric information, warranties and branding)
• Market intermediation (dealers, matchmakers and two-sided platforms; information and reputation issues)

Materials:

(1) Primary: Slides

(2) Suggested Book Chapters:

• Product differentiation [Part III, chapter 5]
• Advertising an related marketing strategies [Part III, chapter 6]
• Pricing strategies and market segmentation [Part IV, chapters 8-11]
• Product quality and information [Part VI, chapters 12-13]
• Market intermediation [Part IX, chapters 22-23]

Testi/Bibliografia

Mandatory: Slides and other teaching materials made available on a weekly basis.

Main textbook: Belleflamme, Paul, and Martin Peitz, “Industrial organization: markets and strategies”, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Metodi didattici

Lectures, homeworks.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Two written midterms or, alternatively, one final written exam over the entire program.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

IOL

Office hours: See the website of Alice Guerra (fist module) and Stefano Bolatto (second module)

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Alice Guerra

Consulta il sito web di Stefano Antonio Bolatto