SluitenHelpPrint
 Switch to English
Cursus: RGMUIER021
RGMUIER021
Law and Economics of Market Regulation
Cursus informatie
CursuscodeRGMUIER021
Studiepunten (EC)5
Cursusdoelen
After this course:
  • the student has knowledge of and insight in the main economic theories and assumptions behind market regulation;
  • the student has knowledge of and insight in the basic legal principles, institutions and instruments of market regulation;
  • the student is able to understand and analyse various determinants and implications (e.g. related to competition, strategy, public policy) of market behaviour by firms within the prevailing legal and political restrictions;
  • the student has a broad understanding of the possibilities and limitations of current public policies in market-based economies and a thorough and multidisciplinary grasp of real—i.e. not theoretically constructed—problems in the domains of competition and regulation;
  • the student is able to apply both legal concepts and economic theories of competition policy to complex market failures and cases;
  • the student is acquainted with sector-specific problems (banking sector) and is able to analyse the regulation overhaul it brought about by the financial crisis;
  • the student is able to write an essay, or paper, on a policy issue relating to market failures/economic regulation;
  • the student is able to participate constructively in a discussion of cases, problems and concepts.
Inhoud
This course is part of the master program L&E of the Utrecht University School of Economics and the Department of Law. It is offered in period 1 and is mandatory for both the LL.M-students and the Msc-students.
As a whole, the course provides the basic skills and theoretical background that students will need to participate in Regulation II. The course addresses the basic legal principles, institutions and instruments of market regulation. The main purpose of this course is to acquit students with a critical and informed understanding of different forms of market regulation. After the course students shall understand the economic rationale behind the formulation of legal rules.
The course first provides the general theoretical background on the basis of the mainstream economic approaches, which outline the concept of market failure. Subsequently, legal rules are introduced as instruments to cope with market failures. The course than zooms in on the legal frameworks and current approach to public decision-making in several specific regulatory fields (such as telecommunications, finance, environmental protection). The students will be exposed to ongoing policy challenges to counter market power, negative externalities, collective goods and information asymmetry, mostly related to EU legislation. The interplay between law and economics will be examined on the basis of actual and current real-life case-studies.
The course adopts a problem-based and cross-disciplinary approach, which will enable law students to understand the economic effects of legal rules and economics students to understand the institutional legal framework of market-based economies. This allows students to get a broad understanding of the possibilities and limitations of current public policies and allow students to get a thorough and multidisciplinary grasp of real—i.e. not theoretically constructed—problems in the domains of regulation.

Teaching methods
The purpose of the course program is to convey legal and economic knowledge in a systematic, integrated way. To do so, the four weekly hours of class contact are split between lectures on the core issues of the program and seminar sessions (or interactive guest lectures delivered by practitioners in a specific field) during which students have to contribute to the learning process by actively taking part in discussions concerning the cases covered, including presentations of materials that are relevant to the cases (such as case law or policy statements).

​
Place of this course within the curriculum:
  • Compulsory course in Law and Economics
SluitenHelpPrint
 Switch to English