Economic Foundations


Aims

The main aim of this course is to show the power of economic reasoning for understanding a wide variety of aspects of management and organizations.

Information

This course gives an introduction to economic concepts that are essential for research in management. The course starts with an introduction to game theory. Next, game-theoretic concepts are applied to analysing problems firms face every day. The objective of the course is to show how economic reasoning can improve our understanding of traditional topics in finance, management and marketing.

Assessment

The examination of this course will include an oral exam. The oral exam accounts for 50% of the final grade, homework assignments account for 50%

Materials

The compulsory literature for this course consists of:

1. Article on Economic Theory

* Gibbons, R., 1997, An introduction to Applicable Game Theory, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11, 127-149;

2. Articles on the Application of Economic Theory in Management & Organizations

* Bol, J.C., 2011, The determinants and performance e_ects of managers performance evaluation biases, The Accounting Review, 85, 1549-1575;

* Kamphorst, J. and O.H. Swank, 2013, The Role of Performance Appraisals in Motivating Employees;

* Rotemberg J.J. and Saloner, 1993, Leadership Style and Incentives, Management Science, 39, 1299-1318;

* Visser, B., Swank, O.H. and Crutzen, B.S.Y. (2013). Confidence Management: on Interpersonal Comparisons in Teams. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy;

3. Articles on the Application of Economic Theory in (Corporate) Finance & Marketing

* Holmstrom, B., & Tirole, J. (1997), \Financial intermediation, loanable funds, and the real sector", the Quarterly Journal of economics, 112(3), 663-691;

* Varian, Hal R (1980), \A model of sales", The American Economic Review 70.4, 651-659;

Additional info

More information and detailed timetables can be found here.

ERIM PhD candidates and Research Master students can register for this course via SIN Online.

This course is not open for external (non-ERIM) participants.