The course aims to introduce students to the concepts, ideas and methodologies that guide the basic approaches and theories of institutional economics. Its content focuses on both the traditional schools of thought as well as the New Institutional Economics.
It aims at familiarizing students with methods and applications of the economic analysis of institutions, at both the levels of national/regional economies as well as of organisations and enterprises. Emphasis will be placed on explaining why and how some institutions change while others do not, and which are the repercussions from their interaction in defining and allocating property rights, contract enforcement, and measuring value and transaction costs.
By successfully completing this course students will be able to:
Understand, describe and distinguish the fundamental characteristics and specificities of institutions and explain their role and influence on an economy and its enterprises and organisations.
Understand the evolution of institutions in time, and describe institutional change
Employ the basic theoretical approaches to analyse the institutions of an economy, understand their complexity and their influence, positive and/or negative to economic agents (with emphasis to producers and agri-food instudtry).
Use basic approaches of game theory to analyse important economic institutions
Analyse the parameters of the institutional framework and inform the appropriate design of policy measures to improve their effectiveness.
