Seminar: Selected Topics in Industrial Organization and Competition Economics (2025/26)

Application deadline	Oct. 05, 2025
Application form	Available here
Participants	max. 10
Target group	M.Sc. VWL; M.Sc. Economics
ETCS	6
Language	English

Requirements: Very good working knowledge of theoretical microeconomics. This seminar is recommended to students who have followed the courses Advanced Microeconomics I & II, Digital and Network Economics, and Industrial Organization

Qualification target: During the seminar, a specific topic in industrial organization and competition economics will be covered in depth, such that students gain a thorough understanding of this topic. They will learn how to approach a specialized field of study and how to write and present a seminar paper. These skills are particularly helpful for writing a Master thesis.

Examination type: Each student will be working on a specific article. Seminar participants have to write a seminar paper (circa 4,500 words plus equations), do a presentation (30 min), and write a short retail industry analysis (circa 900 words).

In their seminar papers, participants should provide a critical discussion of the paper, notably in light of the existing literature, as well as an extension of the results.

Students’ workload and supervision: Students will (i) participate in block sessions, (ii) participate in bilateral meetings in order to benefit from personalized supervision, on both the economic aspects of the paper and on their retail industry analysis, and (iii) work on their seminar paper and presentation individually.

Important dates

October 5, 2025	Deadline for application. Priority will be given to early applications in case of a large number of applications.
October 9, 2025	Acceptance decision.
October 23, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00am (updated)	Introductory meeting, allocation of articles and retail industries (mandatory). Room 02 012 (Rempartstr. 16)
November 18, 2025	Submission of the retail industry analysis.
November 21, 2025	Individual meetings to discuss the seminar paper and individual discussion of the industry analysis (mandatory).
December 19, 2025	Individual meetings to discuss the seminar paper.
January 16, 2026	Submission of the final seminar paper.
January 27, 2026, 8:00am – 2:00pm	Block seminar presentations and discussions (mandatory). Room 01 012 (Rempartstr. 16)

List of specific articles

• Article 1: Davis, P. (2006): „Spatial competition in retail markets: movie theaters“ The RAND Journal of Economics.
• Article 2: Clerides, S., and Courty, P. (2017): „Sales, quantity surcharge, and consumer inattention“ Review of Economics and Statistics.
• Article 3:  Diehl, K., Van Herpen, E., and Lamberton, C. (2015): „Organizing products with complements versus substitutes: effects on store preferences as a function of effort and assortment perceptions“ Journal of Retailing.
• Article 4: Fisher, M. L., Gallino, S., and Xu, J. J. (2019): „The value of rapid delivery in omnichannel retailing“ Journal of Marketing Research.
• Article 5: Nishida, M., and Yang, N. (2020): „Threat of entry and organizational-form choice: The case of franchising in retailing“ Journal of Marketing Research.
• Article 6: Rickert, D., Schain, J. P., and Stiebale, J. (2021): „Local market structure and consumer prices: Evidence from a retail merger“ The Journal of Industrial Economics.
• Article 7: Argentesi, E., Buccirossi, P., Cervone, R., Duso, T., and Marrazzo, A. (2021): „The effect of mergers on variety in grocery retailing“ International Journal of Industrial Organization.
• Article 8: Sloot, L. M., and Verhoef, P. C. (2008): „The impact of brand delisting on store switching and brand switching intentions“ Journal of Retailing.
• Article 9: Byrne, D. P., Martin, L. A., and Nah, J. S. (2022): „Price discrimination by negotiation: A field experiment in retail electricity“ The Quarterly Journal of Economics.
• Article 10: Zhu, F., and Liu, Q: (2018). „Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon.com“ Strategic Management Journal.

Background Reading

• Motta, Massimo (2004): Competition Policy – Theory and Practice, CUP (Chapter 7)
• Belleflamme, Paul and Martin Peitz (2015): Industrial Organization – Markets and Strategies, 2^nd edition, CUP (Chapter 11)