Objectives
- Getting familiar with various core concepts and theories within the field of economics of organisations.
- Being able to apply these concepts and theories to some every-day organisational phenomena within firms. The focus of the applications will be on human resource management (motivating and rewarding of both employees and executives) and on corporate control.
Contents
The fundamental problem studied within economics of organisations concerns the coordination and motivation of people working in organisations. In this course we take a closer look at this problem. With regard to the coordination of activities the focus is on the question under what circumstances the price mechanism works best and when hierarchies (i.e. transactions within the firm) are to be preferred. Before discussing motivational problems within organisations, first some applicable concepts like contracts, information, efficiency, ownership and incentives are introduced. These concepts provide the economic framework that will be applied in the remainder of the course. Two applications will be discussed. First, the relationship between employers and employees is analysed. Compensation, evaluation and promotion strategies concerning both employees and executives are given attention. Second, the economic theory of organisations will be applied to corporate governance and corporate control.
Registration at
Please go to https://www.sis.uva.nl
Format
A lecture of three hours and working groups of three hours per week.
Time
Please go to http://rooster.uva.nl
Study materials
Reader with selected articles.
Assessment
The final grade consists of two parts:
- a case study in groups. The grade will be based on the written solution to the case. The case is presented at the beginning of the course. Attendance to the presentation of the case is compulsory. The written solution has to be submitted in week 4. The result of the case study will account for 30% of the final grade. The grade of the case study has to be at least 5.0 or higher. There will be no opportunity to retake the case study;
- a written individual examination with open questions at the end of the course. The result of the written examination will account for 70% of the final grade. The grade for the written exam has to be at least 5.0 or higher.
The course will be completed successfully only if the final grade is at least 6.0 or higher, and all partial grades are at least 5.0 or higher. If the grade on the written examination is less than 5.0, then the student may retake the written examination. The result of the resit exam will account for 70% of the final grade, and again the grade of the resit exam has to be at least 5.0 or higher to pass the course. In the case of a resit, the results obtained for the case study will also be valid. The final grade consists of two parts: 30% grade case study and 70% grade written examination.
Examination date
Please go to http://rooster.uva.nl and http://www.student.uva.nl/feb-academicyear.
Remarks
- This course intends to develop an analytical framework that can be applied to organisational phenomena.
- Students are expected to have a sufficient quantitative and analytical background.
- This course touches upon topics that, besides organisation, also relate to microeconomics, labour economics and corporate finance.
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