AEP-20306 Economics of Agribusiness

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

Mathematics at the level of MAT-12806 Mathematics M (Mathematics for Social Sciences); UEC-10406 Microeconomics and Behaviour.

Continuation courses:

AEP-30306 The Economics of European Integration: Agricultural, Rural and Regional Policy Analysis

Contents:

Agribusiness is an important economic sector. This course provides a description and analysis of economic behaviour of actors in agribusiness. The linkages between economic actors through national and international markets and through other co-ordination mechanisms like contracts receive special attention. Micro-economic and institutional theories are the basis for description and analysis. Important subjects are: position of agribusiness within the economy, firm and consumer behaviour, investment, markets of food products, co-ordination mechanisms, imperfect competition in agribusiness, organisation of food production (e.g. family farms), agricultural and environmental policies and regional and international trade in food products. After this course you better understand economic phenomena as oligopolies, futures markets, policy intervention and family farms in agriculture. A good understanding of economics of agribusiness is essential for firms making in strategic management decisions as it helps understanding the opportunities and threats of firms. Moreover, it helps the government to assess firm behavior and to decide whether or not to intervene in markets.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- reproduce microeconomic descriptions and theories that are relevant for agribusiness;
- solve and interpret the results of microeconomic exercises on agribusiness;
- analyse behaviour of agents in agribusiness;
- explain economic phenomena using microeconomic and institutional theory.

Activities:

- attending lectures and studying the reader;
- working on problem sets / doing exercises;
- solving economic problems using Excel;
- weekly tests.

Examination:

Written exam with multiple choice and open questions (100%).
An option is offered to replace (25%) of the written exam by 5 weekly tests.

Literature:

Reader "Economics of Agribusiness". The course is supported by a Blackboard site.