ECC3830 Industrial organisation and competition policy
Faculty of Business and Economics
ECC3830 Industrial organisation and competition policy is a level 3, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Business and Economics, offered in 2026 in Semester 1 at Clayton. It needs ECF2731, ECC2000, ECB2731 or ECW2731.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2026
- Semester 1
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 4 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2026 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ECC3830
Prohibitions
You can't enrol if you have passed any of these.
Prerequisites
Pass these before you enrol.
After ECC3830
No unit lists ECC3830 as a prerequisite in the 2026 handbook.
Enrolment rules
To be successful in this unit, background knowledge and application of maths is required at the equivalent of VCE Year 12 Higher level. You may have satisfied this by completing relevant prerequisite unit/s, or you have covered relevant topics in your final years of secondary study. You should self-assess your maths competency prior to enrolling in this unit.
Additional Prohibitions which are no longer offered: ECS3830 Competition and regulation
Overview
Industrial organisation (IO) studies firm behaviour and its consequences in settings where the assumption of perfect competition fails, i.e., where we can no longer just think about the intersection of a demand and supply curve. The topics include pricing and marketing strategies that individual firms can use to increase profits (price discrimination, bundling, advertising); the effects of interactions between firms and problems that can arise if they coordinate on anti-competitive strategies (cartels, merger, entry, vertical restraints, exclusive dealing); the design of marketplaces (network effect); and public policy responses to firm behaviour, including antitrust laws and regulation.
Offerings in 2026
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Project20%
- Quiz / Test40%
- Exercise20%
- Presentation20%
Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
explain the basis for competition and rationale for regulation, and the basis of different theories of regulation
- 2
evaluate the impacts of certain market conducts such as horizontal mergers, vertical integration, exclusive dealing and collusion
- 3
understand the main features of competition policies in Australia and around the world
- 4
understand the variety of approaches to competition policies from the international perspective
- 5
critically evaluate attempts to increase competition in particular industries, such as online retailing, electricity, telecommunications and other relevant industries, where there are ongoing antitrust and regulation concerns.
Workload and teaching
- Workshops36 hours
- Teaching approachEnquiry-based learning
- Teaching approachCase-based teaching
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachProblem-based learning
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. You are expected to complete all pre-class activities prior to your scheduled class, and post-class activities should be completed after your scheduled class. Learning activities may include a combination of teacher directed, peer directed and online engagement activities.
This unit engages you in enquiry-based learning, where you will be encouraged to use your own knowledge to develop and engage in a process of enquiry, study and research to identify areas to be investigated and an approach to doing so.
This unit includes case-based teaching, where you apply your knowledge and engage in analytical and reflective thinking to solve complex contextual scenarios. Activities are often designed so that there is not one clear answer, but you need to work together to examine, analyse and make decisions to resolve the situation.
This unit engages you in actively applying your knowledge, skills and attributes in interactive, collaborative and reflective activities.
This unit includes problem-based learning approaches, where you engage in research, integrate theory and practice and apply knowledge and skills to develop viable solutions in response to a problem or set of problems.
Where it fits
ECC3830 is part of 3 areas of study in the 2026 handbook.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Professor Zhijun Chen
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ECC3830?
You need ECF2731, ECC2000, ECB2731 or ECW2731 before you enrol. Enrolment rules also apply.
When is ECC3830 offered?
In 2026, ECC3830 runs in Semester 1 at Clayton.
How much work is ECC3830?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ECC3830 have an exam?
No. ECC3830 has 4 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ECC3830?
ECC3830 is part of Business analytics for economics; Economics; and Economics and economic policy.