Business Strategies and Competition Policy LAW5229

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Law
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course is co-offered between the School of Law and the Business School, and aims to teach competition law students to think like business leaders, and business students to appreciate the limitations the law places on business ambitions. It is taught in the form of case studies of landmark competition law cases and policy decisions, allowing students to immerse themselves in the economic and legal context of each case. Through genuine interdisciplinary approach combining law and economics, the goal is to help students acquire a comprehensive understanding of how competition law cases and investigations are built.

 

The course may focus on cases that discuss:

 

■ Online platform business models

■ Predatory pricing

■ Investigations, discovery, and dawn raids

■ The rise and fall of cartels

■ The build-up of market power and concentration

■ The goals of competition law

Timetable

10 x 2-hour seminars (semester 2)

Requirements of Entry

The course is open to all LLM students subject to the requirements of the LLM programme on which a student is enrolled. The course is also open to students on courses indicated by the Adam Smith Business School. Familiarisation with reading materials prior to course start expected for all students.

Excluded Courses

none

Co-requisites

none

Assessment

One 2-hour final exam and 1 in class student presentation on a hypothetical.

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? No

Yes for the exam, no for the presentation

Course Aims

The course aims to achieve the following:

 

■ Expose students to the realities of how business decisions end up violating competition laws;

■ Teach students to think in real world terms by immersing them in the market context of real cases;

■ Familiarise students with the law and economics of competition law;

■ Bring law and business students in touch to exchange ideas and arguments.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

 

1. Understand the law and economics of select landmark cases and policy decisions of competition law;

2. Appreciate the market context in which business decisions are taken;

3. Develop critical thinking on how the law clashes with business decisions;

4. Practice argumentation skills by engaging both with the business and the legal side of cases

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.