Economics for Competition Law

Course detail Description

Our Economics for Competition Law programme is suitable for practising lawyers, regulators, academics and those with a specific need for knowledge of Economics for Competition Law. On completion of the course, you will have a firm understanding of the increasingly important role that economics plays in competition law and an understanding of when economic analysis is needed for a particular competition law case. Our course has been specifically designed for economists and lawyers in private practice, in-house legal advisers and representatives from the national competition authorities.

You will study market power and market definition, economic issues that arise out of Articles 101 and 102, network effects and the boundaries of competition law and intellectual property law, mergers and state aid.

The Economics for Competition Law MA is only open to students who have successfully completed the Economics for Competition Law Postgraduate Diploma at Merit level. Students on the follow up MA programme are required to write a dissertation under supervision.

You can view the full syllabus and the authors of the 12 study units here.

Material
The PG Diploma programme is structured into three modules of 12 units in total. Each unit comes in the form of hard copy print and as a pdf file via the programme website. The units are designed to be largely self-contained, but recommended and further reading will be suggested. Some of the further reading suggestions may not be readily available online, either at King's library or elsewhere, so students will have to source recommended or further reading they wish to do themselves.

A unit will comprise text, copies of relevant Regulations, Commission Decisions and Notices, Judgments of the General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Practical examples, questions and model answers will test your knowledge as you progress. It is anticipated that each unit will require a student to spend approximately twenty hours' study plus further time for reading and completion of the assignments. Extra time must be set aside in April and May to complete the coursework and to prepare for the written examination in May. Units are despatched by air courier.

Alongside the paper based programme material students will also be able to view and download their material from a website specifically designed for their programme, offering additional online resources and facilities. Students are required to engage with the online platform during their studies. The programme specific website also offers students the opportunity to interact with each other, post questions and view any other information relevant to the course.

Support during your studies
Organisational and administrative support is readily available through the Distance Learning Organiser at KNect365 Learning and the Programme Convener at King's College London. However, this programme is designed and delivered in a format that requires the student to study independently. Although academic staff will be available via the programme website for student queries, they do not tutor on a one-to-one basis. Students who enter this programme need to be aware of the commitment required to study for this challenging and rewarding degree course. The distance learning programme offers much freedom to suit professionals, therefore students need to bring self-discipline and self-motivation to be successful.

Seminars
There will be two intensive weekend seminars held in central London. These will be held in November 2019 and in March 2020. Authors and tutors lecture and revise study material for two full days each weekend. Students who cannot attend the seminars will be able to view recordings of the seminars. It is strongly recommended that students attend the seminars to benefit from the intensive revision sessions.

Assessment
Students will be required to submit three 2000-word assignments in April of the first year. Together these assignments constitute 30% of the final overall mark for the Postgraduate Diploma.
The three-hour written examination will take place during May 2020 either at King's College London or a different venue in London. Arrangements can be made to sit the examination at a venue in your country. This arrangement carries a fee by King's College London and the invigilating institution. Successful candidates will obtain the Postgraduate Diploma in Economics for Competition Law. Results are graded into Pass (50-59%), Merit (60-69%) and Distinction (70%+).

The follow-up MA is open to students who complete the Diploma at Merit level. It involves the research for and writing of a dissertation under supervision. You are expected to spend at least 110 hours engaged in self-directed study. You are assessed exclusively by your dissertation which needs to be passed with at least 50%.

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Structure

Year 1 Programmes are divided into modules. You will normally take:
• PG Diploma – modules totalling 120 credits
• MA – modules totalling 180 credits (120 credits from the Pg Diploma and 60 credits for the MA dissertation). Required Modules

PG Dip
You are required to take the following modules:

• Foundations of the Economics of Competition Law (40 Credits)
• Economics of Articles 101 and 102 (40 Credits)
• Merger Analysis, state aid and empirical analysis (40 Credits)

MA
You are required to take the following module:

• Dissertation (60 credits)