New Selected Topics in Finance Course F718

Competition law/policy is the regulation of certain ‘anti-competitive’ business activities by the government which began first in Canada in 1889. Competition policy deals with the interactions between firms and sets ground rules on how to compete, forbidding certain ways of dealing with competitors, buyers and suppliers.

Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations in 1776 stated: “People of the same trade seldom meet together even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public”.

For students about to enter the workforce, having some knowledge of what types of interfirm behavior are allowed and what behavior could be investigated by the government is important. Worldwide, we are now in a period of enhanced scrutiny of mergers and firm strategies and not just those between rivals, but importantly of ‘big’ firms that we call ‘platforms’ such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. Recently, Canada has followed the world-wide trend of enhanced scrutiny of firm interactions.

It’s very important for commerce, business, and economic students to understand the extent to which these rules, as they change, may affect the marketplace or the areas of business that they wish to engage in. Also important is the ability to use your economic training and data to examine competitive conditions in any industry and to consider what rivals might be considering when they’re looking at your firm’s decisions.

What you need to know:

• Pre-requisite: Intermediate microeconomics
• Open to undergraduate and masters’ students in economics and business
• The week’s 2 lectures are:
  • On Tuesdays from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m., there is a two hour in- person class in the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning on McMaster Main Campus.
  • There is a one-hour session on Thursday that is online only. Attendance is mandatory.
• Class participation is 30% of the final grade. 25% of the grade is a case presentation in class. There is an in-class final exam which counts for 45% of the grade with different exams for undergrad and master’s level students.