{"id":9146,"date":"2025-09-24T22:48:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T19:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/?post_type=course&p=9146"},"modified":"2025-11-06T13:46:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T11:46:39","slug":"eco465-economics-of-networks-and-information","status":"publish","type":"course","link":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/course\/eco465-economics-of-networks-and-information\/","title":{"rendered":"ECO465 - Economics of Networks and Information (semester 8th) not offered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Course Description<\/strong><\/p>\n

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COURSE CATEGORY:\u00a0<\/strong>FREE CHOICE COURSE<\/p>\n

COURSE TITLE:\u00a0<\/strong>\u039f\u0399\u039a\u039f\u039d\u039f\u039c\u0399\u039a\u0397 \u03a4\u03a9\u039d \u0394\u0399\u039a\u03a4\u03a5\u03a9\u039d \u039a\u0391\u0399 \u03a4\u0397\u03a3 \u03a0\u039b\u0397\u03a1\u039f\u03a6\u039f\u03a1\u0397\u03a3\u0397\u03a3<\/p>\n

COURSE CODE:<\/strong>\u00a0ECO465<\/p>\n

TEACHING SEMESTER:<\/strong>\u00a0 B<\/p>\n

\u0394\u0399\u0394\u0391\u03a3\u039a\u039f\u039d\u03a4\u0395\u03a3:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The course is available online<\/strong>\u00a0via Eclass at the link\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/eclass.uoa.gr\/courses\/ECON569\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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COURSE OBJECTIVE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main objective of the course is for students to understand the importance of online goods markets as well as the information market.<\/p>\n

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The course aims to introduce students to the strategic decision-making issues of businesses operating in online goods markets. The teaching objective of the course is to provide students with the foundation to understand the theoretical concepts that allow the analysis of online markets and to understand the basic functions of specific important online markets, such as the computer market (hardware\/software), the telecommunications market, the information market, as well as part of the banking sector.<\/p>\n

CONTENT-MATERIAL:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The course aims to analyze the strategic decisions of businesses operating in online goods markets. There are four key characteristics that differentiate online goods from traditional goods:<\/p>\n

(i) complementarity and compatibility: a good A cannot be consumed if a good B is not consumed at the same time (e.g. PC and software, CD\/DVD player and CD\/DVD discs),<\/p>\n

(ii) consumption externalities\/network externalities: the benefit\/utility of each consumer depends not only on the quantity of the good he or she purchases, but also on how many other consumers use the same good (e.g. telephone services),<\/p>\n

(iii) switching costs and lock-in: there are significant costs for consumers when they switch from product A to product B \u2013 consumers are \u201cannoyed\u201d by switching operating systems (Windows to Macintosh),<\/p>\n

(iv) economies of scale in production: the production of the first copy of a good may involve huge sunk costs, while the rest cost little (e.g. the cost of software development includes many man-hours of programming, yet the software can be distributed on the internet at no cost).<\/p>\n

The strategic decisions of businesses are influenced by the relative importance of these characteristics in each industry. Key markets for networked goods are the computer market, the telecommunications market, the information market, etc.<\/p>\n

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Teaching modules<\/p>\n

1. Introduction: basic characteristics of network goods<\/p>\n

Consumption externalities\/network externalities<\/p>\n

Complementarity, compatibility, standards (cooperation, compatibility, standards)<\/p>\n

Switching costs and lock-in<\/p>\n

Economies of scale<\/p>\n

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2. Computer \u2013 Hardware purchase<\/p>\n

Network externalities approach. Approach<\/p>\n

of the parts of the system (components approach).<\/p>\n

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3. Computer \u2013 Software purchase<\/p>\n

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4. Technical progress and product standardization<\/p>\n

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5. Telecommunications<\/p>\n

6. Information market<\/p>\n

Reproduction of information. Internet. Pricing of information goods.<\/p>\n

The economics of libraries.<\/p>\n

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7. Banks and money<\/p>\n

Switching costs and competition. Automated teller machines (ATMs).<\/p>\n

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TEACHING AIDS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Varian, H. Microeconomics. A Modern Approach. Kritiki Publications, 2015.<\/p>\n

Walter Nicholson, Christopher Snyder. Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions, 3rd edition, Kritiki Publications, 2018<\/p>\n

Shy, O. The Economics of Network Industries, Cambridge, 2001<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":""},"course-type":[89],"semester":[85],"class_list":{"0":"post-9146","1":"course","2":"type-course","3":"status-publish","5":"course-type-89","6":"semester-85"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course\/9146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/course"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"course-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course-type?post=9146"},{"taxonomy":"semester","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.econ.uoa.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/semester?post=9146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}