MOOC
Web based course on the basics of the
Theory of Economic Regulation
Antonio Estache
Professor of Economics, Université libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgique, Holder of the Chair Bernard Van Ommeslaghe
The following is a link to an 8 lectures web based course on the basics of the theory of economic regulation matched by a wide range of examples to highlight the practical relevance of the theory as well as its limits. Each lecture takes about an hour and is split in 5 to 6 modules to make it easy for you to manage your time.
The course is about the regulation of prices, quantities and qualities of monopolies in charge of public services. It discusses the way in which the fact that regulated firms know more about their costs and their clients than their regulators should influence the design of regulation of their prices and of the quality of services. It also covers the extent to which the institutional characteristics of a sector or country should influence the specific choices of regulation. This includes a discussion of the significant risks of corruption for instance and what to do about it. Since the class focuses on public services, it is also essential to summarize what we know about how to deal with social concerns as part of regulation. The last lecture summarizes what we know about what worked and what did not work in the world wide efforts to privatize infrastructure services.
You can take the basic course whenever you want: it will stay on this web site for the predictable future.
If you want to challenge yourself a bit, each session ends with a multiple choice questionnaire. You get your results and some details on the right answers right away.
To sign up for this version of the course, just follow the instructions on the website.
If you want to get a feeling for the course style….check out