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Topics include start-ups, firm formation; firm growth, corporate development, aging, and productivity; corporate design; failure, restructuring, and turnaround; mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances; vertical integration and restraints; technological change, firm dynamics, and sources of market power; CEO and top management teams, economics of automation, and the future of work.

The course studies a selection of industries, including the auto industry, airline market, retail, pharmaceutical sector, financial market, and market for intangible assets (ideas and patents), to explore market dynamics and show how industry fundamentals shape corporate strategies. The course ends by studying theories of aggregate investment, technological change, and modern business/credit cycles to show how the macroeconomic environment shapes business activities/strategies. Recent economic data and case studies support the analysis.

The course will draw on recent economic and firm data to support analyses. All analyses are empirically based.

BMAN24431 or BMAN24421 is a Pre-Requisite for BMAN 31881. Only available to students on: Mgt/Mgt Specialism; IMABS; IM and ITMB/ITMB Strategy & Economics Specialism.

The course is both analytical and applied, building on knowledge acquired in Economic Analysis I.

It provides an understanding of economic theories on start-ups, firm formation, growth, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, firm decline and aging; corporate design, failure, restructuring, and renewal; the vertical structure of the firm and its determinants; and the evolving network nature of supply chains, technological change, market dynamics, firms, politics, and industry evolution.

The course provides a working knowledge of the analytical tools of economics at both the micro and macro levels that bear directly on the practice of modern firms. It helps students understand how characteristics of an industry, macroeconomic variables, and policy shape firm behaviour and business activities.

The course uses a mix of theory and case materials and examines recent data on each topic. Close integration of data throughout enables students to use real-life data to make informed business decisions. 

Part I: Firm Dynamics

1. Where do new firms come from, productivity & growth strategies 
2. Corporate development & growth – horizontal mergers / growth 
3. Corporate development & growth – vertical mergers / growth 
4. Corporate design – how to design a firm? 
5. Corporate aging, failure & turnaround 
6. Firm & politics 
7. Industry dynamics – pharmaceutical, airline & auto industries. 
8. Technology & corporate growth – patents & intangible assets 
9. CEOs, top management teams, and firm dynamics

Part 2: Ideas, Technology and Economic Growth 

10. Automation, firm dynamics, & the future of work 
11. Finance and growth – dynamics 
12. The Future of economic growth 

Methods of delivery: Lecture/seminars /computer aided learning

Lecture hours: 30 (3 hours per week over 10 weeks) plus 3 hours overall course revisions

Seminar hours: 8 (1 hour per week)

5 hours optional extra revision sessions for students needing help with economics.

20 hours supporting whiteboard videos for students needing help with economics. (asynchronous)

Weekly blog discussing recent topics relating to the course (asynchronous)

Understand various models of firm formation, start-up development and corporate growth and productivity, and learn issues surrounding financing of start-ups.

Understand mergers and acquisitions as a core growth strategy and analyse the processes of firm decline / aging.

Understand issues of corporate design, corporate failure, corporate reorganisation, restructuring and renewal.

Understand how fundamental characteristics of an industry, macroeconomic variables and policy shape a firm’s growth strategies and decisions.

Understand how industries evolve over time and necessitate corporate reorganisation / renewal.

Understand theories of technological change, automation, fundamental drivers of economic growth, and the future of economic growth.

Develop a rich understanding of firm dynamics (birth, growth, ageing, failure), and develop growth strategy for high performing firms.

Develop a rich understanding of the increasingly important role of mega (large) firms, their impact of the economy, economic dynamics, and SEMs.  

Understand technological trend, automation, the future of work, and the future of economic growth.  

An ability to develop strategies for young firms and lead start-ups.

An ability to develop strategies for mature firms, slow down corporate ageing, and develop embark on corporate turnaround and reorganisation.

An ability to identify technological trends, potential technological disruptions, and design firms capable of successfully responding to disruption.  

Gain a rich language to articulate business scenarios, develop business plans, and communicate with top managers and corporate board members.  

Develop skills to draw on academic research and data to improve business decision making.

Students develop adequate knowledge of Excel or, optionally, the programming language R, and numerical skills.  

12 short weekly mock randomised MCQ tests (formative)

Mid-term randomised multiple-choice test (20%)
Randomised multiple-choice test (30%)
Final Economic Analysis (Individual) Project (50%)

Each test is accompanied with a short video describing and analysing questions.

Prior to the exam during weekly seminars and after marks are released.

General guidance during revision sessions, individual feedback on outlines, and comments / feedback after marks are released. 

Weekly chapters from the online textbooks, weekly case studies, prepared for the course, and datasets. The course mainly draws on relevant research papers, simplified and summarised to make it accessible for UG students. Typical research papers include:

Feigenbaum, J. and Gross, D.P., 2024. Organizational and economic obstacles to automation: A cautionary tale from AT&T in the twentieth century. Management Science.

Hummels, D. and Yue, K., 2024. On the Ubiquity of Declining Business Dynamism (No. w32637). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Karahan, F., Pugsley, B. and Şahin, A., 2024. Demographic Origins of the start-up Deficit. American Economic Review, 114(7), pp.1986-2023.

Metcalfe, R.D., Sollaci, A.B. and Syverson, C., 2023. Managers and productivity in retail (No. w31192). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Kala, N., 2024. The impacts of managerial autonomy on firm outcomes. Econometrica, 92(6), pp.1777-1800.

Kirpichev, D., 2025. Acquisitions and their effect on start-up innovation: Stifling or scaling?

Perkins, G. and Murmann, J.P., 2018. What does the success of Tesla mean for the future dynamics in the global automobile sector?. Management and Organization Review, 14(3), pp.471-480.

Lakdawalla, D.N., 2018. Economics of the pharmaceutical industry. Journal of Economic Literature, 56(2), pp.397-449.

Jin, G.Z., Leccese, M. and Wagman, L., 2023. How do top acquirers compare in technology mergers? New evidence from an S&P taxonomy. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 89, p.102891