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Problem Based Learning

Market Power and Regulation

This Problem Based Learning (PBL) activity looks at the issues of market power, competition and regulation. It focuses on the long-running battle between the EU and Microsoft about the way Microsoft conducts its business. It includes a range of potential avenues for investigation, including the nature of competition, market structures, the role and importance of regulation and the impact of court rulings on the way business is conducted.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the PBL activity, students might have covered some of the following:

• Different types of market structure
• The meaning and consequences of monopoly power
• The function of regulation
• The impact of regulation on business activity
• The meaning and nature of the term 'competition'
• The meaning of the term 'anti-competitive'
• Welfare analysis and producer and consumer surplus

Resources:

• The Problem: Setting up a business and securing long term business survival - can it be planned?
• References for Investigation