OUBEP + UK Finance
summer 2024: Economics for Business LEADERSThe oubep summer programme
The Oxford University Business Economics Programme is partnering with UK Finance to give their members an exclusive discount.
In the face of today’s complex challenges, business leaders need more than traditional management courses. Enter OUBEP’s Economics for Business Leaders summer programme — a transformative experience providing business leaders with the analytical tools of modern economics. Led by esteemed economists from Oxford University’s Department of Economics and seasoned practitioners, the programme equips leaders to navigate global challenges, fostering resilience and facilitating growth.
The summer programme is a two month course which begins with an online launch on 20 May and combines 20 online lectures, weekly 1-to-1 sessions with a tutor and regular online group sessions. The course will round off with an intensive residential week from 14-20 July at St Catherine’s College in the heart of Oxford. The residential week offers an immersive Oxford University experience, encompassing accommodation at the College, recreational and wellness activities, and a formal dinner at one of Oxford’s prestigious colleges.
Key topics include:
- Market Power: learn about market competition, pricing, product differentiation and market positioning
- The Power of Information: topics related to screening, signalling, corporate finance and contract design
- Auctions: how to bid and when it’s better to lose
- The Basics of Behavioural Economics: how psychological factors influence economic decisions in pricing policies, investment and marketing
- The Macroeconomy: GDP measurement and the role of the financial sector
- Saving the Economy from Recessions: central bank policies, inflation targeting and fiscal responses
- Globalisation, Nationalism and Supply Chains: global dynamics, trade policies, investments and supply chain disruption
- Inequality, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth: the impact of entrepreneurship and innovation
Download the Brochure
If you are interested in enrolling, please email: oubep@economics.ox.ac.uk
“A week at Oxford University Business Economics Programme is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in some interesting economic and technical topics, be taught by world leading academics but most importantly to expand your professional network to people all around the world and in other industries. These benefits then accrue across the rest of your career.”
hear from briony krikorian-slade
Briony is Principal of Payments, Innovation & Resilience at UK Finance and was the first delegate to join us as part of the OUBEP and UK Finance partnership in 2023. Here’s what Briony had to say about the course:
Briony Krikorian-Slade
Principal, Payments, Innovation & Resilience, UK Finance
2023 Delegate of OUBEP’s Summer Programme
“I’ve just completed OUBEP’s ‘Economics for Business Leaders course’, it was an absolutely fantastic week. Have you ever wondered why consumers act the way they do or why some countries or companies experience huge growth? Well, it’s all to do with macro and microeconomics which we have been learning about this week. What can businesses do to grow their market share? What levers can governments pull to manage the balance of payments? We learned about all this and more with a group of like-minded individuals, intellectually curious and fantastic teaching all week.”
residential week
Sunday
Welcome to Oxford! We begin our week in Oxford with a drinks reception hosted at an Oxford College. This is followed by the Course Director’s icebreaker activities to get to know your other delegates.
Finish the day with a formal dinner to kick-off the residential week.
monday
Today is the first full day of the programme! Get to know the other delegates and relax with some yoga in the morning before syndicate sessions.
Today’s Topics:
- (Missing) Markets
- Market Power
End the day by listening to the first evening speaker.
tuesday
Why not begin today with an organised run through Jericho to the idyllic river-side setting of Port Meadow. Watch out for the wildlife!
Today’s Topics:
- Strategic Reasoning
- The Power of Information
End the day by listening to the second evening speaker.
wednesday
Wednesday is a half-day of teaching to allow you to immerse yourself in Oxford!
Today’s Topics:
- Auction Theory
- The Basics of Behavioural Economics
Join the group for an afternoon walking tour of Oxford. The evening is then free for you to explore!
thursday
Join fellow delegates for some yoga in the morning before a busy day.
Today’s Topics:
- Measuring and Financing the Economy
- Saving the Economy from Recessions
The day ends with a formal college dinner with OUBEP’s Steering Committee.
friday
Friday is the final day of the programme which concludes with the big OUBEP debate!
Today’s Topics:
- Globalisation, Nationalism and Supply Chains
- Inequality, Entrepreneurship and Growth
After recieving your certificate, end the day with a farewell BBQ.
companies of previous delegates
Topics and Lectures
Topics and
Lectures
1.
(Missing) markets
Can economics help us understand the current climate crisis? The short answer is yes! In certain situations, markets may “fail” or even be “missing” altogether. Prices of goods/services may not reflect the “true” social costs. Pollution and global warming are examples of such market failures. In these lectures, we introduce the basic concepts of markets, when and how they may fail and what remedies may be used to help.
Lectures:
- The basics of supply and demand
- Missing markets and saving the planet
2.
Market power
How can businesses strike the right balance between volume and profit margins and how does this trade-off depend on market competitors? What happens when there are no physical resource constraints, e.g. for information-based products? Our next two lectures guide you through the basic rules you need to apply when choosing between scale and price. We also demonstrate how these rules can change depending on the economic environment.
Lectures:
- Exploiting market power
- Pricing, product differentiation and market positioning
3.
Strategic reasoning
Understanding the competitive landscape is crucial when entering a new market. But what if your competitors are aware of your offering and take an offensive stance? Should you still proceed, or will the threat make the post-entry battle unprofitable? Here we provide the basics of game theory and apply them to familiar market entry scenarios.
Lectures:
- Basics of game theory
- Future play and market entry
4.
The power of information
What happens when you and your customers do not have the same information? From used car sales to financial markets and complex insurance – there is a hierarchy of understanding. Market participants often know more than others about asset valuations and underlying performance, and in these lectures, we show you the power of information and signalling. We also discuss how to elicit – otherwise unobserved information – by a clever design of contracts.
Lectures:
- Screening and signalling
- Corporate finance
- Contract design
5.
Auctions: How to bid and when it’s better to
lose than win
Should you always celebrate when you win in an auction? This lecture will explore to what extent auction design shapes incentives of bidders and the outcomes for the auctioneer. How do you design an auction that raises as much revenue from participants as possible? We will discuss applications of auctions across a variety of contexts from procurement to search keywords.
Lectures:
- Auction design
6.
The basics of behavioural economics
What are the key behavioural biases and how do they affect your approach to pricing policy and marketing strategy? How can you motivate employees that care about reciprocity and fairness? In this special topic lecture, we will explore how psychology and economics interact, and how understanding this interplay will help you decide the best way to incentivise your customers and your workforce.
Lectures:
- The basics of behavioural economics
7.
The macroeconomy
How do we measure Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? What does it tell us about the macroeconomy? What other indicators help us understand the health of our economy? And what role does the intermediation of financial resources play in this regard? These lectures provide an insight into the macroeconomy and how it works.
Lectures:
- GDP and beyond
- The role of the financial sector
8.
Saving the economy from recessions
What is Quantitative Easing and how is it different from the other “conventional” tools that central banks can use to help prop up economies? Will the large-scale fiscal responses to the COVID-19 recession lead to unsustainable national debts? These lectures explore the potential answers to these questions using basic, yet powerful, frameworks so you can understand why economies experience booms and recessions.
Lectures:
- Central banks, inflation targeting and quantitative easing
- Fiscal policy and debt sustainability
9.
Globalisation, nationalism and supply chains
How did COVID-19 change the trade-off between globalisation and nationalism when it disrupted global supply chains? Who benefits and who loses when the USA and China enter a trade war? In these lectures, we discuss the rationale behind free trade and we study the winners and losers from trade liberalisations. We also touch upon the magnitude and importance of global supply chains and what happens to trade policy when they are disrupted.
Lectures:
- The basics of international trade
- Globalisation and supply chain disruptions
- Winners and losers of trade liberalisation
10.
Inequality, entrepreneurship and economic
growth
Why does inequality within and across countries persist and what drives economic growth? How can entrepreneurship and startups affect the macroeconomy? In this final series of lectures, we will develop your understanding of economic growth and inequality in the current environment. We will also demonstrate how important entrepreneurship and startups are for growth and highlight concerns around the barriers and disruptions that startups face, such as those during the Great Financial Crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lectures:
- Growth within and across countries
- Entrepreneurs, startups and innovation
Programme Tutors
The core programme is curated and delivered by the department of Economics’ leading academics whose tutoring experience and cutting edge research make the programme insightful, engaging and unique to OUBEP.
Alex Teytelboym
Director of OUBEP
Alex Teytelboym is an Associate Professor in Economics within the Department of Economics in Oxford, a Tutorial Fellow at St Catherine’s College, and a Senior Research Fellow. At the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) at the Oxford Martin School.
His main research interests lie within market design (e.g. matching markets and auctions) and network economics. He is interested in the applications of economic theory to many policy areas, including environment, energy and refugee resettlement.
Abi Adams-Prassl
Director of External Engagement
Abi is a Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford. She has published in leading journals in Economics, Law, and Computer Science, and is on the editorial board of The Review of Economic Studies, one of the leading economics journals globally. She has raised over £2.5million in research funds for a range of projects on the impact of technology of work and the justice system, and on understanding gender inequality in the labour market and beyond. She was awarded the Economic & Social Research Council’s Outstanding Impact on Public Policy Prize and was selected as an initial leader of the Oxford Policy Engagement Network.
Alongside her University work, Abi is currently a Specialist Advisor to the UK Parliament Women & Equalities Select Committee and advises a range of stakeholders on empirical analysis relating to strategic litigation in the realm of public law and human rights.
sergio de ferra
OUBEP tutor
Sergio is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at Brasenose College. He completed a PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics in 2016. He joined Oxford in 2020 after working as Assistant Professor at Stockholm University. He teaches Macroeconomics and International Macroeconomics. His research is on capital flows, sovereign debt and default, fiscal policy and the euro area.
The Ultimate Leadership accelerator
The Oxford University Business Economics Programme aims to provide a unique combination of high-calibre academic tuition, industry-leading speakers, and a diverse group of delegates, in order to influence future leaders and inspire effective critical thinking.
We create opportunities to explore economic theories, and apply those theories to solve problems and create strategic impact.
how to enrol
For more information and to enrol, you can email us at: oubep@economics.ox.ac.uk
Download the Brochure
The OUBEP summer programme is facilitated by the Department of Economics