ECO4145 Platform EconomicsBahçeşehir UniversityDegree Programs SOFTWARE ENGINEERINGGeneral Information For StudentsDiploma SupplementErasmus Policy StatementNational QualificationsBologna Commission
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Bachelor TR-NQF-HE: Level 6 QF-EHEA: First Cycle EQF-LLL: Level 6

Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Code Course Name Semester Theoretical Practical Credit ECTS
ECO4145 Platform Economics Fall 3 0 3 6
This catalog is for information purposes. Course status is determined by the relevant department at the beginning of semester.

Basic information

Language of instruction: English
Type of course: Non-Departmental Elective
Course Level: Bachelor’s Degree (First Cycle)
Mode of Delivery: Hybrid
Course Coordinator : Assoc. Prof. EMİN KÖKSAL
Course Lecturer(s): Assoc. Prof. EMİN KÖKSAL
Course Objectives: This course aims the analyse the basic economic principles of platforms that connect one group of customers with another group of customers.

Learning Outcomes

The students who have succeeded in this course;
1. Identify platforms
2. Explain the functioning of a platform
3. Idenfity network effects
4. Evaluate direct and indirect network effects
5. Analyze platform business models
6. Evaluate platforms' behaviours
7. Analyze platforms' competitive strategies
8. Acquire a solid understanding for promotion and subsidy strategies

Course Content

After an introduction to the basic concepts and principles of platform economics, value creation and ecosystem of platforms will be analyzed. Business models and competitive strategies of the local and global companies such as Yemeksepeti, Bitaksi, Gitti Gidiyor, eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, Uber, Airbnb, Booking will also be elaborated both from theoretical and empirical perspectives.

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week Subject Related Preparation
1) Introduction and Basic Concepts
2) Economic Principles for Platforms
3) The Technologies Behind Platforms
4) How Multi-Sided Platforms Create Value
5) Getting off the Critical Mass
6) Pricing for Profitability and Growth
7) Shaping the Platform’s Ecosystem
8) Designing the Platform
9) Evaluating Platform Pioneers
10) The Transformation of Payments
11) The Transformation of Retail
12) Antitrust Issues in Platform Economics
13) Public Policy Towards Platforms
14) The Future of Platforms

Sources

Course Notes / Textbooks: David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee, Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2016.
References: Alvin Roth, Who Gets What and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).

Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian, Information Rules (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1998)

Evaluation System

Semester Requirements Number of Activities Level of Contribution
Presentation 1 % 20
Midterms 1 % 30
Final 1 % 50
Total % 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK % 50
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK % 50
Total % 100

ECTS / Workload Table

Activities Number of Activities Duration (Hours) Workload
Course Hours 14 3 42
Study Hours Out of Class 14 3 42
Presentations / Seminar 1 18 18
Midterms 1 20 20
Final 1 30 30
Total Workload 152

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

No Effect 1 Lowest 2 Low 3 Average 4 High 5 Highest
           
Program Outcomes Level of Contribution
1) Be able to specify functional and non-functional attributes of software projects, processes and products.
2) Be able to design software architecture, components, interfaces and subcomponents of a system for complex engineering problems.
3) Be able to develop a complex software system with in terms of code development, verification, testing and debugging.
4) Be able to verify software by testing its program behavior through expected results for a complex engineering problem.
5) Be able to maintain a complex software system due to working environment changes, new user demands and software errors that occur during operation.
6) Be able to monitor and control changes in the complex software system, to integrate the software with other systems, and to plan and manage new releases systematically.
7) Be able to identify, evaluate, measure, manage and apply complex software system life cycle processes in software development by working within and interdisciplinary teams.
8) Be able to use various tools and methods to collect software requirements, design, develop, test and maintain software under realistic constraints and conditions in complex engineering problems.
9) Be able to define basic quality metrics, apply software life cycle processes, measure software quality, identify quality model characteristics, apply standards and be able to use them to analyze, design, develop, verify and test complex software system.
10) Be able to gain technical information about other disciplines such as sustainable development that have common boundaries with software engineering such as mathematics, science, computer engineering, industrial engineering, systems engineering, economics, management and be able to create innovative ideas in entrepreneurship activities.
11) Be able to grasp software engineering culture and concept of ethics and have the basic information of applying them in the software engineering and learn and successfully apply necessary technical skills through professional life.
12) Be able to write active reports using foreign languages and Turkish, understand written reports, prepare design and production reports, make effective presentations, give clear and understandable instructions.
13) Be able to have knowledge about the effects of engineering applications on health, environment and security in universal and societal dimensions and the problems of engineering in the era and the legal consequences of engineering solutions.