Master of Science in Strategy, Competition and Regulation
Utrecht University
Key Information
Campus location
Utrecht, Netherlands
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 year
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
EUR 2,209 *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
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* Dutch and other EU/EEA students statutory fee, full-time 2022-2023; Non-EU/EEA students institutional fee 2022-2023: € 17,500
Scholarships
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Introduction
Navigating Tomorrow's Competitive and Regulatory Changes
In the past two decades, many aspects of business and social life have been disrupted by high-growth organizations such as Google, Apple, and Airbnb. The market power of corporate organizations is based on brilliant but sometimes debatable strategies. These strategies present challenges for the organizations themselves, as well as policymakers, regulators, and supervisors such as the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and the European Commission. In this highly dynamic and international environment, strategy, competition, and regulatory challenges require broad expertise related to industrial organizations, strategic management, competition law, and econometrics. This Master’s program focuses on the academic and practical toolkit to operate in the arena of powerful corporates and international policymakers.
Are you interested in international competitive strategies, economic and legal perspectives on market power, the role of private equity, and mergers and acquisitions? Do you want to make a difference in increasing social welfare by balancing private and public interests in the functioning and regulation of markets? Do you want to have a professional role at leading, fast-growing businesses, policymaking organizations, regulatory and supervisory bodies, or economic and legal consultants? If so, we think you’ll be well suited to a Master’s in Strategy, Competition, and Regulation.
Leading Expertise from Multiple Disciplines
This Master’s program is based on Utrecht University’s world-class research in industrial organization, strategic management, competition law, and econometrics. You’ll work with Utrecht University School of Economics’ top scholars, complemented by leading professors from Utrecht University’s School of Law and external lecturers. We are proud to have the School of Law’s involvement in our curriculum, which makes the program truly multidisciplinary and unique in strategy, competition, and regulation.
Program Outcome
What to Expect from this Program
In this program, you will examine regulatory and managerial issues as well as the underlying economic theories. You will focus on:
- The international growth of platform businesses and the challenges these bring to policymakers and regulators, as well as these platform businesses’ competitive strategies;
- The disciplines relevant to analyzing these challenges, namely industrial organization, strategic management, competition law, and econometrics; and
- The solutions to these challenges are from theory and empirical research.
Program Objectives
The Master’s in Strategy, Competition, and Regulation provides you with:
- Knowledge and understanding of key competition challenges at the interface of private and public interests faced by international high-growth businesses and public regulators;
- The skills and expertise required to understand the strategic, economic, and regulatory aspects of competition issues in markets, to evaluate such issues and to draft prospective plans to resolve or leverage such issues; and
- The ability to adopt a reasoned position in the strategic, economic, and regulatory debate on the justifications, principles, practices, causes, and consequences of the management, monitoring, and regulation of markets and institutions.
If you are more interested in the legal aspects of Strategy and Competition, please have a look at the LLM Law and Economics.
Curriculum
Leading Expertise from Multiple Disciplines
This Master’s program is based on Utrecht University’s world-class research in industrial organization, strategic management, competition law, and econometrics. You’ll work with Utrecht University School of Economics’ top scholars, complemented by leading professors from Utrecht University’s School of Law and external lecturers. We are proud to have the School of Law’s involvement in our curriculum, which makes the program truly multidisciplinary and unique in strategy, competition, and regulation.
Career Opportunities
After completing this Master’s, you will be an expert in the competitive growth strategies of international high-growth businesses, the challenges these bring to policymakers and regulators, and potential solutions. This expertise is highly sought after in powerful, high-growth corporate organizations (e.g. Google, Apple, and Airbnb), international policy organizations and regulatory supervisors (e.g. Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and the European Commission), economic consultancies (e.g. Oxera), and international law firms.
Towards a Professional Career
Given the curriculum's focus on the business world perspective, graduates may work for organizations that come into direct contact with governments and competition authorities, such as platform and high-tech companies (e.g. Airbnb, Google, and Apple) but also established multinationals on the takeover trail (e.g. Heineken, AB InBev, Vattenfall, and VodafoneZiggo). Graduates also become policymakers at domestic- and EU-level governmental units or administrative agencies concerned with market regulation (e.g., Ministry of Economic Affairs, ACM, and EU DG Competition). Our graduates also obtain positions at international consultancy organizations and international law firms. Finally, thanks to our graduates’ broad training, some go on to become applied or academic researchers at a variety of organizations.
Students who complete the program can pursue a career as, for example:
- Strategy advisor to the board of directors, concerned with advising board members of the implications of competitive strategies to expand/maintain market power.
- Mergers & Acquisitions consultant, responsible for dealing with competition authorities.
- Deal broker responsible for matching acquiring firms with targets in a legal and/or economic sense while taking special responsibility for the quality of covenants.
- Policymakers at a public body such as a national or EU agency or ministry, or semi-public policy think-tank.
- Researcher: You’ll acquire the skills and training to conduct further research at a university or research institute (e.g. an NGO or commercial research office).
Admissions
Rankings
Utrecht University in the Rankings
As a student at Utrecht University (UU), you will be studying at one of the world's top universities. The Shanghai Ranking places UU as the top university in the Netherlands and 50th in the world. Utrecht University aims to be at the forefront of open science because open science promotes transparency and enhances the scientific and social impact of research. Our place in the rankings mentioned above is often based on other values than these.