Communication Economics
Code: 103098 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Journalism | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Jordi Alcover Quilez
- Email:
- jordi.alcover.quilez@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
When students enroll this subject they have already studied the subjects of Theory and economic structure, History of Communication and Structure of Communication, necessary to address the economy and management of the media.
Objectives and Contextualisation
• Introduction to business management applied to the different communication sectors: audiovisual, publishing, public relations, and communication agencies.
• Analyze the figure of the entrepreneur within the Spanish economic and social context, as well as the institutional and legal frameworks that foster entrepreneurship.
• Explore the various forms of professional activity: from self-employment/freelance to scaling a project as a commercial company.
• Understand the fundamentals of services marketing in communication projects, as well as the most common business models in the cultural and creative industry.
• Foster the ability to develop viable, sustainable, and sustained business ideas in the communication sector, with a critical and innovative perspective adapted to the digital environment.
• Apply economic analysis and business strategy tools to the design and management of your own communication projects.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate adequate knowledge of Catalonia's socio-communicative reality in the Spanish, European and global context.
- Differentiate the discipline's main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media's structure.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- Properly apply the scientific method, raising hypotheses regarding journalistic communication, validating and verifying ideas and concepts, and properly citing sources.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
- Analyse the economic dimension of the media.
- Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
- Apply scientific methods in a cross-cutting manner in the analysis of the relations between technological change and media access.
- Appraise the social impacts of technological mediation in modern communication.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Describe Catalonia's socio-communicative reality in the Spanish and European context from the political point of view.
- Describe the structure, workings and management of the communication business.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Explain Catalonia's socio-communicative reality in the Spanish and European context from the economic and business point of view.
- Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
- Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
- Identify the fundamentals of theories and the history of communication.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
- Identify the theoretical principles of audiovisual production and consumption.
- Propose new methods or well-founded alternative solutions.
- Propose new ways to measure the success or failure of the implementation of innovative proposals or ideas.
- Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Propose viable projects and actions to boost social, economic and environmental benefits.
- Propose ways to evaluate projects and actions for improving sustainability.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
- Weigh up the risks and opportunities of both one's own and other people's proposals for improvement.
Content
The course presents an applied and updated vision on the creation and management of entrepreneurial projects in the communication sector. It will be worked on from both an economic and strategic perspective, with an emphasis on professional autonomy, innovation and adaptation to the digital context. The contents are organized in the following blocks:
1. Economic particularities of communication as a productive sector: singularities of cultural, content and brand services. Analysis of sectoral studies.
2. The communication company in its environment: macroeconomic and industrial analysis, opportunities and barriers.
3. The figure of the entrepreneur in communication in Spain: profile, legal conditions, grants, challenges.
4. From freelance to company: steps to set up an SL, basic taxation, risk management and formalization of a project.
5. Business models in communication: agencies, digital media, editorial services, creative studios, platforms.
6. Fundamentals of service marketing: differentiation, added value, positioning and strategic communication.
7. Innovation and adaptation: digital tools, new technologies applied to the sector, AI and process automation.
8. Gender and sustainability perspective: criteria of equity and inclusion in entrepreneurial projects.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Seminars. Project development | 15 | 0.6 | 2, 8, 9, 10, 5 |
| Theoretical classes | 33 | 1.32 | 2, 8, 9, 10, 5 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Evaluation | 7 | 0.28 | 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 13, 15, 14, 12, 27, 21, 16, 17, 20, 25, 24, 22, 23, 5 |
| Tutorials | 7 | 0.28 | 2, 8, 9, 10, 5 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings, personal study, research, work in groups | 80.6 | 3.22 | 2, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 5 |
The subject has a theoretical part and a practical part.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.
In the theoretical part , pofessor will explain the concepts about the organization of the communication companies, considered as economic units of production and located in the macroeconomic environment, social and industrial activity in which they act.
In the practical part, students will study in depth the aspects of entrepreneurship, based on exercises and analysis of real cases, with the final objective of developing a project within the communication industry.
The proposed teaching methodology and evaluation activities may undergo some modifications depending on the health authorities' attendance restrictions.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active participation | 10% | 0 | 0 | 2, 8 |
| Theoretical exam 1 | 30% | 1.45 | 0.06 | 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 13, 15, 14, 12, 27, 21, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 24, 22, 23, 5, 26 |
| Theoretical exam 2 | 25% | 1.45 | 0.06 | 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 10, 13, 15, 14, 12, 27, 21, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 24, 22, 23, 5, 26 |
| Work about innovation and entrepreneurship | 30% | 4.5 | 0.18 | 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 5 |
To pass the subject, each one of the assessment activities must be approved, which consists of two theoretical exams that each will count a 30% of the note, and a group work that will be held in the seminars and with work at home, and that will be 30% of the mark.
Class attendance seminars is mandatory, and it is only admitted that the student miss 20% of the sessions.
Qualifications of any evaluable test will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus and the student may review the correction with an individual tutorial.
The last weeks of the course will be devoted to re-evaluation activities. Students will be able to recover the theoretical part with a theory recovery exam. To recover the practical work, the students will have to pass a practical recovery exam.
Students will be entitled to the revaluation of the subject. They should present a minimum of activities that equals two-thirds of the total grading.
In the case of a second enrolment, students can do a single synthesis exam/assignment that will consist of an exam. The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis exam/assignment. This exam will not be reassessable.
The students will be qualified as Non-evaluable if they do not attend any of the three activities of continuous assessment or the recovery test.
The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft...) will be qualified with 0 in this assignment or exam. In case there are several irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0.
Use of AI
For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for in market information research tasks, support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction or translations, or as support for structuring the content of deliverables. Students must clearly identify any parts generated with these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how AI has influenced the process and final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty to the assignment grade, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.
Single-Assessment System
This course does not provide for a single-assessment system.
Bibliography
Handbook:
De Mateo, Rosario; Laura Bergés; Marta Sabater (2009) Gestión de empresas de comunicación. Sevilla/Zamora: Comunicación Social.
Elson Alfonso, Cristina (2022). Nuevos modelos de negocio: Emprendimiento en la era de la tecnología (Colección Manuales, núm. 707). Editorial UOC, S.L.
Noam, Eli (2019) Managing Media and Digital Organisations. Palgrave Macmillan (Springer)
Vara Miguel, A. (2023). Modelos de negocio para los medios digitales: Un recorrido teórico conceptual. Madrid: Editorial Fragua. ISBN 978-84-1289-489-9
Zeithaml, Valerie A., Bitner, Mary Jo, & Gremler, Dwayne D. (2009). Marketing de servicios. McGraw-Hill Interamericana de España S.L.
Other references:
A
Albarran Alan B. (2010) The Media Economy New York. Routledge. Taylor & Francis
Albarran Alan B. Silvia M. Chan-Olmsted y Michael O. Wirth (eds.) (2006) Handbook of Media Management and Economics. London, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Campos, Francisco (coord.) (2011) El nuevo escenario mediático. Sevilla/Zamora: Comunicación Social.
Cerezo, Pepe. (2019) Los medios ante los modelos de suscripción. Barcelona. Editorial UOC
De Mateo, Rosario; Laura Bergés; Anna Garnatxe (2010) “Crisis, ¿qué crisis?: Los medios de comunicación: empresas y periodismo en tiempos de crisis”. En: Francisco Campos (coord.) El cambio mediático. Sevilla/Zamora: Comunicación Social.
Departamentode Documentación Iberley (2022). Implantación de un plan de igualdad: Guía paso a paso de cómo implementar un plan de igualdad en la empresa. Colex. ISBN 978-84-1194-786-2
European Commission (2011) GREEN PAPER on the online distribution of audiovisual works in the European Union: opportunities and challenges towards a digital single market. Brussels, 13.7.2011
COM(2011) 427 final.
European Commission (2009) Creative Content in a European Digital Single Market: Challenges for the Future. A Reflection Document of DG INFSO and DG MARKT, 22 October 2009.
McChesney, Robert W. (2008) The Political economy of media: enduring issues, emerging dilemmas. New York, N.Y. : Monthly Review Press.
Picard, Robert (2011). The Economics and Financing of Media Companies. New York: Fordham University Press
Salaverría, Ramon. (2020) Digital Native News Media: Trends and Challenges. Media and Communication, 2020, Volume 8, Issue 2.
Torres Sáez de Ibarra, A., Monteagudo, L., & Vázquez, T. (2025). La integración de la IA en las agencias de publicidad, comunicación y en los medios de comunicación. En J. Sánchez Navarro & P. A. Hellín Ortuño (Eds.), Inteligencia Artificial: retos y oportunidades para la formación y el empleo en el ámbito de la Comunicación (pp. 273–288). Universidad CEU San Pablo. ISBN 978-84-10176-09-6
Software
Office
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 11 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 12 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 13 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 21 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 22 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 23 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 2 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |