ECON 4620

Industrial Organization II

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2015-2016.

This course looks at public policies towards markets and businesses and how they have evolved from the Sherman Act of 1890 to the gasoline price spikes of 2008 and 2011. For policy analysis we considerably extend cost/benefit analysis beyond 3030 welfare concepts to including "rent seeking," e.g., lobbying to alter market parameters. We look at more complex markets than in 3030, markets in which some individuals have imperfect information about sellers or buyers and ask how this alters game theoretic implications about competition. We examine agreements between firms, legal and illegal, with real world examples. We look at "passthrough economics," some firms may even want to pay higher prices for inputs, again with examples. We look at dominant firm theory, e.g., OPEC's influence over prices and its implications for domestic firms and consumers. Market power and policy using examples from Steel around 1920 through to the 2013 antitrust case against Apple following Amazon being forced to increase its electronic book prices in February 2011, with many examples in between. Several examples come from Agriculture, given an antitrust exemption one can see details of how agreements are crafted and carried out.

When Offered Fall.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: ECON 3030 or equivalent.

Distribution Category (SBA-AS)

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