PUBPOL 5170

Market Regulation for Executives

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This intensive graduate-level course examines U.S. federal regulation of markets, from theoretical foundations to practical application. We will explore regulatory policy and administrative processes, with a focus on antitrust, transportation, aviation, food and drug, environmental protection, and firearms policy. Students will analyze regulatory rationales such as addressing market failures, ensuring safety, and mitigating negative externalities, while also gaining a better understanding of the administrative law, longstanding Presidential frameworks that guide federal regulation, and the role the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) plays in the Federal regulatory process. Students will also gain a better understanding of the role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Through case studies, participants will compare examples of regulatory successes, failures, and controversies, and assess both intended and unintended outcomes. Course material and instruction sit at the intersection of economics, law, risk, and public policy, and coursework will require weighing efficiency, safety, public welfare, and constitutional or legal constraints in the design and application of regulations. Students are expected to have thoroughly read all materials prior to class and be well-prepared to discuss readings/cases/case memos with peers and colleagues.

Enrollment Priority Enrollment limited to: Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) students.

Last 4 Terms Offered 2026SP, 2025SP, 2017SP, 2016SP

Learning Outcomes

• Critically analyze economic, legal, historical, and institutional rationales for federal regulation across multiple market sectors.
• Apply advanced economic reasoning and evidence to evaluate policy options and anticipate likely agency and political responses.
• Assess competing policy factors such as economic costs, public safety, legal mandates, and political realities to recommend balanced regulatory approaches.
• Evaluate the structure and roles of key regulatory agencies and assess their impact on market operation and public policy outcomes.
• Formulate evidence-based policy recommendations, either as a comprehensive written analysis or as a formal public comment, supported by economic analysis, offering data and evidence wherever possible to address efficiency, public safety, costs, and transfers.

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