Industrial Organization
ECON 316
Tippit
SYLLABUS
Spring 2011
NYU
(DRAFT)
Semester:
Days & Time:
Room:
Spring 2011
MW, 2:00 – 3:15
TBA
Instructor:
Ross Tippit
Prof.Tippit@gmail.com
Office & Hours:
Room 603, 19 W. 4th St.
Mondays, 12:30-1:30; Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00
Assistant:
TBA
Course Website:
NYU Blackboard
Course Description
This course will introduce you to the study of industrial organization, which is essentially the
economic analysis of imperfectly competitive markets and their relationship to the structure of
firms. Attention to the regulation of real-world competition distinguishes this course from
related courses of microeconomics and game theory. The goal is an understanding of the
qualities of actual markets found in advanced capitalist economies, where outcomes and their
assumed foundations differ substantially from those of models of perfect competition.
The general philosophy behind the structure of the course is that competition is a regulating
force on the conduct of firms and that governmental regulation does (or should) have as an
objective either the realignment of markets to achieve their competitive outcomes or else the
attainment of outcomes that are otherwise socially preferred. (This approach is well-suited for a
course in the policy track and is an increasingly popular policy approach toward market
imperfections.)
We begin the course with a review of perfectly competitive markets and a discussion of how the
presence of competition acts as a regulatory force on the conduct of firms. The various forms of
market failure are then considered, with a special focus on the conduct of firms in imperfectly
competitive markets. In the absence of regulatory competition, the role of public policy will be
portrayed as essentially corrective, and the goals, history, and effectiveness of antitrust
regulation will be extensively reviewed.
The second part of the course considers the regulation of industry, not with the goal of restoring
competition, but for the maintenance of production of goods that, due to the characteristics of
their production technology, cannot be provided through competitive markets. The conjoining
of public and private enterprises, government oversight of select industries, and the
Industrial Organization
ECON 316
Tippit
SYLLABUS
Spring 2011
NYU
(DRAFT)
management of deregulation processes are issues that will be taken up in this section. A third
type of regulation, designed to address complete market failures, will be discussed briefly at the
end of the semester. This may be referred to as “social regulation,” and it aims at removing the
effects of externalities and information imperfections. (See the Course Schedule below for
further details.)
Texts
Required:
TBA
Recommendable:
Brock, J. The Structure of American Industry, 12th edition. PearsonPrentice Hall, 2008.
Greer, D. Industrial Organization and Public Policy, 3rd ed. MacMillan,
1992.
Motta, M. Competition Policy. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Pepall, L., Richards, D., and Norman, G. Industrial Organization.
Thomson South-Western, 1999.
Tirole, J. The Theory of Industrial Organization. MIT Press, 1988.
Waldman, D. & E. Jensen. Industrial Organization, 3rd edition. PearsonPrentice Hall, 2007.
Grading
You will be given a letter grade at the end of the semester based on the following scale.
93-100 : A
80-83.9 : B67-69.9 : D+
90-92.9 : A77-79.9 : C+
63-66.9 : D
87-89.9 : B+
73-76.9 : C
60-62.9 : D-
84-86.9 : B
70-72.9 : C00-59.9 : F
Grades are earned the following ways:
1.
Exams
Two exams (a Mid-Term Exam and a Final Exam), each worth 20% of your grade, will be
given in the format of short-answer and multiple-choice questions. Make-up tests will
not be given without there being medical documentation to excuse the absence; makeup tests cannot be scheduled after the rest of the class has had their exams graded and
returned. Make-up tests taken before the scheduled test date will be given full-credit.
Industrial Organization
ECON 316
Tippit
2.
SYLLABUS
Spring 2011
NYU
(DRAFT)
Problem Sets
Four problem sets will be assigned for a total of 60% of your grade. Instructions for
submitting your answers to problem sets will be given at the time of their posting on
Blackboard, but answers submitted to me via email or to my department mailbox will
not be accepted unless instructions are explicitly given to do so. Late submissions will
be given partial credit according to the discretion of the instructor. Answers will not be
accepted after the rest of the class has had their answers graded and returned.
3.
Extra-Credit through Attendance and Quizzes
Attendance will be taken at the beginning of most classes and be worth up to three
extra-credit percentage points. Lateness, premature departure, or failure to respond to
your name being called while present will only count as half of a day.
Quizzes will also be given without advance notice for (a total of) up to five extra-credit
percentage points.
Grades to tests and assignments will be posted on Blackboard. Questions about grading should
be taken up with the course grader (their contact information will be provided on Blackboard).
Extra-credit assignments will not be offered. The instructor reserves the right to curve final
grades according to the department’s recommended distribution. All grades are final and nonnegotiable since great effort will be made to grade fairly and uniformly by the instructor and
course grader.
Honor Code
Students are on their honor to neither give nor receive unauthorized aid in the completion of
assignments or examinations. Plagiarism and the use of material published for instructors are
also transgressions of academic integrity. Evidence of such conduct will automatically be
reported to the department and college administration and is grounds for a penalty, including
the possibility of expulsion from the course and/or an automatic final grade of F.
Industrial Organization
ECON 316
Tippit
SYLLABUS
Spring 2011
NYU
(DRAFT)
Course Schedule
This schedule is subject to change. Updated versions will be posted on the Course Webpage.
Week
1
Topic
Intro to Industrial Organization
How Competition Regulates
2
Competition As Regulator, continued
How Competition Fails to Regulate
3
How Competition Fails to Regulate
DUE: Problem Set 1
4
Regulation of Firms/Competition
Regulation of Firms/Competition
5
Some Models of Duopoly and Oligopoly
Empirical Approaches to Market Structure
6
Market Strategies Related to Pricing
Non-Price Market Strategies
7
MIDTERM EXAM
DUE: Problem Set 2
Industrial Organization
ECON 316
Tippit
8
SYLLABUS
(DRAFT)
Anti-Trust Law –
History
Anti-Trust Law –
Enforcement, Cases
9
Anti-Trust Law –
Problems, Criticisms
Anti-Trust Law and Market Structure
10
Anti-Trust Law and Market Strategies
Anti-Trust Law and Economic Growth
11
DUE: Problem Set 3
Regulation of Industries
12
Regulation of Industries
Pricing Regulation Methods –
Peak-Load and Ramsey Pricing
13
Pricing Regulation Methods –
Non-Uniform Pricing and Access Pricing
14
Topics in Industry Regulation –
History and Effectiveness
Topics in Industry Regulation –
Rate of Return Regulation
Spring 2011
NYU
Industrial Organization
ECON 316
Tippit
15
SYLLABUS
(DRAFT)
Social Regulation
Social Regulation
DUE: Problem Set 4
16
Final Exam
Spring 2011
NYU