Instructor: Robin D. Hanson, Asst. Professor, Economics (rhanson@gmu.edu, http://hanson.gmu.edu)
Office Hours: Officially M,Th 6:00-7:00. But I'm usually in at Carow Hall 10B. Email or call ahead (703-993-2326) if you want to be sure I'll be in.

Catalog Entry:

846 Industrial Organization and Public Policy II (3:3:0). Prerequisites: ECON 611 and 844. Relation between law and economics and theories of social control of property rights. Theories of market structure and industrial performance.

Oz Shy, Industrial Organization, Theory and Applications, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-69179-5, 1996. (errata)

F.M. Scherer, Industry, Structure, Strategy, and Public Policy, Harper Collins, ISBN 0-673-99289-6, 1996.

Carl Shapiro, Hal R. Varian, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, Harvard Business School Press, ISBN: 087584863X, 1998.

Jean Tirole, The Theory of Industrial Organization, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-20071-6, 1994.

Dennis Carlton and Jeffrey Perloff, Modern Industrial Organization, Forth Edition, Addison-Wesley, ISBN: 0-321-18023-2, 2005.

Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, April 2004, ISBN 0393324818, Sample Price $11.

Robert J. Herbold, The Fiefdom Syndrome: The Turf Battles That Undermine Careers and Companies - and how to Overcome Them, October 2005, ISBN 0385510683, Sample Price $14.

• Class Participation Please contribute to class discussions.
• Homework When homework problems are assigned, they are due in class the following week.
• Exams A midterm and a final exam will be given in class, with questions similar to the lectures and homework. Exams are open book, open notes. Midterm is in class April 3, final is May 15, 7:30-10:15pm.
• Presentations Each student will make three presentations in class, each about five to ten minutes long. First, you present a summary of the organization of a particular industry. A date signup sheet will be distributed starting on the first day of class. Second, on February 27 you present a summary of a particular industrial-organization-related research paper. This should be a published paper,on which the students intends to model his or her research paper. Meet with me before this date to discuss your paper choice. I am flexible about "industrial organization related." On May 1 you present your research paper.
• Research Paper A research paper is not a term paper; it says something new and original, however minor. When you leave GMU, few people will care what grades you got. But many will care what papers you've written and published. Talk to me early and often about your paper; I really can help. Final papers are due Friday May 12.
• Grade Weights: Each Presentation 5%, Homework 5%, Midterm 20%, Final 20%, Research Paper 40%. You can elect to have your entire grade based on your research paper.

Sources

On the web page, this links to a page of sources, most of which have links.