Economics 321: Industrial Organization

Professor Christiaan Hogendorn
Fall 2003
Prof. Hogendorn's Homepage Course Policies

Syllabus

PRN = Lynne Pepall, Daniel Richards, and George Norman, Industrial Organization: Contemporary Theory and Practice, 2nd edition.

Scanned copies of handouts

I. Firms and Costs
Sept. 3 W 1. Industrial Organization
PRN, Chapter 1 (including appendix)
Sept. 8 M
Sept. 10 W		 2. The Theory of the Firm
Jean Tirole, "The Theory of the Firm," pp. 15-60 in The Theory of Industrial Organization, MIT Press 1988. Online Reserve Review: Ex. 1, pg. 26.
Sept. 15 M 3. Reading: The Theory of the Firm
Michael Whinston, "Assessing the Property Rights and Transaction-Cost Theories of Firm Scope," AER Papers and Proceedings, May 2001. pdf file
Sept. 17 W 4. Cost Curves
PRN, Chapter 2.
 Review: PRN, Chapter 2: 5,9.

II. Differentiated Products and Prices
Sept. 22 M 6. Price Discrimination
PRN, Chapter 3.
 Review: PRN, Chapter 3: all.
Sept. 24 W 7. Reading: Pricing Buckets
James Dana, "Equilibrium Price Dispersion Under Demand Uncertainty: The Roles of Costly Capacity and Market Structure," RAND Journal of Economics, Winter 1999.
Sept. 29 M 8. Models of Product Differentiation
Introduction to Chapter 7 and Section 7.3.1 in Oz Shy, Industrial Organization, MIT Press, 1995. Review:
Oct. 1 W 9. Reading: Monopolistic Competition
"Monopolistic Competition in Differentiated Products," Section 7.2 in Oz Shy, Industrial Organization, MIT Press, 1995.
Oct. 6 M 10. The Logit Model
Steven Berry, "Estimating Discrete-Choice Models of Product Differentiation," RAND Journal of Economics, Summer 1994.
Oct. 8 W 11. Cournot, Bertrand, and Stackelberg
PRN, Chapter 5 Review: PRN, Chapter 5: all.

III. Oligopoly Games
Oct. 13 M 12. Reading: Using the Logit
Amil Petrin, "Quantifying the Benefits of New Products: The Case of the Minivan," Journal of Political Economy, 2002, no. 4.
Oct. 15 W 13. Reading: Fat Cats and Puppy Dogs
Drew Fudenberg and Jean Tirole, "The Fat-Cat Effect, the Puppy-Dog Ploy, and the Lean and Hungry Look," American Economic Review, 1984.
October Break  
Oct. 22 W 14. Collusion and Cartels
PRN, Chapter 7 Review: PRN, Chapter 7: all.
Oct. 27 M MIDTERM
Classes 1-14 Exam   Answers
Oct. 29 W 15. From Theory to Empirics
Timothy Bresnahan, "The Oligopoly Solution Concept is Identified," Economics Letters, 1982.
Nov. 3 M 16. Reading: Testing for Collusion
Timothy Bresnahan, "Competition and Collusion in the American Automobile Industry: The 1955 Price War," Journal of Industrial Economics, June 1987.

IV. Entry and Investment Games
Nov. 5 W 17. Entry and Exit
PRN, Chapter 6 Review: PRN, Chapter 6: all.
Nov. 10 M 18. Reading: Excess Capacity to Deter Entry?
Avinash Dixit, "The Role of Investment in Entry Deterrence," Economic Journal, 1980.
Nov. 12 W 19. Reading: Excess Entry?
N. Gregory Mankiw and Michael Whinston, "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency," RAND Journal of Economics, 1986.
Nov. 17 M 20. Reading: Entry and Shakeouts
Steven Klepper and Elizabeth Graddy, "The Evolution of New Industries and the Determinants of Market Structure," RAND Journal of Economics , Spring, 1990.

V. Mergers and Vertical Relationships
Nov. 19 W 21. Mergers
PRN, Chapter 8. Review: PRN, Chapter 8: all.
Nov. 24 M 22. Reading: Merger Simulations
Gregory Werden and Luke Froeb, "The Effects of Mergers in Differentiated Products Industries: Logit Demand and Merger Policy," Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1994.
Thanksgiving  
Dec. 1 M 23. Reading: Vertical Mergers: Chicago and Post-Chicago Approaches
Michael Riordan and Stephen Salop, "Evaluating Vertical Mergers: A Post-Chicago Approach," Antitrust Law Journal, Winter 1995.
Dec. 3 W 24. Vertical Restraints
PRN, Chapter 9. Review: PRN, Chapter 9: all.
Dec. 8 M 25. Tying and Foreclosure
Whinston AER 1990?