| TopEconomics 33: American Industry and Public PolicyTop | |
| Union College, Schenectady, New York | Prof. Doug Klein |
Text: Douglas F. Greer, Business, Government, and Society, 3rd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1993).
Other Readings: In addition to the text, there will occasionally be readings handed out or placed on reserve in Schaffer Library. I also expect you to read a good business periodical such as the Wall Street Journal (required), New York Times, Business Week, Fortune, The Economist or the like. I plan to make frequent use of current examples from these and other sources to illustrate the points of the course.
| Office: | Location: 109 Social Science Building. |
| Hours: | Winter 1998: Monday and Thursday, 2:00-3:30, and by appointment. |
| Phone: | (518) 388-6056. |
| E-mail: | kleind@union.edu |
Grading: Your grade will be based on two exams, one project, and several quizzes and homework assignments. The weights will be approximately as follows:
| Midterm Exam | Monday, Oct. 13 | 20% |
| Final Exam | Week of Nov. 17 | 30% |
| Project | due Mon. Nov. 10 | 30% |
| Quizzes, HWs, Participation & Attend. | 20% |
Project: The project will be an analysis of the current state of competition and public policy within an industry which you will choose (within certain constraints). The work will consist of three homework assignments (due Oct. 1, Oct. 17, and Oct. 31), plus a final report based on those assignments. The final paper is due in class, Nov. 10. Late papers will be penalized one grade step per day (e.g. A- to B+) beginning after class on Nov. 10.
Exam and Homework Policy: I do not willingly give makeup quizzes or exams, except in cases of documented illness, injury, or other true emergency. Even in these cases, you must be sure that I am notified in advance of the quiz or exam you miss. Homework will be accepted, at a reduced value, up to one week late. After that, I will give no credit.
E-mail: Make sure you have a working e-mail account. I would be glad to answer questions via e-mail, and it may occasionally be useful for me to contact the entire class outside of normal class time, to distribute or clarify an assignment.
Outline and Readings: Chapters and pages are in Greer, other readings are on reserve. Readings are to be read by the date indicated.
| Date | Topic | Reading |
| PART I: INTRODUCTION | ||
| Sept. 8 | Introduction | Handout, Ch. 1 |
| Sept. 10 | Review of competition | Ch. 2, pp. 15-23, 34-37 |
| Sept. 12 | Market failures | Ch. 2, pp. 23-33 |
| Sept. 15 | Public policies | Ch. 3 |
| Sept. 17 | Some history | Ch. 4 |
| PART II: ANTITRUST | ||
| Sept. 19 | Structure-Conduct-Performance | Ch. 5, pp. 88-99 |
| Sept. 22 | Testing the SCP relationship | aircraft industry article |
| Sept. 24 | Aims of Antitrust policy | Ch. 5, 99-111 plus Audretsch article |
| Sept. 26 | Collusion - theory and policy | Ch. 6 plus cigarette article |
| Sept. 29 | Collusion - cases | Ch. 6 |
| Oct. 1 - Structure due | Monopoly - theory and legislation | Ch. 7 |
| Oct. 3 | No class | |
| Oct. 6 | Monopoly - cases | Ch. 7 |
| Oct. 8 | Merger - motives | Ch. 8 |
| Oct. 10 | Merger - cases | Ch. 8 |
| Oct. 13 | Midterm Exam | |
| Oct. 15 | Price discrimination | Ch. 9 |
| Oct. 17 - Conduct due | Vertical restraints | Ch. 10 |
| Oct. 20 | Multinational corporations | Ch. 11 |
| PART III: INFORMATION POLICY | ||
| Oct. 22 | Product standardization & information | Ch. 12 |
| PART IV: ECONOMIC REGULATION | ||
| Oct. 24 | What is economic regulation | Ch. 14 |
| Oct. 27 | Electric and gas utility regulation | Ch. 15 |
| Oct. 29 | Emerging competition in electricity | Joskow article |
| Oct. 31 - Perf. due | Telecommunications - history | Ch. 16 |
| Nov. 3 | Telecommunications Act of 1996 | Summary |
| Nov. 5 | Transportation regulation & deregulation | Ch. 18 |
| Nov. 7 | Energy policy | Ch. 19 |
| Nov. 10 - Paper due | Energy policy, continued | Ch. 19 |
| PART V: SOCIAL REGULATION | not covered | |
| PART VI: MISCELANEOUS POLICIES | ||
| Nov. 12 | Patents and R&D | Ch. 24 |
| Nov. 14 | Promotion and Protection policies | Ch. 25 |
| Week of Nov. 17 | Final Exam | |