Table of Contents
Study Materials
Readings
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In addition to the regular readings, there are current events readings added over the course of the term. This year's current events readings are listed below the table.
The readings in the table below are from the textbook: Pindyck, Robert S., and Daniel L. Rubinfeld. Microeconomics. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 27 July 2000. ISBN: 0130165832.
| SES # | TOPICS | readings |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | Markets Introduction to the Course Types of Markets: Competitive, Monopoly/Monopsony and Oligopoly/Oligopsony The Boundaries of a Market Product Boundaries, Geographical Boundaries Examples: Bicycles, Prescription Drugs, Airline Travel, Role of Internet | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Chapters 1 and 2 Lecture Notes on Markets and Market Definition |
| L2 | Defining the Market Discussion of Market Definition and Market Strategy Case Study: Credit Cards in the U.K. | Stuart, Harborne W., Jr. "Pricing for Profit: The U.K. Credit Card Industry in the Late 1980s (A)." Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, 1997. Case No. 9-897-168. |
| L3 | Analysis of Competitive Markets Supply-Demand Analysis of Government Intervention in Competitive Markets (Examples: Taxes, Subsidies, Tariffs, Import Quotas) Detailed Analysis of the Sugar Quota and its Effects | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Chapter 9 "The United States Sugar Program." |
| L4 | Production and Cost Brief Review of Production Economics and Cost Minimization Cost Concepts: Fixed, Variable and Sunk Total, Average, and Marginal Cost in the Short Run and Long Run Accounting Cost vs. Economic Cost | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 6.1-6.4, 7.1-7.5 Lecture Notes on Cost Concepts |
| L5 | Production and Cost (cont.) Airline Cost Example: User Cost of Capital Economies of Scale and Scope The Learning Curve and Cost Reduction over Time | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Section 7.6 |
| L6 | Consumer Demand Introduction to Consumer Demand: Empirical Demand Analysis and Models of Consumer Choice | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 7.7, 3.1-3.3, 4.6 |
| L7 | Consumer Demand (cont.) Pricing, Product Characteristics and Quality The Analysis of Network Externalities, and their Competitive and Strategic Implications Example from the Software Industry | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 4.1-4.5 |
| L8 | Time and Uncertainty Intertemporal Prices and Net Present Value Uncertainty and Risk Aversion Waiting and Option Value | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 15.1-15.4, 15.7, 5.1-5.2 |
| L9 | Market Power Competition and Entry Monopoly Power and Mark-up pricing Production across Multiple Plants Pricing with Network Externalities | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Chapter 8, 10.1-10.3 |
| L10 | Pricing with Market Power Various Forms of Price Discrimination Segmented Markets and Pricing Oriented toward Market Segmentation Examples of Price Discrimination in Practice | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 11.1-11.3 |
| L11 | Pricing with Market Power (cont.) The Use of Two-part Tariffs Volume Pricing Commodity Bundling | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 11.4-11.5 |
| L12 | Game Theory and Competitive Strategy Thinking Strategically Duopoly Exercise (in class) to Introduce Cournot First-mover Advantage: Stackelberg Repeated Cournot Cournot-Nash in detail Nash Equilibrium in Other Kinds of Games | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 12.2-12.3 |
| L13 | Game Theory and Competitive Strategy (cont.) Dominant Strategies Nash Equilibrium again Repeated Games The Prisoners' Dilemma Sequential Games Threats and Credibility Pre-emptive Moves Entry Deterrence | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Chapter 12.4-12.5, 13.1-13.6 |
| L14 | Collusion and Competition in Oligopolistic Markets Tacit Collusion Examples: Electrical Equipment, Mineral Cartels | Porter, Michael. "General Electric vs. Westinghouse in Large Turbine Generators (A)." Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, 1980. Case No. 9-380-128. Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Section 12.6 |
| L15 | Limiting Market Power Antitrust Laws U.S. vs. Microsoft® Common Property Resources | "Executive Summary of the Antitrust Laws." Kaye, Scholer's Antitrust Deskbook. New York: Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, 1992, pp. 3-19. |
| L16 | Auctions and Bidding Alternative Forms of Auctions and their Characteristics The Winner's Curse | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Section 13.9 |
| L17 | Transfer Pricing and Vertical Integration Transfer Pricing in the Vertically Integrated Firm Transfer Pricing with Outside Markets Double Marginalization Costs and Benefits of Vertical Integration | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Appendix to Chapter 11 |
| L18 | Incentives and Information Principal-agent Problem and Incentives Moral Hazard Multi-tasking Promotion Tournaments and Up-or-out Policies Team Incentives Back-loaded Wages | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Chapter 17.4 |
| L19 | Information and Market Structure Markets with Asymmetric Information Quality Uncertainty and the Market for "Lemons" Adverse Selection Signaling | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Chapter 17.1-17.3 |
| L20 | Externalities and Market Structure Positive and Negative Externalities Market Failure and Forms of Government Intervention Property Rights | Pindyck and Rubinfeld: Sections 18.1-18.4 |
| L21 | Final Examination |
Lieber, Ron. "Credit-Card Companies Escalate Battle of the Perks." The Wall Street Journal Online, 14 September 2004.
Cox, James. "Some see Bush sheltering sugar for votes." USAToday.com, 10 February 2004.
Waddington, Richard. "WTO Hits EU Again Over Sugar Sales." Yahoo! News, 8 September 2004.
Shlaes, Amity. "More PDA Pleasures for Your dollar." FT.com: Financial Times, 20 September 2004.
Carty, Sharon Silke. "GM to Start Loan Blitz for '04 Models." The Wall Street Journal Online, 22September 2004.
Markoff, John. "Sun Alters Its Pricing Strategy For Sales to Developing Nations." Business/Financial Desk, The New York Times, 1 June 2004.
Guth, Robert A. "Microsoft Tests Low-Price Windows." The Wall Street Journal Online, 30 September 2004.
Kranhold, Kathryn. "Nuclear-Power Industry Sees Signs of a U.S. Revival." The Wall Street Journal Online, 9 November 2004.