ECONOMICS ECP3403                                                                               Prof. Mark Isaac

Spring 2011                                                                                                     644-7081  265 Bellamy

mailer.fsu.edu/~misaac                                                                                   misaac@fsu.edu

 

SYLLABUS

Business Organization and Market Structure

 

Overview: An introduction to the economic analysis of industry, a survey of market structures, oligopoly and collusion, a variety of commercial practices under imperfect competition, the welfare consequences and policy approaches to the acquisition and exercise of monopoly and market power. Among the topics to be covered are: predatory pricing, tying contracts, network effects, and the economics of information provision. Prerequisite: ECO 2023.
 
Goals: The goals of the course are that the student will refresh basic economic concepts applicable to the study of market organization, learn new tools addressed to the same end, and apply these tools to a study of the “new” and the “old” economy. A central theme will be an examination of the differences AND similarities of a traditional industrial economy and the so-called “new economy” of information and technological innovation.
 
Course Topics. Broadly speaking, the first part of the course will focus on the most basic and easy to work-with economic models of industrial activity: perfect competition, perfect monopoly, and the Cournot and Bertrand oligopoly models. We will also cover the basics on related U.S. antitrust law in the first section. The first midterm will be on Wednesday, February 2, 2011. During the second section, we will move away from these idealized models to look at the practical issues of industrial organization: market structure, conduct, and performance, with emphasis on issues of monopolization and collusion. The third section is where we will re-evaluate these traditional topics in light of the issues of the so-called new economy: information, data transmission, the internet, network effects, and so forth.

 

Book

 

Industrial Organization by Waldman and Jensen

 

Course Requirements:  There will be two midterms and a final exam. The final exam will function as a third midterm. In addition, students will prepare a brief descriptive/analytical essay, which will receive its own grade and will also be used as a part of the final exam. Each of the four items above will be worth 25 percent of the final grade.

 

Final Exam Date: According to my reading of the schedule, our final exam is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27, at 5:30 – 7:30 p.m... Please let me know ASAP if your reading of the schedule is different.

 

Policy On Missing Exams:  I do not give make-up exams. Students who miss an exam receive a grade of "zero" for that exam unless they provide me, in a timely fashion, a written, signed explanation of their absence. Health, family emergencies, out of town job interviews, etc. are standard, acceptable excuses for a missing a midterm. Students who miss an exam with an acceptable excuse simply have their course work reweighted on the remaining exams. You may not be excused from both midterms. Final exams are rescheduled only on the most extreme of circumstances determined by university policy, for example: death (your own or that of a close family member). Supersaver airline tickets are not an acceptable reason to reschedule a final exam. Reread the previous sentence.

 

Your Attendance: I do not take attendance. You are adults and are capable of making your own decision about attending class. I realize that people get sick and have job interviews; you do not required to engage in documentation.  Having said this, the most important components of this course take place in the classroom, and that is reflected on all exams. In addition, one thing that really annoys me off is wandering in and out of class. The door systems in Bellamy are very noisy. If you must be late, please cause as little disruption as possible. If you have an early appointment, please inform me and sit near the door.

 

My Attendance: You deserve the same respect from me. Part of my responsibility as a Professor at Florida State University involves occasional attendance at academic conferences which interfere with the normal class schedule. I attempt to make these overlaps as harmless as possible to the course (using guest lectures, special events, or additionally provided review times). As of the writing of the syllabus, I am notified that I am to be on call for federal jury duty during the month of January. It is likely that even if I am on a jury I will be able to hold class; if, however, that is not the case my graduate assistant, Mr. Andrew Smyth, will present the lectures. Everything that Mr. Smith presents in my absence has the full force for this class just as if I were here to present the lecture myself. If my jury duty interferes with my office hours, Mr. Smyth and I will schedule alternate hours with him.

 

Honor Code: Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in the Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook.

 

Office Hours:  My office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., and by appointment. My office is 265 in the Bellamy Building. My e-mail address is misaac@fsu.edu. My phone is 644-7081.

 

Note: Students entitled to special academic accommodations are encouraged to come to my office and present a letter from the Student Disability Resource Center describing the nature of the accommodations required.

 

Final Notes: Anyone who interacts in any way with any cell phone, pager, smart phone, etc. other than to silence it will lose two points on the next exam. It is my experience that computer lap-tops are used primarily for Facebook and fantasy sports. Therefore, you may not use a laptop during class unless it is in some part of an authorized special academic accommodation.