ECON 302: Industrial Organization and Public Policy (Fall 2008)

Description: This course connects the theoretical predictions of market structures (e.g., monopoly, oligopoly, perfect competition) and market characteristics (e.g., product differentiation, information) to the real world. Special emphasis is given to anti-trust legislation. Topics include collusion, mergers, predatory pricing, vertical constraints, price discrimination, and privatization.

Prerequisites: ECON 255 (Microeconomic Theory). Knowledge of differential calculus and solving systems of equations is necessary.

Textbook 1: Breit, William, and Kenneth G. Elzinga, The Antitrust Casebook: Milestones in Economics Regulation, 3rd edition, Thomson South-Western Publishing, Mason, Ohio. ISBN 0-03-016319-6

Textbook 2: Pepall, L., Richards, D., and G. Norman, Industrial Organization: Contemporary Theory and Empirical Applications, 4th edition, Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4051-7632-3

ECON 255: Microeconomic Theory (Fall 2008)

Description: This course analyzes the economic behavior of households and firms and their interrelations in the market. For households, this course studies utility maximization given changes in prices, tastes, and information. For firms, this course studies price and resource allocations in different cost and market structures.

Prerequisites: ECON 111 (Principles of Macroeconomics), ECON 112 (Principles of Microeconomics), and one year of calculus. Knowledge of differential calculus and solving systems of equations is necessary.

Textbook: Varian, Hal R., Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, 7th edition, W.W. Norton Publishing, 2005, New York.

ECON 249: Statistics (Spring 2009)

Description: This course introduces statistical concepts necessary for economic analysis. These topics include probability theory, random sampling, hypothesis testing, and least squares estimation. This course uses Excel to manipulate data.

Prerequisites: ECON 111 (Principles of Macroeconomics) or ECON 112 (Principles of Microeconomics). Knowledge of elementary algebra and solving systems of equations is necessary.

Textbook: Newbold, Paul, Carlson, William L., and Betty Thorne, Statistics for Business and Economics, 6th edition, Prentice Hall Publishing, ISBN 0-13-220384-7.

other courses:
Principles of Macroeconomics (ECON 111)
Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 112)
Econometrics (ECON 314)