ECON 278 - Industrial Organization and Firm Behavior (Fall 2016)

Syllabus

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Problem sets: 1 (Solutions), 2 (Solutions), 3 (Solutions), 4 (Solutions), Case Studies

Exams: Midterm 1 (Solutions, Results), Midterm 2 (Solutions, Results), Final (Solutions, Results)

Papers we discussed: Hotelling (1929), d'Aspremont et. al (1979)

Case study presentation schedule:

• Monday, November 14: Arnav & Marcus (US v. Microsoft), Byron & Matt R. (American Airlines - US Airways), Liyang & Andrew (US v. Paramount)
• Wednesday, November 16: Ria & Beau (Exxon - Mobil), Joe & Matt J. (US v. Microsoft)

Lecture slides:

• September 14: Moral hazard
• September 16 and 19: Perfect competition
• September 21: Monopoly
• September 23 and 26: Cartels
• September 28 and 30: Oligopoly
• October 5: Monopolistic competition
• October 14 and 19: Price discrimination
• October 21: Information

Non-textbook readings:

• September 21: "Too much of a good thing" & "Monopoly is Not a Game"
• October 28: "Time to fix patents" & "Bitter fight over CRISPR patent heats up"
• October 31: "Should you be able to patent a human gene?" & "In defense of gene patenting"
  • November 11: "Taxi medallion owners find their dreams dashed by Uber, Lyft"

END-OF-TERM STUFF

Course evaluation (please fill me out!)

Exam details:

• The exam is mandatory self-scheduled, meaning that you can take it in the Concert Hall during any of the ten exam slots. You don't actually schedule it, per se, you just show up. The exam will be waiting for you in an envelope with your name on it.
  • DON'T come to our regular classroom during our scheduled exam slot -- it is mandatory self-scheduled, meaning you must take it in the Concert Hall.
  • Because you will be taking the exam at different times, academic integrity requires you to not discuss the exam with any other student until all students have taken it. If another students asks you as much as "Was it hard?" and you answer, that's technically a punishable violation. So please don't discuss the exam with other students until Tuesday.
  • For more details on self scheduled exams, see here.
• The exam is cumulative, i.e. it covers all of the material that we've covered this term. It will have a slight focus on the material that we've covered since the second midterm, so perhaps about 50% of it will be on things that we've done since the second midterm.
  • I may choose to repeat some questions from the midterms or the problem sets, so you should review those carefully (see solutions below).
• The exam is two and a half hours. That's over double the length of our midterms. I tried to write a final that is about 1.5 times as long as the midterms, so you should find that you have more time per question.
  • There are 9 questions in the exam, worth a total of 92 points.
• No calculators. Don't bring one, because they will not allow you to take it to your desk. All of the math on the exam is simple. If you ever end up with a fraction that you're too lazy to simplify, just leave it: if you write 1800/9 instead of 200, that's fine (you won't lose any points). No notes or cheatsheets -- you will only be allowed to bring pens and pencils into the room.
• You are only required to explain answers when I explicitly ask you to explain your answer. Read the questions carefully.
• If you think a question is unclear and unanswerable without further information, assume something that you believe makes it answerable. State your assumption clearly. Obviously, I'm going to do my best to make everything as clear as possible to avoid you having to do this.
• Solutions to the exam will be posted on Tuesday. I will put your raw exam grades on Moodle at some point next week, and add a file to the course website (like I did for the midterms) to help you contextualize your performance. If you want your graded exam back, drop by my office at some point the week following the exam (email to make sure I'm around). You can also pick it up next term.
• I'll probably enter in your final grades to the system during the week after your exam, but you won't actually see them until the registrar posts them, which I think will happen on Wednesday, November 30th (or perhaps a little later).

Additional office hours and optional review session:

• I'm holding additional office hours on Thursday from 12pm-2:45pm and Friday from 8:00am - 10:30am. I will not be available during my usual Friday office hours (in the afternoon).
• The optional review session is confirmed for 3pm on Thursday in our regular room, Olin 101. I even booked the room officially -- aren't you proud of me?