Location: Siemens Hall 213b. Hours: Mon., Tues., and Thurs. 3:30-5:00, and by appointment for special circumstances. Telephone number: 826-3237.

E-Mail: sh2@humboldt.edu
Course Internet site address: http://www.humboldt.edu/~econ459

• To understand contemporary economic theory as it applies to market structure and performance.
• To learn about antitrust law and how it has been applied to particular firms and industries over time.
• To learn the fundamentals of the theory of economic regulation.
• To see how economic regulation and deregulation has worked in particular industries.
• To further develop your written and oral communication skills, as well as your research capabilities.

Viscusi, W. Kip, John Vernon, and Joseph Harrington, Economics of Regulation and Antitrust (MIT Press, 1995)

Week 1: Introduction; The Making of Regulation (Chapters 1 and 2 of the textbook)

Week 2: Introduction to Antitrust; Efficiency and Technical Progress (Chapters 3 and 4 of the textbook)

Week 3: Oligopoly, Collusion, and Antitrust (Chapter 5 of the textbook)

Week 4: Market Structure and Strategic Competition (Chapter 6 of the textbook)

Week 5: Mergers (Chapter 7 of the textbook)

Week 6: Vertical Mergers and Restrictions (Chapter 8 of the textbook)

Week 7: Monopolization and Price Discrimination (Chapter 9 of the textbook)

Week 8: Introduction to Economic Regulation (Chapter 10 of the textbook)

Week 9: Theory of Natural Monopoly (Chapter 11 of the textbook)

Week 10: Regulation of Natural Monopoly (Chapter 12 of the textbook)

Week 11: Franchise Bidding and Cable TV (Chapter 13 of the textbook)

Week 12: The Regulation of Potentially Competitive Markets: Theory and Estimation Methods (Chapter 16 of the textbook)

Weeks 13, 14, and Tues of Week 15: Student Presentations

Week 16: Final Exam, Tues 19 December @ 8:00-9:50 am

My responsibility is to lead and motivate students who are committed to the learning process, and to determine the extent to which students have mastered the material covered in this course. By signing up for this course you have accepted responsibility for attending class regularly and on-time, being an active learner who contributes to the classroom discussion, and for your performance on assignments.

Missed or late assignments: If you fail to take an exam, turn in a term paper, give a presentation, or do your homework, you will receive a "0." The only exception is for serious and compelling reasons, which are limited to documented and serious illnesses, hospitalization, death in the family, or equally important reasons. If this occurs to you, you must notify me as soon as possible (and prior to exams) and I will offer you an alternative to receiving "0". Turning in late term papers can place those who respected the deadline at a grade disadvantage because they had less time to develop their work. Accordingly, unless you have a serious and compelling reason for missing an assignment or term paper deadline, you will receive a 2 letter grade deduction for lateness.

Grading Philosophy: Grades are based on my professional opinion of your work and are not subject to negotiation. If I have made an error, however, please bring it to my attention.

Conduct: Don't be late, don't interrupt speakers, be courteous of others, and engage the subject matter. Help create a friendly, inclusive, and rigorous classroom culture in which everyone is welcome to comment and contribute, and in which diversity is respected.

20 percent of your final grade will derive from a combination of homework, attendance and class participation.

Each student will select their own topic and write a term paper, due Tues., 28 Nov. 1998. There are several approaches that can be taken on the term paper. One approach is to write a case study of the economics of regulation or deregulation regarding a particular industry, such as electricity, local telephone service, or cable TV. Another approach is to write about a particular antitrust case, such as Microsoft, AT&T/Bell, NCAA, Archer Daniels Midland, or GE. I encourage a student study the competitiveness of the local gasoline market. A third approach would be to write a term paper on the economics of a particular area of antitrust or regulation, such as the economics of tying contracts, entry deterrence by an incumbent monopolist, or price-cap vs. rate-of-return regulation. Each term paper will have a cover page with title and author, up to seven double-spaced pages of text (with all references cited in the appropriate text), bibliography (at least five separate sources), tables and figures, and any appendix material. Your grade will depend on your mastery of the relevant economic and legal concepts and the quality of your writing. The term paper counts for 30 percent of your final grade.

Each student will have approximately one class period to give a presentation of their term paper research. Your presentation grade will depend on the evident mastery of your subject matter, ability to respond to questions, use of multimedia such as handouts and Powerpoint, your ability to engage your audience, and ability to cover your topic in the time allotted. The presentation counts for 20 percent of your final grade.

You will take a comprehensive final examination on all the material covered during the semester. The final exam counts for 30 percent of your final grade.

Numerical scores are assigned for each graded item. Your Course Numerical Score will be:

.20*(Homework/Attendance/Participation Score) + .30*(Term Paper Score) + .20*(Presentation Score) + .30*(Final Exam Score).

This Course Numerical Score will then be converted into a letter grade based on the following scale:

100 - 93: A
92.99 - 90: A-
89.99 - 88: B+
87.99 - 83: B
82.99 - 80: B-
79.99 - 78: C+
77.99 - 73: C
72.99 - 65: C-
64.99 - 60: D+
59.99 - 50: D
49.99 - 0: F


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