MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE

Department of Economics, Finance & Management

 

GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS

Fall semester, 2004

Professor William C. Perkins

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Government and Business deals with competition and market power and public policy designed to improve the conduct and performance of firms in markets.  Theories of competition and monopoly will be discussed and market structure and the performance of firms in those markets in the U.S. economy will be examined.  Regulation, deregulation and anti-trust policy will be discussed.

REQUIRED READING:

(1)   The Economics of Industrial Organization  5^th edition by William and Joanna Shepherd, Waveland Press: copyright 2003 (paperback)

(2)   Industry Studies, 3^rd edition by Larry Duetsch (editor), M.E. Sharpe, publisher: copyright 2002 (paperback)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: The mid-term exam and the final exam will each count 35% each.  Each student will select an industry in the United States to analyze.  A short term paper based upon that industry and brief class presentation will count 20%.  Class attendance and participation will comprise the remaining 10%.

 

UNIT I: BASIC CONCEPTS: Competition and Monopoly (weeks 1, 2 & 3)

               Shepherd: chapters 1 and 2. 

UNIT II: MARKET STRUCTURE  (weeks 4 & 5)

                Shepherd: chapters 3 and 4.

UNIT III: INDUSTRIAL MARKET PERFORMANCE (weeks 6 & 7)

                Shepherd: chapters 5, 6 & 7.

 

FIRST EXAM (week 8)

 

UNIT IV: BEHAVIOR and RELATED TOPICS (weeks  9, 10 & 11)

                Shepherd: chapters 10 – 16.

 

UNIT V: PUBLIC POLICIES (weeks 12 & 13)

                Shepherd: chapters 19 & 20.

 

UNIT VI: INDUSTRY CASE STUDIES  (remainder of semester)

                Shepherd and Duetsch reading to be announced at a later date

 

FINAL EXAM*

 

*date to be announced..

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