Industrial Organization

Industrial organization is an application of microeconomic theory to firms and industries. We will study firms and how they make decisions to increase their profitability. In this course you will begin to understand the different strategies that firms use to profit and what the welfare implications of these decisions are. The first section of the course will focus on how a firm in isolation makes decisions to maximize their profits. The second section explores models which allow firms to strategically interact with one another. The final section covers how firms organize themselves, through tools such as mergers & acquisitions, along with the role of network effects and innovation in driving profitability. Generally, topics include market structure, pricing practices, advertising, antitrust, and public policy. The implications of firm decisions will be discussed in every section.