Industrial Organization


Book Description

Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice blends a rigorous theoretical introduction to industrial organization with empirical data, real-world applications and case studies. The book also supports students with a range of problems and exercises, and definitions of key terms and concepts. This balanced approach, which enables students to apply theoretical tools, has earned this book its ranking as one of the leading undergraduate texts in its field. For the fifth edition, relevant data, tables, empirical examples and case studies have been updated to reflect current trends and topics, in the most complete reorganization since the second edition. Further changes include: all public policy topics have been placed in the last section, making it simpler to use for courses that emphasize theory or public policy; an entirely new chapter on international trade and industrial organization; a new chapter on mergers; a separate section on antitrust; a companion website with PowerPoint slides and other supplements. This comprehensive book bridges the gap between economic theory and real-world case studies in an accessible, logical manner, making it the ideal undergraduate text for courses on industrial organization.




Pioneers of Industrial Organization


Book Description

. . . this collection should be viewed as a pioneering effort. . . this book would most likely serve as a useful quick reference source for students of industrial economics. It can also serve as a valuable point of departure for those who wish to study intellectual developments in a major field in more detail. John Howard Brown, Journal of the History of Economic Thought This work will be indispensable for anyone who undertakes serious scholarly research in industrial organization. With its knowledgeable authors and editors, this book offers us valuable materials, about the work of writers long forgotten and others inadequately recognized, that can contribute much to understanding in the field. William J. Baumol, New York University and Princeton University, US This encyclopaedic work celebrates the scores of leading pioneers who created the modern economic field of industrial organization, at the heart of which lie competition and monopoly, the two great forces that drive modern markets. Their pioneering work has shaped the field s growing research as well as the past, present and future debates in Europe and America over several centuries. This landmark book includes authoritative entries on all the major figures in both Europe and North America. Pioneers of Industrial Organization also reveals how public policies such as antitrust and regulation and deregulation since the 1970s can promote, or impede economic results and progress. Readers will find the intellectual pioneers, the theories and policies, and the debates, in all their variety herein. Some pioneers have been free-market advocates, others have been more protective of popular values, but all have strained to make the economic engine promote more wealth, progress and fairness. This book presents the people, ideas and debates with careful neutrality, and also with clear, concise writing. For all those interested in modern economic progress and its problems, this book provides deep insight as well as great personal colour. It will be an essential source of reference for students, researchers and professors of economics, as well as those concerned with the historical foundations or the conceptual and thematic developments in industrial organization.




Mainstreams in Industrial Organization


Book Description

The present two volumes contain the essays and part of the discussions as presented at the conference on Mainstreams in Industrial Organiza tion, held at the University of Amsterdam, 21-23 August 1985. The thema was chosen because the field of studies commonly designated "industrial organization" in the Anglo-Saxon countries, or "market theory" in Continental Europe, has experienced important alterations during the past decade. Partly this reflects changing theoretical views inside the field, in which shifts in the core concepts have occurred and different emphasis is laid on time-honoured views and results. Partly, critical views have been voiced from outside the field. As in all open scientific debate, they have to be weighed and, if necessary, taken into account. Partly also, diver gent developments in thinking between the Anglo-Saxon, European and Japanese areas need to be considered, because both the problems and the ways of approaching them still differ. The variety of views, theori~s and results is testimony to the vitality of this field of economics; variety is generated by the creative endeavours, from which the chaff is being beaten out by critical discussions. That is especially true for the concept of competition itself, which industrial organization economists are debating intensively.




Industrial Organization in Context


Book Description

Industrial Organization in Context examines the economics of markets, industries and their participants and public policy towards these entities. It takes an international approach and incorporates discussion of experimental tests of economic models.




Industrial Organization, Antitrust, and Public Policy


Book Description

This book contains a selection of the papers presented at the third annual Middlebury College Conference on Economic Issues, held in April, 1981. The theme of the conference was "Industrial Organization and Public Policy. '' It is perhaps testimony to the complexity of our industrial structure that thirty years have passed without legislative action on antitrust even as the field of industrial organization has been heavily mined by scholars. Evidence that Congress prefers a hands-off policy seems now stronger than ever. This book seeks to present analyses and assessments that would aid the reader in judging the correctness of such public policy. Alfred Kahn, in Part I, questions whether scholars whose concerns lie in the field of industrial organization can contribute significant insights to the major problems of the day - inflation, declining productivity, rising costs of resources, and income allocation. Although the paper following is not a direct response to Professor Kahn's skepticism, Willard Mueller presents in it a lively attack on those who discount the importance of an activist antitrust policy. Given the rather sharply contrasting views of Professors Mueller and Kahn, Oliver Williamson's contribution is an op portune perspective of where antitrust enforcement has been in the past two decades, and where it is going in the 1980s. Part I concludes with David Audretsch's assessment of the effectiveness of the enforcement of our merger law, followed by Robert Smith's proposal that we tie antitrust action more closely and more logically to macro stabilization policies.




Applied Industrial Organization


Book Description

Applied Industrial Organization offers a perspective on the richness of empirical industrial organization studies. Some papers derive empirical implications from theoretical models, but other papers start from empirical evidence and construct a theory. Three major topics are explored: the role of innovation, the evolution of market structure and firms, and the determinations of performance. As the central force of market economies, innovation is the essence of competition and results in changes to market structures. Other forces driving the evolution of markets and firms are also analyzed. Finally, the determinants of profitability are investigated. In particular, characteristics such as price flexibility, successful lenders and monopoly regulation are examined. Contributors include F.M. Scherer, Paul Geroski, John Hey, David Audretsch, Manfred Neumann, among others.




The Economics of Industrial Organization


Book Description

The study of industrial organization extends to the core of some of the most important questions of economics: Who controls markets and profits from them? Does competition or monopoly result in a more beneficial economy? How can the economic playing field become fairer or more biased in either direction? Throughout the fields history, various clashing schools of thought have attempted to sort through these complex issues, examining both abstract theory and real-life cases. The Fifth Edition of this widely used, highly regarded text includes coverage of dramatic changes in the field. Shepherd and Shepherd provide broad, balanced coverage of topics without showing preference to any single point of view, encouraging readers to think independently. This emphasis on independent judgment is evident throughout the book, with discussion of structure placed before performance to assist the reader in thinking about causation. Topics are organized for maximum flexibility, with distinct chapters covering case studies, antitrust and regulation policy, and capital markets.







Empirical Studies in Industrial Organization


Book Description

Empirical Studies in Industrial Organization brings together leading scholars who present state-of-the-art research in the spirit of the structure-conduct-performance paradigm embodied in the work of Leonard W. Weiss. The individual chapters are generally empirically or public policy oriented. A number of them introduce new sources of data that, combined with the application of appropriate econometric techniques, enable new breakthroughs and insights on issues hotly debated in the industrial organization literature. For example, five of the chapters are devoted towards uncovering the link between market concentration and pricing behavior. While theoretical models have produced ambiguous predictions concerning the relationship between concentration and price these chapters, which span a number of different markets and situations, provide unequivocal evidence that a high level of market concentration tends to result in a higher level of prices. Three of the chapters explore the impact of market structure on production efficiency, and three other chapters focus on the role of industrial organization on public policy. Contributors include David B. Audretsch, Richard E. Caves, Mark J. Roberts, F.M. Scherer, John J. Siegfried and Hideki Yamawaki.