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AGRICULTURAL &
RESOURCE
ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY |
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EEP 142 - Industrial Organization with Applications to Agriculture and Natural Resources
Spring Semester,
Sofia Villas-Boas
Important Announcement:
Problem set 1 due in class Feb 12th, after lecture 4 of material. Problem set 2 due in class Mar 18th. Midterm due Thursday March 20th by 4pm Problem set 3 due in class April 29th. Final Exam is due the latest May 15th 4pm, follow instructions in the email you receive from me. No Excpetions! We meet in 150 GSPP.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE HERE. PLEASE CHECK PERIODICALLY.
Industrial organization is concerned with the workings of markets, in particular, the way firms interact and compete with each other.
This course covers some of the firms strategies that are characteristic
of market interaction: price competition, product differentiation,
price discrimination, predatory pricing, vertical integration, dealer networks
and advertising.
In addition we study the role of public policy in the markets: (1) regulatory laws, such as agricultural price support programs and marketing orders and (2) antitrust or competition policy.
Some of the agricultural and natural resource applications we discuss are: the oil cartel OPEC; the diamonds cartel De Beers and the motives for its policy and reputation for not lowering prices; agricultural cooperatives; predation and acquisition of rivals in tobacco industry; vertical integration of food processors; franchising of fast-food chains; the role of hygiene grade cards in reducing asymmetric information and provision of quality.
Many of the lectures will be theoretical, but the material will be supplemented discussions of empirical and case studies.
During the last two weeks students present group projects. Link to Past Group Projects.
Please look at past students impressions on the course: Link
The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 3:30pm in 150 GSPP .
Office hours: Friday. 4-5 pm or by appointment in room 226 Giannini Hall.
If you wish to put homework in my mailbox it is in room 207 in Giannini Hall.
Textbook: Modern Industrial Organization, Dennis W. Carlton and Jeffrey Perloff, 3rd Edition, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2000. A copy of this textbook is available in the Moffitt Library. Companion web-page
Optional Reading: Introduction to Industrial Organization, Luis M. B. Cabral, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000.
Course Requirements: 3 Problem sets 20%; Group project+ class participation 20%; Midterm 20% (optional); Final Exam, Group 2, due Friday May 11th, 60% (or 40% if midterm counts)
If you need disability-related accommodations in this class, if you have emergency medical information you wish to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately. Please see me privately after class or at my office. The Disabled Students' Program (DSP) is the campus office responsible for verifying that students have disability-related needs for academic accommodations and for planning appropriate accommodations, in cooperation with the students themselves and their instructors. Students who need academic accommodations should request them from DSP: 230 Cesar Chavez Student Center, 642-0518 (voice) and 642-6376 (TTY); Webpage http://www.dsp.berkeley.edu/ .
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Last updated Spring, 2008
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