Industrial Organization In Context

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.

As most economies remain caught in a global recession, that shows little sign of abatement, the importance of maintaining a flourishing industrial sector for the economic wellbeing of a country has rarely been so relevant. Industrial Organisation has long served as a basic introduction to this subject. The book is concerned with economic problems and policy issues that arise from the activities of firms. The authors reject the traditional micro-economic analysis of market structure in favour of studying conduct and performance in the context of macro-economic policy and the environment which this provides for firms. Substantially revised and updated to take account of developments in the subject since the publication of the last edition, Industrial Organization includes four new chapters which reflect the major new areas of interest in industrial economics over the last decade. These include the increasing importance of the service sector and problems of relatively low productivity growth within this, and questions relating to increased levels of international competition in a more open world economy. This is a comparative study, drawing on empirical evidence from the UK, USA and the EC. Mathematical and econometric requirements are kept to a minimum, and the text has long been regarded as the most accessible introduction to the subject.

This volume is a theoretical introduction to many of the major issues in industrial organization - theory of the firm, static oligopoly models, price discrimination, product differentiation, entry deterrence and collusion and innovation. The readings have been selected in view of their applicability to developing countries and thus include contributions on regulatory policy and performance of public sector enterprises in the market-place - these are particularly relevant in the context of liberalized policy regimes introduced in many countries. It attempts to methodologically show that tools of industrial economics can be usefully applied to developmental issues, primarily in two areas: to analyse structural features specific to developing countries, and to the relationship between private sector managers and the bureaucracy. This book will interest students at all levels, researchers, policy-makers, and those interested in industrial policy and performance.

The Theory of Industrial Organization is the first primary text to treat the new industrial organization at the advanced-undergraduate and graduate level. Rigorously analytical and filled with exercises coded to indicate level of difficulty, it provides a unified and modern treatment of the field with accessible models that are simplified to highlight robust economic ideas while working at an intuitive level. To aid students at different levels, each chapter is divided into a main text and supplementary section containing more advanced material. Each chapter opens with elementary models and builds on this base to incorporate current research in a coherent synthesis. Tirole begins with a background discussion of the theory of the firm. In Part I he develops the modern theory of monopoly, addressing single product and multi product pricing, static and intertemporal price discrimination, quality choice, reputation, and vertical restraints. In Part II, Tirole takes up strategic interaction between firms, starting with a novel treatment of the Bertrand-Cournot interdependent pricing problem. He studies how capacity constraints, repeated interaction, product positioning, advertising, and asymmetric information affect competition or tacit collusion. He then develops topics having to do with long term competition, including barriers to entry, contestability, exit, and research and development. He concludes with a "game theory user's manual" and a section of review exercises. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images found in the physical edition.

Conventional economic theory assumes that consumers are fully rational, that they have well-defined preferences and easily understand the market environment. Yet, in fact, consumers may have inconsistent, context-dependent preferences or simply not enough brain-power to evaluate and compare complicated products. Thus the standard model of consumer behavior-which depends on an ideal market in which consumers are boundlessly rational-is called into question. While behavioral economists have for some time confirmed and characterized these inconsistencies, the logical next step is to examine the implications they have in markets. Grounded in key observations in consumer psychology, Bounded Rationality and Industrial Organization develops non-standard models of "boundedly rational" consumer behavior and embeds them into familiar models of markets. It then rigorously analyses each model in the tradition of microeconomic theory, leading to a richer, more realistic picture of consumer behavior. Ran Spiegler analyses phenomena such as exploitative price plans in the credit market, complexity of financial products and other obfuscation practices, consumer antagonism to unexpected price increases, and the role of default options in consumer decision making. Spiegler unifies the relevant literature into three main strands: limited ability to anticipate and control future choices, limited ability to understand complex market environments, and sensitivity to reference points. Although the challenge of enriching the psychology of decision makers in economic models has been at the frontier of theoretical research in the last decade, there has been no graduate-level, theory-oriented textbook to cover developments in the last 10-15 years. Thus, Bounded Rationality and Industrial Organization offers a welcome and crucial new understanding of market behavior-it challenges conventional wisdom in ways that are interesting and economically significant, and which in the end effect the well-being of all market participants.

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.