Course Description
Decision making within firms and public organizations, using standard microeconomic tools. Transaction costs and the size of the firm, the compensation and motivation of workers, mergers and corporate control, team production, and the theory of bureaucracy.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
A course project or additional exam will be required of graduate students.
Athena Title
Economics of Orgs and Mgmt
Prerequisite
ECON 4010
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Apply Economic Models to Firm Decision-Making: Students will apply economic models to firm behavior under various market structures, evaluating how pricing, production, and risk decisions influence firm performance and market efficiency.
- Estimate and Interpret Empirical Relationships: Students will estimate and interpret demand, production, and cost relationships using econometric techniques, identifying statistical patterns, testing hypotheses, and drawing conclusions based on data.
- Evaluate Strategic and Incentive-Based Decisions in Imperfect Markets: Students will evaluate firm strategies and organizational designs under conditions of asymmetric information, adverse selection, and moral hazard, while considering ethical and social implications.
Topical Outline
- Introduction and the Economic Way of Thinking
- Markets, Organizations, and Knowledge
- The Nature of the Firm: Transaction Costs and the "Make-or-Buy" Decision
- Contracting Costs and Economic Organization: Agency, Adverse Selection
- Decision Rights and the Boundaries of the Firm
- Compensation and Motivation
- Performance Evaluation
- Information Technology and Economic Organization
- Mergers and the Market for Corporate Control
- Public and Non-Profit Organizations
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
