Quick links:
General course information (this page) |
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INFOSYS 231 |
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Economics of Information |
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Instructor(s) |
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Yale
Braunstein |
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Time/Location |
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Tue-Thur 2:00-3:30pm |
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(Last updated 16 March 2007)
Important notes:
Weekly Schedule
Day/Week |
Topic / Major Readings |
Section (*) |
Jan. 18 |
Introduction to information in the economy; macroeconomics; input-output analysis; Machlup; Porat |
A.1 & A.2 |
Jan. 23 - 25 |
Input-output analysis (continued); Rubin: Secondary information sector |
A.2 & A.2.a |
Jan. 25 – 30; Feb 1 |
Information as an input (Hayes & Erickson, Braunstein); unbalanced growth (Baumol) |
A.3 & B |
Feb. 6 |
Review class #1--Theory of the Firm (see below) |
. |
Feb. 8 |
Economies of scale & scope (Bailey & Friedlaender) |
A.3 & C |
Feb. 13 |
Review class #2--Market Equilibrium |
. |
Feb. 15 |
Market
failures: monopoly, externalities, information asymmetries |
D & E |
Feb. 20 |
Review class #3--Creative Pricing (see link below) |
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Feb. 22 |
Technical compatibility standards |
F & G |
Feb. 27 |
Coase's
Theorem, Intellectual property rights (esp. databases); |
H & I.1 |
Mar. 1 |
(continuation of the above, if needed) |
I.2 & I.3 |
Mar. 6 |
Telecom:
Regulation and deregulation of local telephone service, with a focus
on transition problems. |
J & K |
Mar. 8 |
Telecom
& Mass Media: Competition in the delivery of video services |
J & K |
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L |
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N & O |
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NOTE: (*) These sections are numbered to match the web version of the course outline.
General Information
Three Tuesdays in February (Feb. 6, 13 & 27) will be used for
economics review sessions. More detail
is available below.
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Frank
& Bernanke |
Case &
Fair |
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Lecture/Topic |
1st
ed. |
2nd
ed. |
3rd
ed. |
8th
ed. |
1 – Introduction |
1-3 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
1-2 |
- Supply & Demand |
4 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
- Competitive Supply; Costs |
6 |
6 |
6 |
7-9 |
2 - Market Equilibrium |
8-9 |
8-9 |
8, 10 |
12-13 |
3 – Dead-weight Loss |
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Monopolistic competition & Oligopoly |
10 |
10 |
11 |
14 |
Externalities & Property rights |
11 |
11 |
12 |
15 |
Economics of Information |
12 |
12 |
13 |
15 |
Introduction to Macroeconomics |
17-18 |
17-18 |
17-18 |
18-19 |
One useful text is Frank & Bernanke, Principles of
Economics, McGraw-Hill 2002, 2004, or 2007. (ISBN 0073125679 for the 3rd
edition) The other option is Case & Fair, Principles of Economics, 8th edition (Pearson). It is assigned
for Econ. 1 this semester.
The text
book websites are at:
(Frank & Bernecke) http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073125679/information_center_view0/
(Case & Fair,
8th edition) http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_case_econ_8
There
are PPT lectures and other supplementary materials for each chapter at the web
sites.
Almost any other reasonably
good, reasonably current text will work as a substitute. Most chapters should have direct parallels in
every book.
REVIEW
#1--ASSIGNMENT FOR Feb. 6:
REVIEW #2--ASSIGNMENT FOR
Feb. 13:
REVIEW
#3--ASSIGNMENT FOR Feb. 20:
Assignments, etc.