The Power of Markets III: Input Markets and Promoting Efficiency

The final module of the Power of Markets course begins by further exploring firm behavior in imperfectly competitive market settings: how firms with monopoly power can increase profits through price discrimination; and the price-output combinations we can expect firms to select in cases of monopolistic competition and oligopoly. We will also analyze monopolies from an efficiency perspective and look at the effects of imperfect information on firm and consumer behavior. We will next turn to exploring input markets and what determines the demand for an input by a firm, an industry, and the overall market. We will also look at the factors that affect input supply and how the supply of an input interacts with demand to determinant input prices. We will use input market theory to analyze institutions and government policies such as the NCAA sports cartel, the minimum wage, Social Security, and immigration. Finally, we will address the concept of market efficiency and what government can do to promote it as well as how government intervention may diminish it.

• Week 9 - Product Pricing With Monopoly Power
• Price Discrimination. Firm Behavior in Cases of Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly.
• Week 10 - Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly
• Imperfect Information. The Efficiency Effects of Monopoly. Firm, Industry, and Market Demand for an Input.
• Week 11 - The Market for Inputs
• The Supply of Inputs and the Determination of Input Prices.
• Week 12 - Can Government Intervention Improve Market Outcomes?
• Using Input Market Theory to Analyze the Minimum Wage, Social Security,Immigration, and the NCAA. Promoting Market Efficiency and Why Government Intervention in Markets May be Justified.