Microeconomics studies the workings of individual markets. That is, it examines the interaction of the demanders of goods and services with the suppliers of those goods and services. It explores how the behavior of consumers (demanders), the behavior of producers (suppliers), and the level of market competition influence market outcomes.

This course develops the tools that are commonly used to study the allocation of resources in a private enterprise economy. Topics covered include the theory of consumer behavior, cost and production, and alternate market structures.

This course utilizes principles of economics to analyze the design and enforcement of intellectual property rights. We consider the role of intellectual property rights in the promotion of innovation. The economic strengths and weaknesses of patents, copyrights, and trade secrets as mechanisms for securing rights to innovations are evaluated. Alternatives to proprietary rights for promoting innovation—such as research contests, subsidies, and National Science Foundation research awards—are considered. We study how the US Patent and Trademark Office functions; economic analyses of how it is funded; and analyses of how its policy initiatives are designed to promote innovation. Economic theory and practice is applied to the examination of actual patents and examination of 10-K annual reports in which firms describe their intellectual property and strategies for securitizing their rights. Economic models of firms that produce ‘complex’ goods—goods such as communication satellites that embody multiple patented innovations and multiple (trade) secreted innovations—are developed and analyzed. The course also includes discussion of economic perspectives on reverse engineering; the ‘fair use’ doctrine; digital rights management; and measures of patent quality. Students will gain familiarity with writing conventions in economics in general and in applied microeconomics in particular, and will correspondingly have opportunities to gain instruction and practice in such writing.

This course examines the relationship and apparent conflict between economic growth and environmental quality, the economics of environmental issues and policy, the environment as a resource and a public good, and the ability and lack of ability of free markets and the government to deal adequately with pollution and other environmental problems.