Seminar in Economic Theory and Policy

• Course description
• Course syllabus

Readings

1. Introduction: Market Efficiency
   • Francis M. Bator, "The Simple Analytics of Welfare Maximization"
2. Market Failure
   • Francis M. Bator "The Anatomy of Market Failure"
3. Unbalanced Growth
   • William J. Baumol, "Macroeconomics of Unbalanced Growth " - presented by Justin Tossas
4. Economics of War
   • Dora L. Costa and Matthew E. Kahn, "Cowards And Heroes: Group Loyalty In The American Civil War," NBER Working Paper, 2001. (available only from on-campus computers)
   • Dora L. Costa and Matthew E. Kahn, "Forging a New Identity: The Costs and Benefits of Diversity in Civil War Combat Units for Black Slaves and Freemen,"NBER Working Paper, 2003. (available only from on-campus computers)
   • William D. Nordhaus, "The Economic Consequences of a War with Iraq," Cowles Foundation Working Paper, Yale University, December 2002. - presented by Natale Lennon
   • Steven J. Davis, Kevin M. Murphy, and Robert H. Topel, "War in Iraq vs. Containment," NBER Working Paper, March, 2006. (available only from on-campus computers)
   • Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz, "The Economic Costs of the Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years After the Beginning of the Conflict," NBER Working Paper, February, 2006. (available only from on-campus computers)
   • Frederick W. Kagan, "The U.S. Military's Manpower Crisis," Foreign Affairs, New York: Jul/Aug 2006. Vol. 85, Iss. 4; pp. 97-110.
5. Economics of Professional Sports
   • Gerald W. Scully, "Pay and Performance in Major League Baseball" - presented by Josh Brundage
   • Sherwin Rosen and Allen Sanderson, "Labor Markets in Professional Sports," The Economic Journal, Vol. 111, No. 469, Features. (Feb., 2001), pp. F47-F68. - presented by David McLaughlin
   • John Siegfried, "Sports Player Drafts and Reserve Systems"
   • Lawrence M. Kahn, "The Sports Business as a Labor Market Laboratory"
   • John Siegfried and Andrew Zimbalist, "The Economics of Sports Facilities and Their Communities"
   • Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphrey, "Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development" - presented by Melanie Hamm
   • Robert Baade, Robert Baumann, and Victor Matheson, "The Economic Consequences of Professional Sports Strikes and Lockouts: Revisited"
6. Social Choice Theory
   • Kenneth Arrow, "A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare"
   • Duncan Black, "On the Rationale of Group Decision-Making"
   • Amartya Sen, "The Impossibility of a Paretian Liberal" - presented by Troy Frappier
7. Economics of the Family
   • Gary S. Becker, "Altruism in the Family and Selfishness in the Market Place" - presented by Catherine Southgate
   • Gary S. Becker, "A Theory of Marriage: Part I"
   • Gary S. Becker, "A Theory of Marriage: Part II"
   • Gary S. Becker, Elisabeth M. Landes, Robert T. Michael, "An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability"
8. Economics of Education
   • Gary S. Becker, "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis"
   • Frederic L. Pryor and David Schaffer, "Wages and the University Educated: a Paradox Resolved" - presented by Brett Ingalls
9. Gender Wage Discrimination
   • Gary S. Becker, "Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor" - to be presented by Paul Tschudi
   • Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, "Gender Differences in Pay"
   • Claudia Goldin and Cecilia Rouse, "Orchestrating Impartiality: The Effect of 'Blind' Auditions on Female Musicians," American Economic Review (September 2000) - presented by Natale Lennon
   • Claudia Goldin, "The Rising (and then Declining) Significance of Gender"
   • Claudia Goldin, "From the Valley to the Summit: The Quiet Revolution that Transformed Women's Work"
   • Claudia Goldin, Lawrence F. Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemko, "The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the Gender Gap in College." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20 (Fall 2006), pp. 133-56. - presented by Dave Spiegel
10. Minimum Wage Laws and Unemployment
    • David Card and Alan Krueger, "Minimum Wages and Unemployment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania"
    • Robert Valletta, "The Minimum Wage" - presented by Kevin Williams
    • David Card and Alan Krueger, "Time-Series Minimum Wage Studies: A Meta-Analysis"
    • David Neumark and William Wascher, "Minimum-Wage Effects on School and Work Transitions of Teenagers"
    • Richard Freeman, "The Minimum Wage as a Redistributive Tool" - presented by Thomas Chartrand
    • Margaret O'Brien-Strain and Thomas MaCurdy, "Increasing the Minimum Wage: California's Winners and Losers"
11. Health Care Issues
    • David M. Cutler and Mark McClellan, "Productivity Change in Health Care," American Economic Review, May 2001. pp. 281-286 - presented by Troy Frappier
    • Sherry Glied, "Health Care Costs: On the Rise Again," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Spring, 2003), pp. 125-148 - presented by Wenting Mi
    • David M. Cutler, "Equality, Efficiency, and Market Fundamentals: The Dynamics of International Medical-Care Reform," Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 40, No. 3. September 2002. pp. 881-906
    • Janet Currie and Mark Stabile, "Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?" The American Economic Review, Vol. 93, No. 5. (Dec., 2003), pp. 1813-1823 - presented by Wenting Mi
    • Michael Kremer, "Pharmaceuticals and the Developing World," The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 67-90 - presented by: Tim McNally
    • David M. Cutler, Mark McClellan, and Joseph P. Newhouse, "How Does Managed Care Do It?," The RAND Journal of Economics, Vol. 31, No. 3. (Autumn, 2000), pp. 526-548
12. Social Security
    • Martin Feldstein, "The Missing Piece in Policy Analysis: Social Security Reform"
    • Michael D. Hurd and Michael J. Boskin, "The Effect of Social Security on Retirement in the Early 1970s"
    • Alan B. Krueger and Jorn-Steffen Pischke, "The Effect of Social Security on Labor Supply: A Cohort Analysis of the Notch Generation" - presented by Thomas Chartrand
    • Laurence J. Kotlikoff, "Privatizing Social Security at Home and Abroad"
    • Jonathan Gruber and David Wise, "Social Security and Retirement: An International Comparison," presented by David McLaughlin
13. Monetary Policy Rules
    • Alan Blinder, "The Strategy of Monetary Policy" - presented by Zhibo Wu
    • Stanley Fischer, "Long-Term Contracts, Rational Expectations, and the Optimal Money Supply Rule"
    • John Taylor, "Reassessing Discretionary Fiscal Policy"
    • Edward Gramlich, "Monetary Rules"
    • Charles T. Carlstrom and Timothy S. Fuerst, "The Taylor Rule: A Guidepost for Monetary Policy?"
    • George A. Akerlof, William T. Dickens, George L. Perry, "Low Inflation or No Inflation: Should the Federal Reserve Pursue Complete Price Stability?"
14. Freakonomics - the original studies (class presentations available only from campus)
    • Mark Duggan and Steven D. Levitt, "Winning Isn't Everything: Corruption in Sumo Wrestling" - presented by Dave Spiegel, Kevin Williams, and Tim McNally
    • John Donohue and Steven Levitt, "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime" - presented by Brett Ingalls
    • Steven D. Levitt and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, "An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang's Finances" - Catherine Southgate
    • Roland G. Fryer, Jr. and Steven D. Levitt, "Understanding the Black-White Test Score Gap in the First Two Years of School" - presented by Paul Tschudi
    • Steven D. Levitt, "Testing Theories of Discrimination: Evidence from 'Weakest Link'" - presented by Justin Tossas
    • Julie Berry Cullen, Brian Jacob, and Steven Levitt, "The Impact of School Choice on Student Outcomes: An Analysis of the Chicago Public Schools"
    • Steven D. Levitt and Chad Syverson, "Market Distortions when Agents are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions"
    • Roland G. Fryer and Steven D. Levitt, "The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names"
15. Impact of Long-Run Government Deficit
16. International Issues