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POLECON 111Q: Game Theory and Mathematical Models in Politics

Preference to sophomores. Rational choice methodology in political science. Why have third-party candidates been unsuccessful in the U.S. when other countries often have numerous political parties? Does racial gerrymandering contribute to Republican control of the House of Representatives? Why do people vote, despite the slim chance that a single vote determines an election? Is there a difference between policy outcomes under unified government versus divided government.
Last offered: Winter 2007 | Units: 5

POLECON 230: Strategy Beyond Markets

This course develops techniques and tools to use in firms' strategic interactions beyond the market environment. We'll examine firms' interactions with stakeholders, constituents, and institutions, including interest groups, legislatures, regulatory agencies, courts, international organizations, and the public.nn nnTopics covered in the class include: intellectual property, health care reform, carried interest in private equity, peer-to-peer lending, and beyond market strategy for start-ups. The goal is to develop integrated strategies for optimal firm performance that combine strategies within and beyond markets.
Terms: Spr | Units: 2

POLECON 231: Strategy Beyond Markets: Challenges and Opportunities in Developing Economies

This course shares significant material with POLECON 230 and the goal of developing integrated strategies for optimal firm performance that combine elements within and beyond markets. POLECON 231 diverges from the base course to delve deeper into issues that are particularly salient for entrepreneurs in emerging and frontier markets. Using a combination of cases from developed and developing countries, we will expand the list of topics considered to include managing political risk and protecting the firm in the face of uncertain and discretionary regulatory environments. The objective is to provide a solid grounding in the techniques explored in 230, while refining skill sets and whetting appetites for investment in higher risk environments.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3

POLECON 239: MSx: Strategy Beyond Markets

This course addresses managerial issues in the social, political, legal, and ethical environments of business. Cases and readings emphasize strategies to improve the performance of companies in light of their multiple constituencies, in both international and US environments.nnnMost core courses focus on firms' interactions with customers, suppliers, and alliance partners in the form of mutually beneficial voluntary exchange transacted in markets. In contrast, this course considers the strategic interactions of firms with comparably important constituents, organizations, and institutions beyond markets. Issues considered include those involving activist and interest groups, the media, legislatures, regulatory and antitrust agencies, and international organizations such as the WTO.nnnIn many of the class sessions, we will draw on theoretical and empirical research in political economy, a field that is particularly relevant for understanding relationships between firms and governments, because (unlike most of economics) political economy focuses on interactions that are neither voluntary nor transacted via money.
Terms: Aut | Units: 2

POLECON 342: Finding Spiritual Meaning at Work: Business Exemplars

This course explores the experience of respected business leaders who have been able to integrate their spiritual and business lives successfully. It also provides an explicit opportunity for students to discuss their own intentions to find deep meaning in and through their business careers. Difficulties, struggles and barriers will be examined as well. Readings will include both biographies of specific business people and background materials on the major religious and philosophical traditions represented. A number of the exemplars whose biographical information will be examined, like Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn, will be invited to class -- initially to listen to the class discussion, and then to provide feedback to students, expand on their own biographies and the background resources read in preparation for each class, and respond to questions and answers. This course will help students elucidate how their business careers fit into what ultimately matters most to them and how to build moral courage and long-term commitment to their ideals.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3

POLECON 349: The Business World: Moral and Spiritual Inquiry through Literature

This course uses novels and plays as a basis for examining the moral and spiritual aspects of business leadership and of the environment in which business is done. On the one hand literature is used as the basis for examining the character of business people, while on the other hand literature provides illumination of the cultural contexts of values and beliefs within which commercial activities take place in a global economy. The course is organized around the interplay of religious traditions and national identities. Classes are taught in a Socratic, discussion-based style, creating as much of a seminar atmosphere as possible. A two-text method is used, encouraging students to examine their own personal stories with as much care as the stories presented in the literature. This course will be graded on the basis of class participation, weekly reflection papers (1 page), and a final paper. There will be no exam.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3

POLECON 351: Global Business: Unspoken Rules of the Game

This course will provide both theoretical and practical assistance to students who will be engaged in global business -- in terms of understanding and negotiating issues of custom, cultural ethos, and underlying religious traditions which are often unspoken but critical to business success. Frameworks and modes of analysis will be presented that can be used universally, but then will be applied concretely, through case studies, to business contexts in China, Japan, India, the Middle East, Israel, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the United States. Background information will be included on major religious traditions involved, like Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The class will be discussion-based, drawing on students' own life experience as well as that of invited guests who are personally familiar with business practices in various parts of the world.
Terms: Win | Units: 3

POLECON 528: Measuring Opinion and Sentiment

Measuring the opinions and sentiments of consumers and employees are important responsibilities of several areas of managerial responsibility including marketing, strategy, business development, and sales. We focus on three main approaches learning the preferences of key stakeholders in the design of products and services: (1) surveys; (2) experiments; and (3) "big data." Topics include sampling, questionnaire design, and experimental design and methodology. The main assignment will be a group project. Students should have either taken Data & Decisions or have some familiarity with statistics.nn
Last offered: Winter 2015 | Units: 2

POLECON 538: Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovation is challenging to bring to market because of the power of entrenched incumbents and their political advocates. This course will discuss market and non-market strategies for effectively deploying and scaling up disruptive technologies. We will focus on developed products and initial business/company building. Pedagogical techniques include case studies, historical analysis, strategic frameworks, and interactive group presentations. The course will feature guest speakers as well as the co-instructor's experience as the first business leader (and now CFO) of Dropbox as it grew from an early stage company to a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Terms: Aut | Units: 2

POLECON 584: Managing Global Political Risk

In a globalized world, managers and investors are increasingly realizing that politics matter as much as economic fundamentals. Micro-level decisions made by local politicians in Brazil or India, national-level strategies of countries like China and Russia, and multi-national regimes, policies, and norms are all affecting global businesses in significant and often surprising ways. This course examines the full array of political risks confronting businesses today, from creeping expropriations to sudden shocks like national debt defaults and coups to emerging threats like cyber exploitation. Students will learn about impediments to assessing political risk and how to tackle them; develop strategies for managing political risk in a systematic way; and craft tools for mitigating the downside effects of political risk to business. Each session will include customized case studies and mini-simulations for students to walk in the shoes of senior managers confronting these challenges.
Terms: Win | Units: 1

POLECON 680: Foundations of Political Economy

This course provides an introduction to political economy with an emphasis on formal models of collective choice, public institutions, and political competition. Topics considered include voting theory, social choice, institutional equilibria, agenda setting, interest group politics, bureaucratic behavior, and electoral competition. Also listed as Political Science 351A.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3

POLECON 681: Economic Analysis of Political Institutions

This course extends the foundations developed in P680 by applying techniques of microeconomic analysis and game theory to the study of political behavior and institutions. The techniques include information economics, games of incomplete information, sequential bargaining theory, repeated games, and rational expectations. The applications considered include agenda formation in legislatures, government formation in parliamentary systems, the implications of legislative structure, elections and information aggregation, lobbying, electoral competition and interest groups, the control of bureaucracies, interest group competition, and collective choice rules. Also listed as Political Science 351B.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4

POLECON 682: Institutions and Bridge-Building in Political Economy

This course critically surveys empirical applications of formal models of collective-choice institutions. It is explicitly grounded in philosophy of science (e.g., Popperian positivism and Kuhn'€™s notions of paradigms and normal science). Initial sessions address the meanings and roles of the concept of institutions in social-science research. Historically important works of political science and/or economics are then considered within a framework called Components of Institutional Analysis (or CIA), which provides a fully general way of evaluating research that is jointly empirical and formal theoretical. The course concludes with contemporary instances of such bridge-building. The over-arching objectives are to elevate the explicitness and salience of desirable properties of research and to illustrate the inescapable tradeoffs among the stipulated criteria. nAlthough this is a core course in the GSB Political Economy PhD curriculum, its substantive foci may differ across years depending on the instructor. For Professor Krehbiel'€™s sessions, the emphasis is on legislative behavior, organization, and lawmaking, and on inter-institutional strategic interaction (e,g, between executive, legislative, and judicial branches in various combinations). nStudents should have taken POLECON 680 and POLECON 681. Also listed as Political Science 351C.
Terms: Win | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Krehbiel, K. (PI)

POLECON 683: Political Development Economics

This course surveys emerging research in political economics as it applies to developing societies, emphasizing both theoretical and empirical approaches. Topics will include: corruption and "forensic" political economics, institutional reform and democratization, ethnicity, conflict and public goods provision, and the role of trade and financial innovations in political development. The aim of the course is to bring students to the frontier of the field and develop their own research. Graduate level proficiency in microeconomics and empirical methods will be required.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Jha, S. (PI); Smith, J. (GP)

POLECON 691: PhD Directed Reading (ACCT 691, FINANCE 691, GSBGEN 691, HRMGT 691, MGTECON 691, MKTG 691, OB 691, OIT 691, STRAMGT 691)

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

POLECON 692: PhD Dissertation Research (ACCT 692, FINANCE 692, GSBGEN 692, HRMGT 692, MGTECON 692, MKTG 692, OB 692, OIT 692, STRAMGT 692)

This course is elected as soon as a student is ready to begin research for the dissertation, usually shortly after admission to candidacy. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

POLECON 698: Doctoral Practicum in Teaching

Doctoral Practicum in Teaching
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1 | Repeatable 25 times (up to 50 units total)

POLECON 699: Doctoral Practicum in Research

Doctoral Practicum in Research
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1 | Repeatable 25 times (up to 50 units total)

POLECON 802: TGR Dissertation (ACCT 802, FINANCE 802, GSBGEN 802, HRMGT 802, MGTECON 802, MKTG 802, OB 802, OIT 802, STRAMGT 802)

Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 0 | Repeatable for credit
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