Results for POLECON

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.

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.nnnTopics covered in the class include: environmental regulation, intellectual property, antitrust, bank bailouts, health care reform, carried interest in private equity, protectionist trade policies, strategic corporate social responsibility, 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.

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 outside of 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.

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 four unit course will be graded on the basis of class participation and a final paper. There will be no exam.

Need approval from sponsoring faculty member and GSB Registrar.

This is an advanced version of the GSB's class on Strategy Beyond Markets. It is intended for students who have substantial experience in governments, activist groups, the media, or heavily-regulated industries. The class is also appropriate for students who have academic backgrounds in law, political science, or public policy.nn nnTopics covered are similar to those in the base level class on strategy beyond markets (POLECON 230): environmental regulation, intellectual property, antitrust, bank bailouts, health care reform, carried interest in private equity, protectionist trade policies, political risk in developing countries, self-regulation, and strategic corporate social responsibility.nn nnCompared to the base level, this class places less emphasis on introducing basic facts and frameworks for understanding the nonmarket environment. It places more emphasis on introducing students to foundational research in political economy. This research is applied to specific strategic situations that companies face as they try to shape the environment in which they interact with activists, governments, and regulatory agencies.

This course examines organizational decision making in ways that depart from the "thin theory" of rationality in one of two respects. (1) The thin theory presumes that decision makers are fully rational, i.e., they are cognitively unconstrained. We will examine a variety of cognitive constraints and their effects on institutional behavior and policy outcomes. (2) The thin theory presumes individualistic preferences: people care only about their own payoffs. There is now substantial evidence that this assumption is sometimes inaccurate. We will study some of this literature.nnnMuch of the important work in this area has come not from political economy but from cognitive psychology and behavioral economics. Hence, we will spend between a third and a half of the quarter on micro-foundations. nnnThroughout the course, contrasts will be drawn between models based on the thin theory of rationality and less orthodox ones. Consequently, some familiarity with theories of rational choice is desirable. Any course on game theory or normative decision theory suffices. nnnAlthough the motivation for relaxing the thin theory has been largely empirical, the orientation of this course is heavily theoretical. Many of the theories that we will study are expressed as mathematical or computational models. Students are expected either to have a taste for formal reasoning or at least to tolerate it.

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.

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.

This course surveys applications of formal models to several stages of decision making, primarily in the U.S. national government and with an emphasis on the legislative branch. The course begins with explicit consideration of issues in philosophy of science and introduces an analytic framework to be applied to specific research throughout remaining sessions. Substantive topics and applications covered include strategies of committees, roll call voting, policy formation, effects of special rules, congressional-presidential relations, and congressional-agency relations. Students should have taken POLECON 680 and POLECON 681. Also listed as Political Science 351C.

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.

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.

This course introduces students to the core issues of law and economics and their applications to managerial strategy. Markets and the legal environment are increasingly interrelated: issues such as antitrust, intellectual property, privacy rights, product regulation, and torts affect firms' profitability both directly through legal action and indirectly by determining the "rules of the game." Nor are companies simply reactive to legal and political forces; actions taken by managers in firms often propel issues before the public eye. For instance, electronic collection and collation of personal data has stimulated new concerns about privacy, while court decisions, new legislation, and public opinion have all played roles in determining what is acceptable. Such legal and political forces invariably necessitate changes in corporate strategy, and the effectiveness of corporate strategy often rests on managers' ability to anticipate, rather than simply react to, developments in the nonmarket environment. nnnCases and readings consider specific legal principles and how executives can anticipate, and take effective action with regards to, the threats and opportunities they present. The course will focus on legal doctrine within the United States, but will also consider the legal ramifications of corporate actions with regards to other nations and international law. The course also considers other important nonmarket issues, such as responding to pressure from independent interest groups and understanding how firms may influence the legislative process, though in less depth than Nonmarket Strategy.nnnStudents are expected to come to class with a thorough understanding of the both the legal issues involved and the economic considerations of the case under discussion. By the end of the course, students will have acquired a thorough understanding of the legal principles covered, as well as a strategic acuity regarding the appropriate market and nonmarket responses. Grades will be based on student's demonstration of this understanding through class participation and a final exam.

This course explores the impact intellectual property rights have on business decisions. We begin with a general background of intellectual property law including copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret. We will also cover quasi property rights such as database and privacy. Each of these distinct rights will be examined through a case methodology affording students an opportunity to gauge the relative strengths and weaknesses of a particular form of protection. As the value of intellectual property rises, the avenues of economic return increase. We will analyze various methods of maximizing such economic returns. Focus for this course is on the impact both technological innovation and intellectual property law have on business strategies. This is not a class designed to teach students the law of intellectual property. Rather, this course educates business decision makers on the impact intellectual property can have on the bottom line. This course employs a mixed lecture/case discussion format. We will have several sessions with lectures by visiting industry experts.

The course deals with the recent (post war) sustained high growth in the developing world and its likely evolution and impact in the future. How are these kinds of growth rates possible? What accounts for the absence of growth in a part of the developing world? What are the key political ingredients? Attention will be given to the evolving global landscape surrounding this growth. What is the impact of this widening pattern of growth and are there natural brakes that may slow the process down or make it difficult for the non-G20 developing countries and their 1/3 of the world's population to start or sustain the high growth process. The class will attempt to identify and assess the impact of important global trends and challenges. Included in the latter will be governance issues. We will spend a little time on the impact of the 2008-2009 crisis, the transmission channels and lessons learned from the vantage point of developing countries.

This is a topics class aimed at advanced students in political economy and related disciplines. It will consist of a combination of lectures and student presentations. Grading will be based on class participation and a research proposal/paper.

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.