HS 440 - INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS

Semester:

Autumn 2018

Instructor:

Prof. Surajit Bhattacharya

Prerequisites:

The Prof assumes that you are well versed with the concepts of HS101, and builds up on those basics.

Motivation:

The course provides a detailed analysis of topics in Industrial Economics, how firms and industries behave and interact in the market, and how government policies affect the firm economy. It is a course with lots of practical examples and applications to everyday life, builds up a strong understanding of Industrial Economics concepts.

Course Content

The course starts with the behaviour of firms in the industry, and the short run and long run production function. Major decisions affecting the firm’s profit maximization criteria are analysed. The equilibrium between the goods market and money market and the various factors affecting this are discussed. The firm and basic models of perfect competition, monopoly, and oligopoly are worked out analytically.

The Prof teaches amazing in class and attending his classes is highly recommended. He covers the mathematical analysis and then gives real world and practical applications. The quizzes and exams are a bit on the tougher side. He also gives a lot of handouts in class, which are a must read for the exams. He does not fully follow from a textbook, but his class notes and handouts are good enough to get a feel of the topic and perform decently in the exams.

There were 2 quizzes, 2 assignments, a midsem and an endsem for the course. There was also a voluntary project for those who were interested. It was not graded, but mainly for those interested to apply for non-core profiles.

Overall the course was really interesting and a great learning experience, although it demanded a fair amount of time.