BUSINESS AND PUBLIC POLICY (WH) {BPUB}
201. (BPUB770) Political Economy of Social Policy. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Society. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Prerequisite(s): ECON 1 or equivalent.
This course uses microeconomics to evaluate public
policy. The course has two aims. The first aim is
to provide a microeconomic toolkit that we will use
to identify failures of the competitive market; the
circumstances in which government intervention can
improve economic efficiency; and alternatives to
government intervention. The second aim of the course
is to apply this toolkit to current policy issues,
including environmental regulation, tax policy, health
care reform and the problem of the uninsured; education
policy; social security reform and the costs and
benefits of private accounts; antitrust policy, and
policy to promote research and development.
202. (BPUB664, TRAN201) Principles of Transportation. (B) Allen. Prerequisite(s): None, but microeconomics helpful. Some elementary economics will be utilized and will
be developed in class. This course is an introductory
course designed to familiarize the student with the
subject matter of transportation. Expenditure in
the transportation industry totals 16% of the US
Gross Domestic Product and transportation and other
supply chain expenditures in many firms are second
only to labor costs. While the industry has been
substantially deregulated in the last 25 years, the
transition to deregulation is not complete and the
legacy of 100 years of regulation still exists. In
addition, the industry is unique in the sense that
a major portion of the major factor of production
(its infrastructure) is publicly financed. These
factors make the industry different from others and
suggest different management policies. Topics covered
include: location analysis, mass transport, costs
and pricing analysis, regulation and deregulation,
and economic development.
203.Business in the Global Political Environment. (C) Bailey. Prerequisite(s): ECON 001 or equivalent. This course focuses on business
issues that are mediated through the public secor.
Specific governmental policies towards markets
will be examined, including antitrust policy,
economic regulation and deregulation, social
regulation, and market infrastucture (intellectual
property, fraud and securities regulation.) The
course includes discussion of corporate responsibility
and ethical issues in international business.
Lectures and case studies focus on currently
pending actions worldwide, including Internet
related issues. The course applies theoretical
principles of strategic thinking, industrial organization, and political science to studying the interactions
between multinational firms and political institutions.
204.(BPUB777, BPUB960) Cost Benefit Analysis. (B) Pack, J. Prerequisite(s): Microeconomics. Cost benefit analysis -- the principal
tool for project and policy evaluation in the public
sector. For government whose "products" are
rarely sold, the valuation of costs and benefits
by means alternative to market prices is necessary.
It is the counterpart to cost accounting in private
firms and provides guidance for avoiding wasteful
projects and undertaking those that are worthwhile.
Given government regulations, cost benefit evaluations
are critical for many private sector activities.
Real estate developers, manufacturing firms, employers
of all types are required to provide evaluations
of environmental impacts and of urban impacts for
their proposed projects. They too must engage in
cost benefit analysis, in the valuation social
benefits and costs. Government analysts, consultants,
and private firms regularly carry out cost benefit
analyses for major investments -- bridges, roads, transit systems, convention centers, sports stadia,
dams -- as well as for regulatory activities -- --
OSHA workplace safety regulations and the Clean Air
Act are two important examples.
206. (BPUB772, REAL206, REAL772, REAL972) Urban Public Policy and Private Economic Development. (C) Pack, J. Prerequisite(s): Microeconomics. This course considers the pervasive
interactions between real estate developers and government.
Governments influence real estate development in
many ways: through zoning laws, taxes, public expenditures,
impact fees, infrastructure, building codes, environmental
regulations, to name just a few. Private real estate
developers are the prime movers in determining urban
development patterns. Thus, we will consider how
private development is influenced by, and influences,
government regulation, the government policies listed
above and how governments influence and respond to
private activity.
As a "case study" of this interaction between government and real
estate developers and markets, we will consider one
of the major policy interventions currently being
advocated, adopted, and considered by governments
throughout the country - growth controls or smart
growth to deal with the alleged problem of urban
sprawl. To this end, we will consider what is meant
by urban sprawl, why it is considered a problem -
by whom - why growth controls are considered a solution
to the problem, the possible effects of growth controls
on various groups, the views of developers about
both urban sprawl and growth controls. Several guest
lecturers from the private, not-for-profit, and public
sectors are scheduled to make presentations.
212. (LGST212, PPE 212) Economic Analysis of Law. (C) Asher. Prerequisite(s): ECON 1. The course is designed to teach students how
to think as an economist about legal rules; to evaluate
alternative legal rules against standards of economic
efficiency and distributive justice; and to understand
the nature of the legal process and several specific areas of the law. With the use of alternative texts, both
deductive and inductive reasoning will be employed
to study the formation and interpretation of legal
rules.
230. (ECON237, FNCE230, REAL230) Urban Fiscal Policy. (A) Inman. Prerequisite(s): Introductory Economics, FNCE 101. The purpose of this course is to examine the financing
of governments in the urban economy. Topics to be
covered include the causes and consequences of the
urban fiscal crisis, the design of optimal tax and
spending policies for local governments, funding
of public infrastructures and the workings of the
municipal bond market, privatization of government
services, and public financial systems for emerging
economies. Applications include analyses of recent
fiscal crises, local services and taxes as important
determinants of real estate prices, the infrastructure
crisis, financing and the provision of public education,
and fiscal constitutions for new democracies using
South Africa as an example.
236. (FNCE236, REAL236) International Housing Comparisons. (B) Wachter. Prerequisite(s): None. This course focuses on international comparisons
of housing finance systems and housing market outcomes.
This includes comparative analyses of the financial
and economic factors that underlay housing market
differences and similarities. Changing housing market
institutions and policies in developed and emerging
economies are examined. The course also addresses
the implications of the integration of global financial
markets for national housing markets. International
speakers present their views on institutional innovations
and the policy setting process in their respective markets. Various approaches to understanding these issues will be used, including
readings, written assignments, and group projects.
L/R 250. Managerial Economics. (C) Seim. Prerequisite(s): ECON 001, AP credit or the equivalent; MATH 103, AP credit or the equivalent. This course introduces students to "managerial
economics," the application of microeconomic
theory to management problems. Microeconomic theory
is a remarkably useful body of ideas for understanding
and analyzing human behavior in a variety of contexts.
Our goal in this course is to get you to internalize
this body of theory well enough so that you can analyze
management problems. While this is a "tools
course", we will be mindful of applied business
problems throughout the course. After presenting
the competitive model we will dwell on other market
structures more like those encountered by typical
firms (monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition).
We will spend some time on microeconomic lessons
on the development and use of market power, as well
as strategic interaction among firms. Finally, we
will spend some time on the theory of market failure.
261. (BPUB761, BPUB961, ESE 567, OPIM261, OPIM761) Risk Analysis and Environmental Management. (M) Kunreuther. Prerequisite(s): None, but microeconomics helpful. This course is designed to introduce students to the complexities of making
decisions about threats to human health and the environment when people's perceptions of risks and their decision-making
processes differ from expert views. Recognizing the limitations of individuals in processing information, the course
explores the role of techniques such as decision analysis, cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment and risk perception
in structuring risk-management decisions. We will also examine policy tools such as risk communication, incentive systems,
third party inspection, insurance and regulation in different problem contexts. The problem contexts for studying
the interactions between analysis, perceptions, and communication will include risk-induced stigmatization of products
(e.g. alar, British beef), places (e.g. Love Canal), and technologies (e.g. nuclear power); the siting of noxious facilities,
radon, managing catastrophic risks including those from terrorism. A course project will enable students
to apply the concepts discussed in the course to a concrete problem.
288. International Industrial Development Strategies. (C) Pack, H. Prerequisite(s): Wharton Managerial Economics or an undergraduate intermediate microeconomics course. The course
analyzes the problems of emerging markets. The course
considers the industrialization strategies they have
chosen and the recent financial and macroeconomic
problems they have encountered. Particular emphasis
will be given to the recent problems of Latin American
and Asian countries that experienced rapid growth
for considerable periods only to encounter major
reversals in the last half of the 1990s. The implications
of this experience for the private and public sectors
will be considered in detail. The role of foreign
aid, the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund in dealing with crises in developing countries
will be explored in detail.
289. Nations, Politics, and Markets. (C) Pack, H. Prerequisite(s): Econ 2 or its equivalent, Finance 102. This course
is designed for students who are interested in pursuing
an international career and for those who plan to work for industrial and financial corporations that operate in emerging markets.
The course will deal with the economic and political
problems of macroeconomic adjustment, corruption,
the transition economies, and international financial transactions. All of these topics will be illustrated with in-depth
studies of economies in Africa, Asia, Latin America,
the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and China.
298. (BPUB798, MGMT798, PPMT998) Privatization: An International Perspective. (C) Choksi. Prerequisite(s): None. Privatization is sweeping the globe. The redefinition
of boundaries between the public and private sectors
creates new and exciting opportunities for businesses
and policy makers. This course will review the international
experience with privatization -- the Thatcher privatizations
of the 1980s, the current sale of utilities, airlines,
and telecommunication companies in emerging and developed
economies. We will analyze the ongoing transformation
of post Communist countries. Students will learn
how to value state-owned assets using real option
value techniques. We will discuss bidding strategies
in privatization auctions. The last part of the course
offers an introduction to project finance as a new
form of cooperation between the public and private
sectors.
664. (BPUB202, TRAN201) Economics of Transportation. (B) Allen. Prerequisite(s): None, but microeconomics helpful. This course is an introductory course designed to familiarize
the student with the subject matter of transportation.
Expenditure in the transportation industry totals
16% of the US Gross Domestic Product and transportation
and other supply chain expenditures in many firms
are second only to labor costs. While the industry
has been substantially deregulated in the last 25
years, the transition to deregulation is not complete
and the legacy of the 100 years of regulation still
exists. In addition, the industry is unique in the
sense that a major portion of the major factor of
production (its infrastructure) is publicly financed.
These factors make the industry different from others
and suggest different management policies. Topics
covered include: location analysis, mass transport,
costs and pricing analysis, regulation and deregulation,
and economic development.
720. Behavioral Economics and Prediction and Betting Markets. (B) Wolfers. Prerequisite(s): None. This class considers an intriguing and growing
set of non-traditional markets, including trading
(or gambling) on the outcome of sporting events,
elections, political risks, corporate outcomes, public
policy and economic statistics. We will explore these
markets, drawing on insights from economics and psychology,
and highlighting the parallels between these markets
and other existing markets. We will examine the potential
uses of these markets in the business and public
policy domains. Importantly, the success of these
markets depends on whether these markets yield efficient
forecasts, which in turn depends on factors such
as market design, and the biases exhibited by individual
traders. We then turn to discussing recent advances
in behavioral economics and attempt to apply psychologically-grounded
theories of information processing to a particular
set of prediction markets: sports betting. Assessing
potentially profitable trading strategies with a critical eye, we will discuss not only
investment opportunities, but what these findings
reveal about both human psychology and the operation
of markets.
761. (BPUB261, BPUB961, ESE 567, OPIM261, OPIM761) Risk Analysis and Environmental Management. (M) Kunreuther. Prerequisite(s): None, but microeconomics helpful. This course is
designed to introduce students to the role of risk
assessment, risk perception and risk management in
dealing with uncertain health, safety and environmental
risks including the threat of terrorism. It explores
the role of decision analysis as well as the use
of scenarios for dealing with these problems. The
course will evaluate the role of policy tools such
as risk communication, economic incentives, insurance,
regulation and private-public partnerships in developing
strategies for managing these risks. A project will
enable students to apply the concepts discussed in
the course to a concrete problem.
770. (BPUB201) The Political Economy of the Public Sector. (C) Staff. Prerequisite(s): A basic understanding of microeconomics. This course explores the role of government in the economy. We will first consider
the economic rationale for government intervention in the economy - in which situations is government intervention
in private markets warranted? We will then analyze the successes, failures, and compromises inherent in government
interventions in a variety of areas, such as: the environment, legalizing marijuana, research and development,
piracy and intellectual property, merger policy, financial disclosure, banking, airlines, media, social security,
terrorism, bankruptcy, education, health care, labor unions, employment regulation, and tax policy.
772. (BPUB206, REAL206, REAL772, REAL972) Urban Public Policy and Private Economic Development. (B) Pack, J. Prerequisite(s): Microeconomics. This course considers the pervasive interactions between real estate developers
and government. Governments influence real estate development in many ways: through zoning laws, taxes,
public expenditures, impact fees, infrastructure, building codes, environmental regulations, to name just a few.
Much of the time in the course is spent understanding the effect on residential and commercial real estate development
of these government interventions.
As a "case study" of this interaction between government and real
estate developers and markets, we will consider one
of the major policy interventions currently being
advocated, adopted, and considered by governments
throughout the country - growth controls or smart
growth to deal with the alleged problem of urban
sprawl. To this end, we will consider what is meant
by urban sprawl, why it is considered a problem -
by whom - why growth controls are considered a solution
to the problem, the possible effects of growth controls
on various groups, the views of developers about
both urban sprawl and growth controls. Several guest
lecturers from the private, not-for-profit, and public
sectors are scheduled to make presentations.
773. (FNCE730, REAL730) Urban Fiscal Policy. (A) Inman. Prerequisite(s): MGEC 621, FNCE 601. The purpose of this course is to
examine the financing of governments in the urban
economy. Topics to be covered include the causes
and consequences of the urban fiscal crisis, the
design of optimal tax and spending policies for local
governments, funding of public infrastructures and
the workings of the municipal bond market, privatization
of government services, and public financial systems
for emerging economies. Applications include analyses
of recent fiscal crises, local services and taxes as important determinants of real estate
prices, the infrastructure crisis, financing and
the provision of public education, and fiscal constitutions
for new democracies using South Africa as an example.
777. (BPUB204, BPUB960) Cost Benefit Analysis. (B) Pack, J. Prerequisite(s): Microeconomics. Cost benefit analysis -- the principal
tool for project and policy evaluation in the public
sector. For government, whose "products" are
rarely sold, the valuation of costs and benefits
by means alternative to market prices is necessary.
It is the counterpart to cost accounting in private
firms and provides guidance for avoiding wasteful
projects and undertaking those that are worthwhile.
Given government regulations, cost benefit evaluations
are critical for many private sector activities.
Real estate developers, manufacturing firms, employers
of all types are required to provide evaluations
of environmental impacts and of urban impacts for
their proposed projects. They too must engage in
cost benefit analysis, in the valuation of social
benefits and costs.
Government analysts, consultants, and private firms regularly carry out cost
benefit analyses for major investments -- bridges,
roads, transit systems, convention centers, sports
stadia, dams -- as well as regulatory activities - OSHA workplace safety regulations and the Clean Air Act are two important examples.
784. (MGMT784) Managerial Economics and Game Theory. (C) Thomas. Prerequisite(s): Intermediate microeconomics. It is expected that the
student has been introduced to some basic game theory.
There will be a quick review of the basics and some
recommended supplemental readings for those who have
little or no background in game theory.
The purpose of this minicourse is to develop students' abilities to apply game
theory to decision making. Development of the tools
of game theory and the application of those tools
is emphasized. Game theory has become an important
tool for managers and consultants in analyzing and
implementing tactical as well as strategic actions.
This course will primarily focus on examples useful
for developing competitive strategy in the private
sector (pricing and product strategy, capacity choices,
contracting and negotiating, signaling and bluffing,
takeover strategy, etc.). Game theory can also be
used to address problems relevant to a firm's organizational
strategy (e.g. internal incentives and information
flow within a firm) and to a firm's nonmarket environment
(e.g., strategic trade policies, litigation and regulation
strategy).
788. (BPUB288, BPUB988) International Industrial Development Strategies. (C) Pack, H. Prerequisite(s): Wharton Managerial Economics or an undergraduate intermediate microeconomics
course. The course analyzes the problems of emerging
markets. The course considers the industrialization
strategies they have chosen and the recent financial
and macroeconomic problems they have encountered.
Particular emphasis will be given to the recent problems
of Latin American and Asian countries that experienced
rapid growth for considerable periods only to encounter
major reversals in the last half of the 1990s. The
implications of this experience for the private and
public sectors will be considered in detail. The
role of foreign aid, the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund in dealing with crises in developing
countries will be explored in detail.
789. Nations, Politics, and Markets. (C) Pack, H. Prerequisite(s): FNCE 602. This course is designed for students who
are interested in pursuing an international career
and for those who plan to work for industrial and
financial corporations that operate in emerging markets.
The course will deal with the economic and political
problems of macroeconomic adjustment, corruption,
the transition economies, and international financial transactions. All of these topics will be illustrated with in-depth
studies of economies in Africa, Asia, Latin America,
the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and China.
798. (BPUB298, MGMT798) Privatization: An International Perspective. (C) Choksi. Prerequisite(s): None. Privatization is sweeping the globe. The redefinition
of boundaries between the public and private sectors
creates new and exciting opportunities for businesses and policy makers. This course will
review the international experience with privatization
-- the Thatcher privatizations of the 1980s, the
current sale of electric utilities, airlines, and telecommunication companies in emerging and developed economies. We will also
analyze the ongoing transformation of post Communist
countries. Students will learn how to value state-owned
assets using real option value techniques. We will
discuss bidding strategies in privatization auctions.
The last part of the course offers an introduction
to project finance as a new form of cooperation between
the public and private sectors.
SM 900. Research Seminar. (F) Waldfogel. Prerequisite(s): None. Permission of instructor required. After
doctoral students complete their coursework they
typically learn how to do research in two ways, by
watching others present research (see BPUB 962, which
gives course credit for participating in the Wharton
Applied Economics Seminar), and by preparing and
presenting their own research. This course is meant
to provide a venue where Wharton doctoral students
whose work has an applied economic flavor can present
their research as it progresses. We will meet weekly,
on Thursdays at noon for student research presentations.
The course provides a venue for moving research forward,
including both papers assigned for other classes
and research leading toward a dissertation. This
course aims to bring students a hands-on understanding
of the research process itself, and the course is
appropriate for all doctoral students with applied
microeconomic interests who have completed at least
one year of their doctoral program. This one-credit
course meets Thursdays 12-1:20. Our first (organizational)
meeting is the first Thursday of the semester. We
will determine our meeting frequency based on enrollment
and the timing of student presentations. Our expectations
of students' research presentations vary with students'
progress in their respective programs.
911. Empirical Public Policy. (B) White. Prerequisite(s): A graduate-level statistics or econometrics course.
This course examines econometric research on a variety
of topics related to public policy, with the goal
of preparing students to undertake academic-caliber
research. The course is not an econometrics or statistics
course per se; rather, it focuses on research designs
with observational data and how econometric techniques
are applied in practice. The course aims to train
students to do applied economic research that involves
measuring effects of theoretical or practical interest.
It proceeds in two major parts. The first part examines
endogeneity and inference about causal relationships,
instrumental variables methods and critiques, and
panel data methods. The second part of the course
addresses 'structural' econometric modeling. Topics
covered in this part include sorting and selection,
entry models, and counterfactual analyses of policy
changes. The course proceeds by analyzing, in detail,
approximately 24 well-known empirical research papers
in applied economics or related fields. These include
public economics and tax policy, labor economics,
law and economics, health care policy, industrial
organization and competition, transportation demand
and policy, and others.
The course is participatory in nature. Students are required to prepare research
proposals and to complete an empirical research paper
that can develop into (part of) a dissertation.
951. Political Economy. (A) Inman. Prerequisite(s): PHD course with advanced microeconomics. This course
will introduce the students to the basic models of
formal political economy and methods for empirically
estimating those models from policy data, both for
the developed and developing economies. Topics to
be covered will include Downsian electoral competition
and median voter politics, theories of legislative
politics including minimum winning coalition and
universalistic (pork-barrel) politics, models of
lobbying and political corruption, models of executive
influence in legislative settings. Particular attention
is paid to the role of formal (constitutional) and
informal (non-constitutional) institutions as they
determine policy outcomes in democratic societies,
including majoritarian (first-past-the-post) and
proportional representation systems of elections,
partisan (party) and non-partisan (special interest)
legislatures, executive agenda-setting and veto powers,
federal and unitary forms of governance, and finally,
the role of judicial review. Policy applications
will focus on fiscal policy (taxes, spending, and
debt), though students
should feel free to apply the analysis to other public policies of interest.
Students should have a firm understanding of micro-economic
theory and applied econometrics.
960. (BPUB204, BPUB777) Cost Benefit Analysis. (B) Pack, J. Prerequisite(s): Microeconomics. The principal tool for project and
policy evaluation in the public sector. For government,
whose "products" are rarely sold, the valuation
of costs and benefits by means alternative to market
prices is necessary. It is the counterpart to cost
accounting in private firms and provides guidance
for avoiding wasteful projects and undertaking those
that are worthwhile. In addition, given government
regulations, cost benefit evaluations are critical
for many private sector activities. Real estate developers,
manufacturing firms, employers of all types are required
to provide evaluations of environmental impacts and
of urban impacts for their proposed projects. They
too must engage in cost benefit analysis, in the
valuation of social benefits and costs. PhD students
will write a paper on a theoretical or applied issue
in cost-benefit analysis in lieu of the final examination.
Government analysts, consultants, and private firms regularly carry out cost
cost benefit analyses for major investments -- bridges,
roads, transit systems, convention centers, sports
stadia, dams -- as well as regulatory activities
- OSHA workplace safety regulations and the Clean Air Act are two important examples.
961. (BPUB261, BPUB761, OPIM261, OPIM761) Risk Analysis and Environmental Management.
(M)
Kunreuther. Prerequisite(s): None, but microeconomics helpful. This course is
designed to introduce students to the role of risk
assessment, risk perception and risk management in
dealing with uncertain health, safety and environmental
risks including the threat of terrorism. It explores
the role of decision analysis as well as the use
of scenarios for dealing with these problems. The
course will evaluate the role of policy tools such
as risk communication, economic incentives, insurance,
regulation and private-public partnerships in developing
strategies for managing these risks A project will
enable students to apply the concepts discussed in
the course to a concrete problem.
SM 962. Applied Economics Seminar. (F) Waldfogel. Prerequisite(s): None. The goal of this course is to help doctoral
students develop critical thinking skills through
both seminar participation and writing of referee
reports. To this end students will attend the Wharton
Applied Economics each Wednesday at noon seminar
when it meets; prepare two written referee reports
on WAE papers per semester, due before the seminar
is presented; after attending the seminar - and the
ensuing discussion of the paper - students will prepare
follow-up evaluations of their referee report reports,
due one week after the seminar.
987. Regulatory Policy. (C) Seim/Waldfogel. Prerequisite(s): Doctoral level economics (e.g. ECON 701, 703
or ECON 680, 682). Corequisite(s): This course
acquaints students with topicsin applied industrial
economics that are most relevant to business school
doctoral students. The course aims to provide both
methodological training in some of the approaches
of contemporary empirical work, as well as topical
depth in a variety of areas. Topics covered include,
but are not limited to, entry modeling, product
selection, concentrationand product targeting,
distributional effects of market allocation, endogenous
sunk costs and market structure, information and
competition, the challenges of selling information
goods, historical lock-in, and innovation.
988. International Industrial Development Strategies. (C) Pack, H. Prerequisite(s): MGEC 621. The course analyzes the problems of emerging
markets. The course considers the industrialization
strategies they have chosen and the recent financial
and macroeconomic problems they have encountered.
Particular emphasis will be given to the recent
problems of Latin American and Asian countries
that experienced rapid growth for considerable
periods only to encounter major reversals in the
last half of the 1990s. The implications of this
experience for theprivate and public sectors will be considered in detail. The role of foreign
aid, the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund in dealing with crises in developing countries
will be explored in detail.
899. THE ECONOMIC & FIN.CRISI. This class analyzes the causes and consequences of the current economic and
financial crisis, and provides a forum for the discussion
and analysis of the policy options available. The
class consists of a well-structured series series
of interactive lectures by Wharton or Penn faculty
specializing in the economic, financial, policy,
and political aspects of the crisis, both in the
United States and around the world. Topics will include
the macroeconomic aspects of the crisis, financial
innovation, global contagion, the role of central
banks and multilateral agencies, and the impact of
the crisis on banks,stock markets, insurance, and
private equity. Material from the United States,
Europe, Japan, China, Russia, Latin America, and
the Middle East will be discussed. Format: Lecture,
five 5-page reaction papers. Prerequisites: None.
This class analyzes the causes and consequences of
the current economic and f
TRANSPORTATION (TRAN)
201. (BPUB202, BPUB664) Principles of Transportation. (C) Allen. This course studies the use of transportation as an instrument of social policy
and the role of government (via regulation) in the industry. Topics covered include: location analysis, mass
transport, costs and pricing analysis,regulation and deregulation, and economic development.
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