27 Aug Textbook: The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition,

Textbook: The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition, and Policy (7th Edition) byJohn Kwoka and Lawrence WhiteFor this course, I will accept three different types of original research papers: case study,empirical analysis, or theoretical analysis. Your paper should have a clear link to what we coverin this course (lectures and readings).General Approach(a) Focus on a common practice of modern firmsExamples: advertising, price discrimination(b) Focus on a common feature of modern marketsExamples: role of new technology, government regulationAfter choosing one of the two general approaches above, you should decide whether you want todo a case study, an empirical analysis, or a theoretical analysis within that general approach.(a) A Common Practice of Modern FirmsSelect a firm practice that interests you. In preparation for undertaking the research, you shouldevaluate the industries and major firms to which this practice appears to be important. Compareand contrast: why is this practice more prevalent in one industry than another? Why does firm Xadopt this practice more than firm Y?Brainstorming in this manner should lead you to some interesting research topics.For a case study, you should examine a particular instance of this practice by a firm (or a selectgroup of firms) in an industry. In general, you should pick an instance where the practice raisessome public policy concerns. As you are choosing a single instance, I will expect a detailed,micro-level analysis, along the same lines as the case studies presented in The AntitrustRevolution.For an empirical study, you should collect data on firms and/or industries in which thesepractice occur in differing amount or form. Use the data to measure either the determinants of thepractice (what are the factors that lead firms to adopt this practice) or the impact of the practiceon firm/industry performance. An ideal paper would examine both. The main constraints wouldbe [1] the availability of relevant data and [2] familiarity with econometrics and econometricssoftware.For a theoretical study, you can do one of two things: you can either write a literature reviewon the recent models proposed by academic economists to explain some aspect of the chosen 2firm practice or write your own model (can and most likely will be an extension of an existingmodel). The first option will require you to read and synthesize quite a few academic papers,some of which will be technical in nature. The second option will require you to gain familiaritywith the analytical tools of modern economics, including constrained optimization and gametheory.(b) A Common Feature of Modern MarketsThis approach is similar to (a) above but focuses on a market feature instead of a firm practice.RequirementsThe outline should be 2-3 pages and the paper should be 15 pages (doubled-spaced, 12-point font,and 1-inch margins).I expect the paper to be well-written. Properly document your paper and use formal citationpractices. As a warning, I will prosecute plagiarism to the fullest extent. I do not mind you usingresearch or information from another source as long as you properly cite it.A good reference on how to properly cite your sources is the MLA Handbook for Writers ofResearch Papers, available in the Langson Library Reference Collection. Related information isalso available online in the MLA Formatting and Style Guide provided by Purdue Online WritingLab, located at:https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/m…a_formatting_and_style_guide.html.