PUBPOL 5400 - Economics of Consumer Policy

Fall. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite: PUBPOL 2000, ECON 3030, or intermediate knowledge of microeconomics is required. Enrollment limited to: graduate students. Co-meets with ECON 3610/PUBPOL 3400.

S. Tennyson.

This course is designed to develop students’ critical understanding of government policies aimed toward protecting consumers’ wellbeing in markets. The course uses the tools of microeconomic analysis to investigate the various rationales for and the effects of these forms of government regulation. Economic theory is applied to the study of specific consumer protection policies in the United States and elsewhere.

Outcome 1: Describe specific consumer protection regulations in place in a variety of markets; compare policies across markets and across government jurisdictions.

Outcome 2: Use concepts from information economics and behavioral economics to explain the rationale for specific types of consumer protection regulations.

Outcome 3: Analyze the predicted efficiency and distributional consequences of consumer protection regulations, using the tools of microeconomics.

Outcome 4: Use empirical evidence to critically analyze the performance of regulations.