Courses
FIN 8001/AgEcon 8001 : Economics of Transactions and Contracting
This class focuses on analysis of the economic incentives underlying transaction relationships and of the contract documents governing various kinds of transactions. The course combines theoretical and empirical analyses of transactions. The course will introduce students to the fundamental economic concepts and theories of contracting behavior, business organization, and legal institutions. This includes economic theories on the nature, structure, and role of property rights; information asymmetry; transaction costs; efficient risk sharing; and imbedded incentives with respect to exercise of decision rights in a contractual relationship.
Material is drawn from selected texts and from journal articles in economics, finance, law, and management. In addition to studying the theoretical framework of analysis, students will conduct comparative analyses of actual executed contracts from firms in a variety of industries to identify differences in contract structures reflecting and creating different economic incentives for similar types of transactions and to illustrate the roles legal and economic institutions have in shaping the drafting of contract documents.
(Winter Semesters, 2004-07)
AgEcon 9520 : Economics of Agribusiness Markets and Networks
This course is the second half of a one-year PhD core in Agribusiness Management. Prerequisites are AgEcon 8050 (Economics of Institutions and Organizations) and Ag Econ 9510 (Economics of the Agribusiness Firm) or their equivalents. The course begins with an overview of contemporary industrial organization, including industry structure, pricing, and related issues. We move on to a general treatment of business strategy, followed by an introduction to the game-theoretic approach to strategic interaction. We next consider networks, chains, clusters, and other aspects of inter-firm relations, and conclude with a set of case studies. (Winter Semesters, 2006-07)
AgEcon 8050 : Economics of Institutions and Organizations(formerly New Institutional Economics)
This class surveys the wide-ranging and rapidly growing literature on the economics of institutions, with an emphasis on applications and evidence. The course begins with the methods and fundamental concepts (property rights, transaction costs, agency costs, information costs) that underlie research in the NIE. It turns next to a study of the institutional environment, the background constraints, or "rules of the game," that guide individuals' behavior. These can be both formal, explicit rules (constitutions, laws, property rights) and informal, often implicit rules (social conventions, norms). It concludes with a study of institutional arrangements, specific guidelines designed by trading partners to mediate particular economic relationships. Business firms, long-term contracts, public bureaucracies, nonprofit organizations, and other contractual agreements are examples of institutional arrangements. (Fall Semesters, 1999-2004)
AgEcon 4971/7971 : Agribusiness Management Strategy
This is the capstone course of the Agribusiness Management major. The course is designed to integrate skills and concepts learned in earlier courses and apply them to a strategic analysis of a real business firm. The course reviews basic economic concepts of market structure and performance and financial performance measures, and introduces strategic concepts and research skills. This course is an exercise in experiential learning. The course revolves around a semester-long team strategic analysis, with additional materials and assignments designed to support the semester project. (Fall Semesters, 1999-2006)
AgEcon 4990 : Senior Seminar
Fromerly the capstone for all majors in the Agricultural Economics program, the Senior Seminar provides an opportunity for graduating students to draw upon their economic analysis skills in addressing current events and policies related to the global agrifood system. The objective of the course is to engage students in critical analysis of policy issues and to practice articulating their anlaysis in practical ways. (Fall Semesters, 2005-06)