STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY ADAMS W.,BROCK J. Bankowa.pl

Structure of American Industry, 10/e

Walter Adams, Deceased, Michigan State University & Trinity University, Texas
James W. Brock, Miami University, Ohio

Summary

For courses in industrial organization (undergraduate and graduate) in economics departments. The text will also fit in other departments under public policy toward business, antitrust economics, regulation of industry, managerial economics, MBA economic courses, and law school courses in trade regulation.

The tenth edition of this widely used industry casebook continues to offer the leading "real-world" survey of contemporary American industries. Providing a sound new treatment of the role of public policy in a free enterprise economy, this text illustrates the broadest possible range of American market structures through a series of carefully chosen and well-developed case studies of specific industries, all written by leading authorities in their field.

Features

NEW All cases have been completely revised and updated
Gives students the most current industries to examine.
NEW New industry cases including cigarettes, health care, telecommunications, and commercial banking.
Gives students the most current industries to examine.
Broad array of in-depth case studies, contributed by leading experts in each field Includes agriculture, petroleum, automobiles, cigarettes, beer, commercial banking, computers, motion picture entertainment, health care, airlines, telecommunications, and college sports.
Crisp, authoritative presentation enables students to grasp key forces and events buffeting major American industries.
Comparative and integrated analytical approach throughout Market structures of different types are illustrated: competition, oligopoly, monopoly, and others. Each industry is examined in terms of its distinctive structure, conduct, and performance. International aspects of each industry are explored. Economic principles are shown at work, helping students apply these principles to real-life situations. Current public policy options in each industry are assessed.
Innovative chapter exploring college sports as an industry Sure to raise student interest and stimulate discussion.
Deepens appreciation for relevance of economic theories concerning cartels, collusion, and supply and demand in product and labor markets.
Concluding chapter focused on Public Policy which includes rival philosophies on government-industry relations.
Enables students to consider current antitrust controversies in broad philosophical and historical context.

Table of Contents

1. Agriculture, Daniel B. Suits.
2. Petroleum, Stephen Martin.
3. Cigarettes, Adam B. Jaffe.
4. Beer, Kenneth G. Elzinga.
5. Automobiles, James W. Brock.
6. Computers, Don E. Waldman.
7. Motion Picture Entertainment, Barry R. Litman.
8. Airlines, William G. Shepherd.
9. Commercial Banking, Steven J. Pilloff.
10. Health Care, John Goddeeris.
11. Telecommunications, Manley R. Irwin & James McConnaughey.
12. College Sports, John L. Fizel & Randall W. Bennett.
13. Public Policy in a Free Enterprise Economy, James W. Brock.

Preface

A half-century ago, Walter Adams published the inaugural edition of this book. The collection's purpose, he wrote, was to provide "a laboratory for the analysis of industries illustrating various degrees of competition and monopoly." A kaleidoscopic survey of American business enterprise, the objective was to present a comprehensive, up-to-date view of American industry in its myriad forms of market structure and economic conduct. The means for achieving this would be the case study and individual industry approach: A selection of industries would be examined in depth in order to convey the distinctiveness of each while, at the same time, framing all of them within the paradigm of the structure-conduct-performance approach to industrial organization.

The book was intended not only for students in economics, business, law, and political science, but also for laypeople interested in learning more about the composition and functioning of American industry. To this end, Professor Adams urged the contributors to forsake the abstruse and abstract, the esoteric and scholastic, in order to render the book palatable to the broad audience at which it was aimed. The collection was directed, not at the professional grandstand but, instead, to the body of people-students and laypeople alike-interested in the key controversial issues of industrial organization and price policy. Methodologically, the chapters, individually and in combination, would constitute an exercise in induction-reasoning from the particular to the general-rather than a deductive process of interpreting facts and meanings, a priori, from abstract theoretical postulates and assumptions.

That initial edition featured a variety of industries, from cotton and bituminous coal to residential construction, chemicals, cigarettes, and ocean shipping. Through the ensuing nine editions, the mix of industries was adjusted in line with current issues and major antitrust actions: Newspapers, chemicals, aluminum, aerospace, food distribution, pharmaceuticals, physicians' services, major league sports, conglomerates (a "nonindustry"), casino gaming, and breakfast cereals variously debuted. Some industries included in earlier editions were subsequently replaced by other industries of greater contemporary interest; yet some of those industries were later re-added when they once again became contentious topics of national attention and public policy debate (including airlines, cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, and physicians' services).

Times and circumstances change. The array of specific industries has varied. But the book's transcending objectives, methods, and target audience remained constant throughout the succeeding nine editions which Professor Adams produced. In particular, generations of students (including most of the current contributors) cut their industrial organization "teeth" on various editions of this book.

Although Professor Adams passed away in 1998, this latest edition adheres to original intent: It offers, once more, a completely revised set of individual industry studies which, it is hoped, students and interested citizens alike will find useful for enhancing their understanding of important industries in the American economy. Each chapter, written by an expert in the field, continues to offer a "live" laboratory for clinical examination, comparative analysis, and assessment of major global forces and developments, as well as for evaluating domestic public policies and options. As such, the collection remains a useful supplement, if not a necessary antidote, to the economist's penchant for the abstractions of theoretical model building.

Finally, in producing this latest edition the editor has striven to achieve yet another goal confided long ago by Professor Adams-to produce the book without resort to dictatorial methods. For the contributors' generous and expeditious cooperation in this endeavor, the editor is most appreciative.

384 pages

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