Course Ad - Telecommunications T535: Economics of Information

Telecommunications T535
Economics of Information
MW 5:45 -7 pm , RTV 169
Fall, 2011
(29146)

We use economic analysis to address policy and strategy problems involving information and information products. Main topic areas are the production, pricing, and distribution of information products; and the economics of information networks and standard setting. A central theme of the course: When is government intervention desirable, and what policies are most likely to work?

Examples of questions we address: How can economic incentives to create intellectual property be preserved in the presence of cheap copying devices and file sharing? How can owners of intellectual property use copying and electronic distribution to their advantage?
What are the economics of electronic vs. hardcopy textbook and academic journal publication? What are economic arguments for and against fee-based library services? Why does the U.S. dominate the world export of entertainment and other information? How can critical mass be achieved in information networking? Are compatibility standards affecting media or telecommunications networks best set by government or by private industry?

Policy analysis in the information industries must be interdisciplinary, but economic analysis gives one useful perspective.

First, economics provides a specific framework for evaluating social welfare. Second, economic analysis can make good predictions about whether different policy options are likely to work or not. We also get insights into which business strategies of information industry firms and organizations are most likely to work. The class does not have a prerequisite. Some basic microeconomic principles will be provided as the course proceeds.

For more information, contact David Waterman (5-6170)
waterman@indiana.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~telecom/people/faculty/waterman.shtml