This course will use the insights of organization theory to analyze the development of the U.S. economy. The main topics to be examined will include: the evolution of the U.S. banking and financial system and the institutional changes underlying each phase of its development; the contractual foundations of business organizations and the choice between partnerships and the corporate form; the rise of big business and the great merger wave of the 1890s and the legal changes that made these developments possible; and the regulatory innovations of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the 1930s. The course will employ a variety of sophisticated theoretical and empirical methods in analyzing these developments and will present them in comparative international perspective.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 20

Prerequisites: ECON 201, ECON 202 and ECON 203.

Distribution Requirements: HS - Historical Studies; SBA - Social and Behavioral Analysis

Typical Periods Offered: Spring

Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall; Spring