Economic
Economics of the Airline Industry
ECON 289
Professor J. Brueckner Spring 2006
This course will survey the economics of the airline industry, covering both theoretical and empirical topics. The readings can be accessed from an electronic version of this reading list, which contains hyperlinks to online versions of the papers. To download the reading list, go to my website (accessible via the faculty directory on the department web site) and click on “Graduate Course Reading Lists.” To access the papers, highlight the title, then right click and select “open hyperlink.” In addition to the articles on the reading list, students should read the monograph entitled The Evolution of the Airline Industry, by S.A. Morrison and C. Winston. Chapter 1 is explicitly assigned below, but the remainder of the book should also be read during the quarter.
The only requirement for the course is a final exam. The prerequisite is at least one quarter of Ph.D. level microeconomic theory along with some training in econometrics.
1. Deregulation of the Industry
Borenstein, S., “The Evolution of U.S. Airline Competition,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 6, 45-73 (1992).
Morrison, S.A. and C. Winston, The Evolution of the Airline Industry, Brookings Institution, Ch. 2 (1995).
2. The Economics of Hub-and-Spoke Networks
Brueckner, J.K. and P.T. Spiller, “Competition and Mergers in Airline Networks,” International Journal of Industrial Organization 9, 323-342 (1991).
Hendricks, K., M. Piccione and G. Tan, “The Economics of Hubs: The Case of Monopoly,” Review of Economic Studies 62, 83-99 (1995).
Brueckner, J.K., “Network Structure and Airline Scheduling,” Journal of Industrial Economics 52, 291-312 (2004).
3. Empirical Evidence on Economies of Traffic Density
Caves, D.W., W. Christensen and W.M. Tretheway, “Economies of Density versus...
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