ECON 8853 Industrial Organization I

This course studies imperfect competition among firms, with an emphasis on empirical work. We learn how to implement empirical methods commonly used in Industrial Organization (IO), and how to read, and ultimately write, papers in empirical IO. Topics covered include demand estimation, auctions, price discrimination, bundling, asymmetric information and adverse selection, vertical control and contractual arrangements, and others as time allows. Each topic will be organized around recent empirical work. Throughout, we will consider the importance of identification in empirical studies.

Course overview

Department
Economics
School
MCAS
Credits
3
Level
Graduate
Offered
Every Spring

Course evaluations

Response-weighted averages from Boston College’s official course evaluations (Avalanche/Blue).

Course rating
4.57 / 5 · Excellent
23 responses
Instructor rating
4.68 / 5 · Excellent
23 responses
Terms evaluated
4
Most recent: Fall 2025

Scales: overall ratings run from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent); agreement questions from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); weekly effort from 1 (up to 1 hour) to 5 (10 or more hours).

Evaluations by term and instructor
TermInstructorCourse overallInstructor overallWell organizedClear learning objectivesIntellectually challengingHelpful assignmentsApplicable beyond courseAttendance necessaryWeekly effortResponses
Fall 2025Gi Heung Kim4.74.74.74.74.84.74.84.74–6 hrs/week6 of 7
Fall 2023Charles Murry—————————4 of 5
Fall 2022Charles Murry4.34.54.34.74.94.94.94.6—7 of 8
Fall 2021Julie Mortimer4.54.74.74.84.74.84.84.710+ hrs/week6 of 9

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

Sections

  • Section 01
    Fall 2026 · Gi Heung Kim · Maloney Hall 330 TuTh 10:30AM-11:45AM · Offered