In Robert Solow’s papers at Duke University I found the following “cut-and-paste” draft of a reading list for a course in applied price theory. That course, 14.144 (Applied Price Theory), did not appear in the MIT course catalogue until the 1972/73 academic year, though it is conceivable and even likely that the topics course for 1971 was renamed and built up from elements of Solow’s 1970 syllabus for “14.123 Topics in Price Theory” plus additions for the new topic “pollution control” and an expansion of the “regulated firms” section.
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SYLLABUS FOR 14.144 APPLIED PRICE THEORY
Fall 1971 [sic]
This course is intended to show how positive and normative price theory can be applied to situations which are non-standard in some way. It will normally proceed by taking up a number of separate topics. The current list of topics includes: I. Congestion tolls on roads and airports; II. Use of taxes and charges to control pollution; III. Behavior of regulated firms limited to a “fair rate of return”. In all cases the subject is the theory and not the practical details of application.
I. Congestion tolls
A. Walters, “The Theory and Measurement of Private and Social Cost of Highway Congestion,” ECONOMETRICA, Vol. 29, 1961, pp. 676-699.
W. Vickrey, “Optimization of Traffic and Facilities,” JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Vol. 1, N. 2, Ma 1967, pp. 123-136.
R.E. Park, “Congestion Tolls for Regulated Common Carriers,” ECONOMETRICA forthcoming (RAND paper, on reserve).
M. Marchand, “A Note on Optimal Tolls in an Imperfect Environment,” ECONOMETRICA, July-October 1968, pp. 575-581.
II. Control of Pollution
P. Bohm, “Pollution, Purification, and the Theory of External Effects”, SWEDISH JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Vol. 72, no. 2, June 1970.
W. Baumol and W. Oates, “The Use of Standards and Prices for Environmental Protection,” SWEDISH JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Vol. 73, no. 1, March 1971.
M. Kamien et al., “Asymmetry Between Bribes and Charges,” WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1966, pp. 147-157.
C. Upton, “Optimal Taxing of Water Pollution,” WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, Vol. 4, no. 5, October 1968, pp. 865-875.
III. Regulated Firms
H. Averch & L. Johnson, “Behavior of the Firm under Regulatory Constraint,” AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Dec 1962, pp. 1053-1069.
A. Takayama, “Behavior of the Firm under Regulatory Constraint,” AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, June 1969, pp. 255-260.
E. Bailey & J. Malone, “Resource Allocation and the Regulated Firm” BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1970, pp. 129-142.
W. Baumol and A. Klevorick, “Input Choices and Rate-of-Return Regulation: An Overview””, BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, Vol. 1, Fall 1970, pp. 162-90.
A. Klevorick, “The ‘Optimal’ Fair Rate of Return”, BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, Vol. 2, no. 1, Spring 1971, pp. 122-153.
N. Edelson, “Resource Allocation and the Regulated Firm: a Reply to Bailey and Malone,” BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, Vol. 2, no. 1, Spring 1971, pp. 374-378.
Source: Duke University, Rubenstein Library, Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 68, Folder “University Notebook, 14.123”.
Image Source: Robert Solow images at the MIT Museum website.