Industrial Organisation and Economic Theory Research Group
The Industrial Organisation and Economic Theory Group includes
Bob Rothschild, Caroline Elliott, Kim Kaivanto, and Gerry Steele. Research in this area includes Bob Rothschild's work on cartel behaviour, merger and product differentiation. During the current period, he has established a research collaboration with John Heywood (University of Wisconsin) which has led to several papers (Southern Economic Journal, Economic Inquiry and Manchester School) and to Heywood's visiting apointment at Lancaster. Kim Kaivanto has interests in decision theory and social choice. His work with Paul Stoneman (Warwick) published in Research Policy deals with financing and innovation in enterprises, investigating how sales contingent claims finance operates in a game theoretic framework with incomplete markets. Caroline Elliott specialises in the economics of advertising, and has recently secured financial support from the Nuffield Foundation for work in this area. Gerry Steele is an expert in Austrian economics and the history of economic thought. Kwok Tongs Soo's work on industrial structure and urban growth in developing economies won him the 2005 Alec Cairncross prize for the best paper presentation by a young economist at the Scottish Economic Society conference. Robert Read specialises in international business, with particular interests in growth in small and emerging economies, the regulation of international trade, and the strategy and structure of multinational enterprises.For further details of individual research and publications in these areas, see Staff Profiles.
Potential PhD topics
The group would particularly welcome applications from well-qualified candidates interested in pursuing PhD study in any of the following areas:
- Applications of the state-contingent approach to production theory
- Applications of time series analysis, particularly nonlinear and fractional
- Austrian economics
- Decision theory
- Game theory and oligopoly
- Spatial competition and merger
- The economics of advertising and competition policy
