The main form of assessment arises from a required paper, which can be a survey of several related papers on an IO topic of the student's choice. About fifteen pages is expected. In addition, there will be a class presentation of this paper, along with a discussion of someone else's paper. The paper should optimally be chosen to do double-duty, and serve the student's dissertation interests. IO content is a constraint, of course, but it rarely binds, as almost all economics topics involve firms and therefore IO.

Some papers will be presented in class, but the bulk of the papers will be presented at a conference in the penultimate or last week of classes. This conference is a standard economics conference in that there are many talks with a theme (IO), there is never sufficient time for discussion, and lunch is provided. Details of the conference will be announced in class.

There may be a small take-home exam on the theory of industrial organization at the end of the term.