Economics 494MI - Correcting Market Failures

This course is both an Integrative Experience course and a Service-Learning course. In it, we will use microeconomic tools to analyze how markets function, how they fail, and how intervention can correct market failures. The basic point of the course will be to answer the following question: What are the market failures that governmental entities or nonprofit organizations attempt to correct? Another way of asking this is: Why doesn't the free market fulfill the needs or provide the services that government or nonprofits do? During the semester, students must do weekly volunteer work for a government agency or private nonprofit organization of their choice. The volunteer work will provide the case studies for answering the above questions.

This class is open to Seniors and Juniors whose primary major is in Economics only. ECON 103 or RES-ECON 102 To request Department Consent for enrollment in this class, students must complete an Economics Department Consent Form and attend class to obtain the instructor's signature on the form before submitting it. The form and instructions are here

http://www.umass.edu/economics/sites/default/files/Department%20Consent%20Form%202015-8-31.pdf

Students who have not met the prerequisite may contact the instructor for permission to enroll.

This course may be used to fulfill IE requirement for Econ primary majors.