Introduction and Overview: Recent Developments in Industrial Economics

Abstract

Industrial economics — ‘industrial organisation’ in the USA and sometimes elsewhere — may be thought of not as a separate subject area (Stigler, 1968, p. 1) but as a supply-side perspective on the workings of the economy, ‘particularly those markets in which business firms are sellers’ (Schmalensee, 1988, p. 643). As an approach, it has always embraced theory, measurement, the empirical testing of hypotheses and policy application, albeit with varying degrees of emphasis.