Public Policy and Markets

William (Willis) M. Emmons III is investigating the interaction of public policy, markets, business strategy, and performance at the levels of firm, industry, and society. Emmons' approach draws heavily on economic theories of industrial organization, market failure, and property rights, which he applies to the behavior of firms and managers operating in environments shaped significantly by public policy. His research to date has focused on a number of industries that are typically subject to government intervention, including public utilities, telecommunications and the media, transportation, natural resources, and health care. Emmons' findings, which have been reported in a number of scholarly publications, including The RAND Journal of Economics,The Review of Economics and Statistics, and The Journal of Economic History, form the basis of the elective course, Capitalism Constrained: Public Policy and the Manager. Emmons is currently completing a book on the managerial challenges of deregulation and privatization based on extensive field research in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.