This book is based on the papers presented at a conference on "New
Issues in Industrial Economics" held at Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, Ohio, June 8-10, 1987. The conference was organized by the
Research Program in Industrial Economics (RPIE) in the Department of
Economics at CWRU and was sponsored by The Cleveland Foundation, the
Eaton Corporation, and The Standard Oil Company (later renamed BP
America, Inc.). Their generous support is gratefully acknowledged. All
of the papers have been revised, in several cases extensively, since
their presentation at the conference. One of the primary reasons for
organizing the conference was the concern that Industrial Economics has
become too narrowly focused in most academic programs, largely being
confined to Industrial Organization, i.e., issues of public policy
towards enterprise with emphasis on antitrust and regulatory policy.
This subject definition leaves out a number of interesting and important
questions about how industries evolve over time, what the role of
technological change (and organizational change) is in that process, and
the associated structural changes within industries and firms. The
object of this book is to derme these issues and suggest a framework
within which they can be analyzed. I would like to thank all the
conference participants for their contributions, particularly my
colleagues at CWRU, Asim Erdilek and William S. Peirce, without whose
encouragement and support the conference would not have taken place.