The extent of competition in the market affects the balance of bargaining power of market participants. When price discrimination is low, it increases consumer welfare - that is, if the price does not correspond to the evaluation of each product by the consumer, then discrimination allows for additional consumers to buy the product at a price,…

The author focused on solving problems of third-degree price discrimination under a monopoly by integrating microeconomic theory and spreadsheet modeling. Price discrimination refers to a firm situation in which the same good is sold to different groups of consumers at different prices. First, the author included an introductory math background…

In this article, the authors describe a classroom experiment aimed at familiarizing students with different types of price discrimination (first-, second-, and third-degree price discrimination). During the experiment, the students were asked to decide what tariffs to set as monopolists for each of the price discrimination scenarios under…

We analyse Germany's re-introductions of tuition fees and enrolment of international students. Fees could not be levied before the German Federal Constitutional Court sanctioned them in 2005 and only seven out of the sixteen states took action, thus making a quasi-experimental research design available. Our fixed effects and synthetic control…

It is generally agreed that price discrimination can, in some circumstances at least, be an extraordinarily unpopular business practice. In late 2000, customers discovered that Amazon.com was varying its prices online for the exact same products. Although the incident is almost fifteen years old, it has become the standard reference in law review…

In this pedagogical contribution the authors extend the traditional three-class tariff employed in the French passenger railway system with the more resonant story of the service quality variations associated with the three passenger classes of the ill-fated RMS "Titanic." In doing so, they provide economics instructors with an…

This qualitative investigation explains the ways in which community college decision makers justify the inclusion of international students at three community colleges in the United States. We identify and explain the ways in which decision makers rationalize institutional policy--particularly recruitment strategies and motivations--related to…

In this article, the author explains why field experiments can improve what we teach and how we teach economics. Economists no longer operate as passive observers of economic phenomena. Instead, they participate actively in the research process by collecting data from field experiments to investigate the economics of everyday life. This change can…

Institutions have increased the practice of tuition discounting, that is, the strategic use of price discrimination. During the past 30 years, both the average percent discount given to students and the proportion of students receiving tuition breaks have increased. As this practice has increased, there are financial determinants and implications…

Trends in tuition and financial aid policy have increased the number of students who borrow for higher education and the aggregate debt students acquire. Most research on student borrowing over the years has analyzed the effects of borrowing and the prospects of indebtedness on individual students' choices and persistence. However, dynamics at the…

The authors present a classroom experiment designed to illustrate key concepts of third-degree price discrimination. By participating as buyers and sellers, students actively learn (1) how group pricing differs from uniform pricing, (2) how resale between buyers limits a seller's ability to price discriminate, and (3) how preventing price…

Why does tuition increase faster than inflation? And why does tuition continue to increase even when states increase their investments in public colleges and universities? These questions have perplexed policymakers and higher education consumers alike. Though tuition setting can be very complicated, one of the drivers for rising costs is price…

The authors of this article propose a simple exercise of monopoly pricing to illustrate complex theoretical results on the welfare effects of group pricing. By exposing students to this exercise, they aim to bridge a gap between the standard textbook analysis of group pricing and more general results in the literature and clarify some students'…

The current study investigated predictors of shallow versus deep learning within a serious game known as Operation ARA. This game uses a myriad of pedagogical features including multiple-choice tests, adaptive natural language tutorial conversations, case-based reasoning, and an E-text to engage students. The game teaches 11 topics in research…

The author derives the probability that price discrimination improves social welfare, using a simple model of third-degree price discrimination assuming two independent linear demands. The probability that price discrimination raises social welfare increases as the preferences or incomes of consumer groups become more heterogeneous. He derives the…