Christopher Snyder
Joel Z. and Susan Hyatt Professor
Department of Economics

Jump to the following section below:
Brief Bio.
Contact Information
Textbooks
Classes
Selected Publications
Current Research
Professional Activities
Curriculum Vitae (PDF file)

Brief Bio.

Christopher Snyder is the Joel Z. and Susan Hyatt Professor in the Department of Economics at Dartmouth College. Before joining the department in 2005, he taught at George Washington University for over ten years and has held visiting positions at M.I.T. and the University of Chicago. He specializes in the fields of industrial organization, microeconomic theory, and law and economics. He is a Research Associate in the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Board Member and Past President of the Industrial Organization Society, and an Associate Editor for the International Industrial Organization Journal and Review of Industrial Organization. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994.

Contact Information

Department of Economics
301 Rockefeller Hall
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755

Office: 312A Silsby Hall
Phone: (603) 646-0642
Fax: (603) 646-2122
Email: chris.snyder@dartmouth.edu

Summer and fall term office hours:
by appointment.

Textbooks

Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions
11th edition, copyright 2011
Co-authored by Walter Nicholson and Christopher Snyder
Published by South-Western (Cengage Learning)

A rigorous treatment of intermediate microeconomics for advanced undergraduate and masters level courses.

Order from Amazon.com

Intermediate Microeconomics and its Application
11th edition, copyright 2010
Co-authored by Walter Nicholson and Christopher Snyder
Published by South-Western (Cengage Learning)

An intuitive treatment of intermediate microeconomics emphasizing concepts and real-world applications (providing a handful per chapter) over tedious mathematics.

Order from Amazon.com

Recent and Upcoming Classes

• Spring 2011:

  Econ 21---Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (syllabus)
  

  Econ 81---Advanced Microeconomic Theory (syllabus)
  

• Winter 2011:

  Econ 25---Competition and Strategy (syllabus)

Selected Articles (with Links to Online Copies)

• Corporate Crime

  • "Should Firms be Allowed to Indemnify Their Employees for Sanctions?" (with Wallace Mullin), Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, April 2010, 2009, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 30--53.
    (Online access to abstract and article)
    (Working paper version)

  • "Corporate Crime" (with Wallace Mullin), forthcoming chapter in N. Garoupa, ed., Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Volume 11: Criminal Law and Economics, Edward Elgar.
    (Working paper version)
    (Coverage in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance)

• Other Law and Economics

  • "The Identity of the Generator in the Problem of Social Cost" (with Rohan Pitchford), Journal of Environmental Economics and Management July 2007, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 49-67.
    (Abstract with link to Science Direct article)
    (SSRN working paper version)

  • "Coming to the Nuisance: An Economic Analysis from an Incomplete Contracts Perspective" (with Rohan Pitchford), Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, Fall 2003, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 491-516. Copyright Oxford University Press.
    (Abstract with link to Oxford Journals Online article)
    (SSRN working paper version)

• Buyer Power

  • "Countervailing Power in Wholesale Pharmaceuticals" (with Sara Fisher Ellison), Journal of Industrial Economics, March 2010, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 32-53.
    (Abstract and article on Wiley InterScience)
    (Working paper version)

  • "Do Buyer-Size Discounts Depend on the Curvature of the Surplus Function? Experimental Tests of Bargaining Models" (with Hans-Theo Normann and Bradley Ruffle), Rand Journal of Economics, Autumn 2007, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 747-767.
    (PDF version of published article)

  • "Countervailing Power" in Steven. N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, eds., The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, second edition, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
    (Article from The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online), Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, doi:10.1057/9780230226203.0333
    (Manuscript PDF) The manuscript article is reproduced with permission of Palgrave Macmillan. This article is taken from the author's original manuscript and has not been reviewed or edited. The definitive published version of this extract may be found in the complete New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics in print and online.

  • "The Role of Buyer Size in Bilateral Bargaining: A Study of the Cable Television Industry" (with Tasneem Chipty), Review of Economics and Statistics, May 1999, vol. 81, no. 2, pp. 326-340.
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Why Do Larger Buyers Pay Lower Prices? Intense Supplier Competition," Economics Letters, February 1998, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 205-209.
    (Abstract with link to Science Direct article)

  • "A Dynamic Theory of Countervailing Power," Rand Journal of Economics, Winter 1996, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 747-769.
    (Article in JSTOR)

• Contract Theory

  • "A Solution to the Hold Up Problem Involving Gradual Investment" (with Rohan Pitchford), Journal of Economic Theory, January 2004, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 88-103.
    (Abstract with link to Science Direct article)
    (SSRN working paper version)

  • "Bounding the Benefits of Stochastic Auditing: The Case of Risk Neutral Agents," Economic Theory, July 1999, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 247-253.
    (Abstract with SpringerLink to article)

  • "Loan Commitments and the Debt Overhang Problem," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, March 1998, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 87-116.
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Is No News Bad News? Information Transmission and the Role of Early Warning in the Principal Agent Model" (with Steven Levitt), Rand Journal of Economics, Winter 1997, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 641-661.
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Negotiation and Renegotiation of Optimal Financial Contracts under the Threat of Predation," Journal of Industrial Economics, September 1996, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 325-343.
    (Article in JSTOR)

• Empirical Industrial Organization

  • "The Influence of Expert Reviews on Consumer Demand for Experience Goods: A Case Study of Movie Critics" (with David Reinstein), Journal of Industrial Economics, March 2005, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 27-51.
    (PDF copy of published article)

  • "Dynamic Adjustment in the U.S. Higher Education Industry, 1955-1997" (with John Kwoka), Review of Industrial Organization, June 2004, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 355-378.
    (Abstract with SpringerLink to article)

  • "Collusion with Secret Price Cuts: An Experimental Investigation" (with Robert Feinberg), Economics Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 1-11.
    (Online-journal article)

  • "Vertical Foreclosure in Experimental Markets" (with Stephen Martin and Hans-Theo Normann), Rand Journal of Economics, Autumn 2001, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 466-496.
    (PDF copy of published article)
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Bidding Behavior in the Department of Defense's Commercial Activities Competitions" (with Robert Trost and R. Derek Trunkey), Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Winter 2001, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 21-42.
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Reducing Government Spending with Privatization Competitions: The Department of Defense Experience" (with Robert Trost and R. Derek Trunkey), Review of Economics and Statistics, February 2001, vol 83, no. 1, pp. 108-117.
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Information Sharing and Competition in the Motor Vehicle Industry" (with Maura Doyle), Journal of Political Economy, December 1999, vol. 107, no. 6, pp. 1326-1364.
    (Article in JSTOR)

  • "Empirical Studies of Vertical Foreclosure," Industry Economics Conference Papers and Proceedings (University of Melbourne and Bureau of Industry Economics), November 1995, vol. 95/23, pp. 98--127.
    (Scan of article)

• Theoretical Industrial Organization

  • "Bounding the Relative Profitability of Price Discrimination" (with David Malueg), International Journal of Industrial Organization, September 2006, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 995-1011.
    (Abstract with link to Science Direct article)
    (SSRN working paper version)

  • "Bundling Negotiations: An Efficiency Rationale for Multiproject Contact in Research Joint Ventures" (with Nicholas Vonortas), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, December 2005, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 459-486.
    (Abstract with link to Science Direct article)
    (SSRN working paper version)

• Academic Journals

  • "Academic Journal Prices in a Digital Age: A Two-Sided-Market Model" (with Mark McCabe), The B. E. Journal in Economic Analysis & Policy (Contributions), January 2007, vol. 7, no. 1, article 2.
    (Abstract with link to B.E. Press article)
    (SSRN working paper version)

  • "Open Access and Academic Journal Quality" (with Mark McCabe), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, May 2005, vol. 95, no. 2, pp. 453-458.
    (Article in JSTOR)
    

  • "The Best Business Model for Scholarly Journals: An Economist's Perspective" (with Mark McCabe), Nature Web Focus, July 16, 2004.
    (Online-journal article)

• Economics of Vaccines

  • "Economic Perspectives on the Advance Market Commitment for Pneumococcal Vaccines" (with Wills Begor and Ernst R. Berndt), Health Affairs, August 2011, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 1508--1517.
    (Abstract with link to Health Affairs article)
    (Technical appendix)
    (Working paper version)
    (Webcast of Health Affairs "Global Decade of Vaccines" press briefing)

Current Research (with Links to Working Papers)

Titles of selected working papers and collaborators are listed below. Please contact me if you are interested in any of the papers not available for download here or are particularly interested in having the most recent version.

• "Deterring Nuisance Suits through Employee Indemnification" (with Wallace Mullin).
  (Working paper PDF)

• "An Empirical Study of Pricing Strategies in an Online Market with High-Frequency Pricing Data" (with Sara Fisher Ellison).
  (Working paper PDF)
  (SSRN working paper)

• "Did Online Access to Journals Change the Economics Literature?" (with Mark McCabe).
  (SSRN working paper)

• "A Model of Academic Journal Quality with Applications to Open-Access Journals" (with Mark McCabe).
  (Working paper PDF)

• "The Economics of Open Access Journals" (with Mark McCabe).
  (SSRN working paper)

• "Why are Drugs More Profitable Than Vaccines?" (with Michael Kremer).
  (NBER working paper--early version)
  (More recent working paper PDF)

• "Optimal Long Term Contracts in a Costly State Verification Model"
  (Working paper PDF)

• "Vertical Foreclosure in the British Beer Industry."

• "Vertical Integration for Efficiency or Market Power? Event Studies of the U.S. Oil Industry."

Professional Activities

• Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Law and Economic Program

• Board Member and Past President, Industrial Organization Society

• Program Committee, International Industrial Organization Conference, Boston, April 2010

• Organizer, Economic Perspectives on Scholarly Communication in a Digital Age

• Associate Editor, Review of Industrial Organization

• Associate Editor, International Journal of Industrial Organization

Christopher M. Snyder's Department home page.
Send comments or report broken links to Christopher.M.Snyder@dartmouth.edu.
Revised August 10, 2011.