The discussant report involves 4-5 pages
(double-spaced, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins) summarizing a case study in
the textbook or a paper listed in the references in the textbook and offering
comments and suggestions to help the author improve the paper. The purpose is
to develop your ability to critically evaluate research. Your report should be
precise throughout, but don’t be afraid to have strong opinions. Avoid making
superficial comments or only summarizing the paper—your report should ideally
demonstrate the depth and breadth of your knowledge in Industrial Organization.
This discussant report should divide into
three parts, which includes the following in your report:
A. Summary.
For example:
What are the questions and goals of the
paper?What is the theoretical/empirical
framework being used?
What are the most interesting ideas and
results?
How do they relate and compare to other
research?
B. Comments:
For example:
Are the research questions interesting?
Are the assumptions reasonable?
Do the results answer the stated
questions?
Are the results generalizable?
C. Suggestion.
For example:
Are there alternative frameworks or
approaches that are more suitable for the stated questions?
Using the present model, what other
interesting questions can be answered? What other results would you like to
see?
Are there important extensions that should
be considered?