Martin Asher

Education

PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1986; MA, University of Pennsylvania, 1979; BA, Stanford University, 1977

Recent Consulting

Expert economic testimony in antitrust cases regarding allegations of price fixing and market allocation, including analysis of class certification issues and construction of damages models. Courtappointed expert in largest U.S. gender discrimination damages case. Contract research and evaluation for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare.

Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards

2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2014 William G. Whitney Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching in the Associated Faculty, The Wharton School; 2000 Kravis Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in Economics, Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences

Academic Positions Held

Wharton: 1995present (Director, Research and Scholars Programs 2004present; Director, Joseph Wharton Scholars Program, 2000present). University of Pennsylvania: 19972000 (Associate Director, Institute for Law and Economics). Visiting appointments: Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College. Previous appointment: Villanova University

For more information, go to My Personal Page

Past Courses

BEPP212 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAW

The course provides an introduction to the economic analysis of law and legal institutions. Our goal is to develop intuitions about the ways law simultaneously shapes and responds to private behavioral incentives. In the first half of the course, we will survey the application of key economic concepts to basic features of the AngloAmerican common law of property, contract, and tort. In the second half of the course, we will use the tools developed in our survey to focus in depth on antitrust policy in conventional as well as network industries.

FNCE101 MONETARY ECON & GLOB ECO

FNCE 101 is an intermediatelevel course in macroeconomics and the global economy, including topics in monetary and international economics. The goal is to provide a unified framework for understanding macroeconomic events and policy, which govern the global economic environment of business. The course analyzes the determinants and behavior of employment, production, demand and profits; inflation, interest rates, asset prices, and wages; exchange rates and international flows of goods and assets; including the interaction of the real economy with monetary policy and the financial system. The analysis is applied to current events, both in the US and abroad. ,HONORS FNCE 101 is only offered in the Fall semester. Registration for this class is through an application process. Please go to: https:fnce.wharton.upenn.edu/programscourseapplications, This course presents the analysis of macroeconomic theory with a current events perspective. The material in the class concentrates on lecture notes, which are the primary learning source, and readings from a course packet of articles drawn from journals, magazines, newspapers, and other economic publications. The material covered will include: (1) Economic Statistics, GDP, Price Indices,Productivity and the nature of the business cycle, (2) The government budget and Social Security, (3) Monetary policy, The Fed and other Central Banks,(4) Interest rates indexed bonds and ther term structure (5) Aggregate Demand and the determination of income and interest rate, (6) Money and Inflation the Velocity Approach, (7) Reaction of Financial Markets to economic data,(8) Inflation, inflationary expectations and the Phillips Curve,(9) Supplyside shocks and macrodynamics, (10) International Balance of Payments, the current account and capital flows, (11) Determination of Exchange Rates, exchange rate systems, purchasing power and interest rate parity.

FNCE399 INDEPENDENT STUDY

Integrates the work of the various courses and familiarizes the student with the tools and techniques of research.

FNCE899 INDEPENDENT STUDY

Independent Study Projects require extensive independent work and a considerable amount of writing. ISP in Finance are intended to give students the opportunity to study a particular topic in Finance in greater depth than is covered in the curriculum. The application for ISP's should outline a plan of study that requires at least as much work as a typical course in the Finance Department that meets twice a week. At a minimum, we need a description of the methodology you intend to employ, a bibliography and description of the data that you will use as well as a list of interim deliverables and dates to ensure that you complete the project within the semester. Applications for FNCE 899 ISP's will not be accepted after the THIRD WEEK OF THE SEMESTER. You must submit your Finance ISP request using the Finance Department's ISP form located at https://fnce.wharton.upenn.edu under the Course ISP section

LGST212 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAW

The course is designed to teach students how to think as an economist about legal rules; to evaluate alternative legal rules against standards of economic efficiency and distributive justice; and to understand the nature of the legal process and several specific areas of the law. With the use of alternative texts, both deductive and inductive reasoning will be employed to study the formation and interpretation of legal rules.

WH 299 WHUG RESEARCH SCHOLARS

This seminar takes place over two semesters and provides students with the skills to perform their own research under the guidance of a Wharton faculty member. At the conclusion of the fall semester, students will produce a thesis proposal including literature review, significance of the research, methodology, and exploratory data if relevant. Throughout the fall semester faculty guests from a range of disciplines will present on their research in class, highlighting aspects that are relevant to the work students are engaging in at that point. During the second semester, students will collect and analyze data and write up the results in close collaboration with their faculty mentor. At the end of the spring semester, each student will present their research in a video presentation. Throughout the course, students will work individually, in small groups, and under the mentorship of a Wharton faculty member. The goal is to becomes capable independent researchers who incorporate feedback and critical (self) analysis to take their research to the next level.

WH 399 J W SCHOLAR SR RES SEM

This seminar takes place over two semesters and provides students with the skills to perform their own research under the guidance of a Wharton faculty member. At the conclusion of the fall semester, students will produce a thesis proposal including literature review, significance of the research, methodology, and exploratory data if relevant. Throughout the fall semester faculty guests from a range of disciplines will present on their research in class, highlighting aspects that are relevant to the work students are engaging in at that point. During the second semester, students will collect and analyze data and write up the results in close collaboration with their faculty mentor. At the end of the spring semester, each student will present their research in a video presentation. Throughout the course, students will work individually, in small groups, and under the mentorship of a Wharton faculty member. The goal is to becomes capable independent researchers who incorporate feedback and critical (self) analysis to take their research to the next level.