Robert Porter’s scientific contributions

This volume is the third in the Handbook of Industrial Organization series (hereafter, the HIO). The first two volumes were published simultaneously in 1989, under the editorship of Richard Schmalensee and Robert Willig. The first two volumes were quite successful, by several measures. Many of the chapters were widely cited, many chapters appeared on graduate reading lists, some have continued to appear even recently, and we understand that the two volumes are among the best sellers in the Handbook of Economics Series. However, the field of industrial organization has evolved since then. Moreover, as Schmalensee and Willig acknowledge in their Preface, the original HIO volumes had some gaps. The purpose of this volume is to fill in some of those gaps, and to report on recent developments. The aim is to serve as a source, reference and teaching supplement for industrial organization, or industrial economics, the microeconomics field that focuses on business behavior and its implications for both market structures and processes, and for related public policies.