Joe S. Bain

Joe Staten Bain (4 July 1912, Spokane, Washington – 7 September 1991, Columbus, Ohio.) was an American economist associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Bain was designated a Distinguished Fellow by the American Economic Association in 1982. An accompanying statement referred to him as "the undisputed father of modern Industrial Organization Economics."

Bain received an A.B. from UCLA in 1935. He studied at Harvard, where he has also an instructor in Economics from 1936 to 1939. There he received an M.A. in 1939 and Ph.D. in 1940, under the direction of Edward Chamberlin and Edward Mason. The title of his dissertation was "The Value, Depreciation and Replacement of Durable Capital Goods".

Bain was appointed Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley in 1939 and served there until his retirement in 1975. He also served in 1960 as director of studies at the California Water Industry.

Bain was a prolific author, at both the theoretical and applied level. Major works included The Economics of the Pacific Coast Petroleum Industry (1944-1947) described as "a landmark in the application and empirical testing of the hypotheses of microeconomic theory." His work in the 1950s culminated in Barriers to New Competition (1956), and Industrial Organization: A Treatise (1959).

Bain developed the paradigm of structure, conduct, and performance as related to the industry, as distinct from individual firms or industries. It postulated and tested barriers to entry as a determinant of industry performance.Market concentration was analyzed in relation to market power and rate of profit.

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