Theories of the household and the firm; product and factor markets; perfect and imperfect competition; welfare criteria.
The Master of Science in Innovation Economics, Law and Regulation degree provides graduates with the essential skills required to address the complexities of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning innovations through the lens of antitrust, privacy, data security and intellectual property laws.
Master of Science in Innovation Economics, Law and Regulation students are required to complete 24* or 32 units of study. Students are required to enroll in 12 core units from Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and 12 core units from Gould School of Law, with an additional 8 units of electives chosen from a list of approved course offerings.
*Progressive Degree Program candidates with a GPA of 3.3 and above may qualify to have the 8 units of electives waived.
Theories of the household and the firm; product and factor markets; perfect and imperfect competition; welfare criteria.
Application of econometric tools using standard econometric software packages for microcomputers; empirical applications to selected economic problems of estimation and inference.
Efficiency, market failure, government regulation, some basics for antitrust economics, competition policy analysis and collusion and agreements among competitors. Prerequisite: ECON 500 or ECON 513.
Examination of the basic sources of law for federal and California jurisdictions, utilizing a vast array of sources from books to computer-assisted research and analyzing research methodology and techniques.
The basic structure of government in the U.S., including the constitutionally mandated division of power in the federal government and the federal system of power sharing between state and federal systems. A comparative perspective on selected substantive and procedural matters, such as common law reasoning, jury trials, adversary process, and various aspects of civil procedure.
Laws designed to preserve and promote business competition, with heavy emphasis on the federal antitrust laws.
The protection of intellectual property and encouragement of creativity. Explores copyright, trademarks, patents, and selected state law theories.
Introduces students to the unique legal and financial aspects of the venture capital industry and the skills needed to represent entrepreneurs and venture capital investors.
One CR/D/F unit for a research proposal approved by a full- or part-time faculty supervisor; up to four graded units with academic dean’s approval of proposal by LLM or third-year JD student to produce a publishable paper under full-time professor.
The elective units may be waived for students with a GPA of 3.3 and above.
Dornsife ECON courses:
Theories of aggregate economic activity; design and use of macroeconometric models; stabilization and control of inflation, unemployment, and growth.
Students will cover large ground in applying game theory to economic and financial markets and interactions in a diverse set of examples like reputation, herding, bubbles and crashes, auctions, strategic information revelation and information accumulation in markets. We will witness the wide range of applications that is amenable to game theoretical analysis.
Prerequisite: ECON 303 and ECON 404 and MATH 544L and MATH 547.
Understanding and implementing models commonly used in time series econometrics. Emphasis is placed on intuition and application. Assists students understanding how to use time series data to test hypotheses and serve as an introduction to the ideas and techniques of forecasting.
Introduction to the theory and practice of causal econometrics in modern settings of large-scale data. Major algorithms from machine learning focused on methodology and applications. Corequisite: ECON 513.
Economic methods to analyze issues of intellectual property, environmental damage, trademark infringement, brand value and consumer demand, using an applied econometric approach.
Corequisite: ECON 513.
Focuses on the business, legal, and financial issues that relate to the creation, financing, and exploitation of digital media.
An overview of common legal issues impacting both providers and users of Internet services.
Focuses on applied principles of litigation involving software, including mobile and web applications, databases and machine learning.
Covers the interface between antitrust law and intellectual property law.
Provides students with the foundation for advising clients on transactions involving patents, trade secrets and other technology-related rights.
Integration of cyberspace and the Internet into existing legal structures. Topics include: First Amendment issues; intellectual property, privacy and child protection; criminal activity and governance and jurisdictional activities.
Surveys the legal framework concerning information privacy in the U.S., including developments in constitutional, tort, contract, property and statutory law to address emerging privacy threats.
Patent laws, litigation, and the process of prosecuting the patent application. The concept of invention and ownership of rights under patents.
Role of the attorney in startup firms: business plan, employment agreements, lease, stock option plan, financing documents and distribution and strategic partnership arrangements.
To apply to the Progressive Degree Program (PDP), you must meet the following qualifications:
Read more on the application process here: About the PDP Application
We offer one start in the fall. Below is the upcoming start date:
| Program Start | Application Deadline | First Day of Classes |
| Fall 2025 | June 18, 2025 | August 25, 2025 |
All USC undergraduate students admitted to our MIELR Progressive Degree Program will be considered automatically for merit scholarships. Those who are awarded a scholarship will be notified after their course plan has been reviewed by the MIELR Program staff and approved by USC's Degree Progress Office. Scholarship awards are merit-based and range from $2,500 to $10,000.
Scholarships are only applied to a MIELR/PDP student's account in the semester or semesters when he or she is enrolled in graduate classes only. Scholarship awards are not applied in semesters in which the student is enrolled in a mix of undergraduate and graduate classes.
To get started on your application, set up your required appointment by contacting the Graduate & International Programs MIELR Program Team: https://www.calendly.com/uscgouldpdp
