FACULTY PROFILE
Francine Lafontaine
Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
Professor of Economics, University of Michigan Economics Department
Prof.
Lafontaine has been with the faculty since 1991. Before that, she was
an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Graduate School
of Industrial Economics. She obtained her Ph.D. in Economics in 1988
from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Professor Lafontaine's areas of interest include Industrial Organization, Vertical Relationships, Contracting and Franchising. She has studied extensively and continues to work on the economics of franchise contracting, applying recent advances in contract theory and vertical relationships to the analysis of franchising contracts. She has become a leading expert in that area. Her book, The Economics of Franchising (with Roger D. Blair) was published recently by Cambridge University Press. She also studies contractual arrangements in the motor carrier industry.
Since she joined the Ross School of Business, Professor Lafontaine has taught a variety of courses in all degree programs. In particular, she has taught the core Applied Microeconomics course at both the BBA and MBA level, a Government and Business course in the BBA program, electives such as Competitive Tactics and the Economics of Franchising in the MBA program, and Applied Industrial Economics to PhD students.
Professor Lafontaine is involved in a number of other activities around the school. She is currently the Chair of the Business Economics and Public Policy group.
Professor Lafontaine's vita in PDF format.
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