1

Name Modul Description Inequality SWS VL/Ü Proposed Modul

Combination

Proposed

Prerequisites

Semester

Prof. Dr.

Thomas

Beißinger

Topics in Labor

Economics

In the first part, this course

provides a deep understanding

of labor supply and job search

behavior from a theoretical

and empirical perspective and

shows how the institutional

framework (e.g. taxes and

transfer payments) affects the

behavior of the participants in

the labor market. It is also

taken into account that labor

supply decisions are made

within the family context,

depend on the extent of

household production, and are

best understood within an

intertemporal framework. In

the second part, labor demand

is considered as well to

analyze the consequences of

changes in labor demand and

supply on the wage structure

and employment. The main

focus is on the impact of

immigration, trade, and skill-

biased technological change

on the increase in wage

inequality. An accompanying

exercise course offers

students the opportunity to get

a deeper understanding of the

yes 4 VL+Ü Economics of

Inequality;

Empirical Public

Economics; The

Microeconomics of

Globalization;

International Trade

Theory;

Microeconometrics;

Summer

2

topics dealt with in the

lecture.

Prof. Dr.

Thomas

Beißinger

Labor Markets and

the Macroeconomy

The focus of this module is on

theoretical explanations of

unemployment as an

equlibrium phenomenon. For

example, unemployment may

be explained by search and

matching frictions, the impact

of labor union wage setting,

or efficiency wage

considerations. To take these

aspects into account, we

consider microeconomic

general equilibrium models

that are nowadays commonly

used in macroeconomics to

address the unemployment

problem. Based on these

models we will analyze the

impact of labor-market

institutions, such as the

unemployment compensation

system, on the level of

unemployment and discuss

possible labor-market reforms

to increase employment. The

distinction between capital

owners and workers as well as

between employed and

unemployed workers allows

us to discuss possible reasons

yes 4 VL+Ü Economics of

Inequality;

International Trade

Theory; Advanced

Economic Growth;

Financial

Econometrics;

Lectures in

Monetary

Economics (such as

Interest and Prices)

Winter

3

for changes in the functional

and personal income

distribution. An

accompanying exercise course

offers students the

opportunity to get a deeper

understanding of the topics

dealt with in the lecture.

Prof. Dr.

Thomas

Beißinger

Masterseminar Labor

Economics

Masterseminar on different

topics in Labor Economics

2 S Topics in Labor

Economics; Labor

Markets and the

Macroeconomy;

Microeconometrics;

Financial

Econometrics;

International Trade

Theory; Advanced

Economic Growth

Summer

Prof. Dr.

Nadja

Dwenger

Empirical Public

Economics

This course covers recent

developments in empirical

public economics. You will

learn to critically assess the

latest empirical papers in the

area of public economics and

you will be taught how to

apply modern econometric

methods, which are

commonly used in empirical

public economics, to a variety

of research questions. Topics

include the effect of taxation

on the behavior of individuals

and firms, tax enforcement,

schooling, and the design of

transfer programs such as

yes 4 VL+Ü Topics in Public

Economics,

Masterseminar

Public Economics,

Microeconometrics,

Topics in Labor

Economics,

Environmental

Economics 1

Winter

4

unemployment insurance or

the pension system. When

discussing the relevant

literature, you will become

acquainted with, amongst

others, the following

empirical approaches: natural

and randomized field

experiments, difference-in-

differences estimations,

instrumental variables,

discrete-choice analysis,

regression discontinuity

design, and panel data

analysis.

Prof. Dr.

Nadja

Dwenger

Topics in Public

Economics

This course familiarizes you

with the most recent research

on one or two hot topics in the

area of public economics.

4 VL+Ü Empirical Public

Economics,

Masterseminar

Public Economics,

Microeconometrics,

Topics in Labor

Economics,

Environmental

Economics 1

Summer

Prof. Dr.

Nadja

Dwenger

Masterseminar Public

Economics

Masterseminar on different

topics in Public Economics

Empirical Public

Economics, Topics

in Public

Economics,

Microeconometrics,

Topics in Labor

Economics,

Environmental

Economics 1

Empirical

Public

Economics

Winter (and

Summer 2017)

5

Prof. Dr.

Benjamin

Jung

Microeconomic

Aspects of

Globalization

(Seminar)

In this course, you will be

exposed to recent academic

research on microeconomic

aspects of globalization.

Drawing on knowledge about

the economic analysis of

multinational firms imparted

by module The

Microeconomic Aspects of

Globalization you will apply

advanced theoretical and

empirical tools to answer

various research questions.

Topics will vary from

semester to semester. They

will be selective, but chosen

in such a way that students

obtain a fairly broad exposure

to the recent academic

debates.

2 S The

Microeconomics of

Globalization;

Macroeconomic

Aspects of

Globalization;

International

Economics in the

PC Lab,

Globalisation and

History

The

Microeconomics

of Globalization

Summer/Winter

Prof. Dr.

Benjamin

Jung

Macroeconomic

Aspects of

Globalization

(Seminar)

In this course, you will be

exposed to recent academic

research on macroeconomic

aspects of globalization like

trade and inequality and trade

policy analysis. At the

beginning of the seminar, you

will be introduced to

advanced theoretical and

empirical methods used in

globalization analysis. You

will apply these tools to

answer a particular research

questions. Topics will vary

from semester to semester.

yes 2 s The

Microeconomics of

Globalization;

Microeconomic

Aspects of

Globalization;

International

Economics in the

PC Lab,

Globalisation and

History

Summer/Winter

6

They will be selective, but

chosen in such a way that

students obtain a fairly broad

exposure to the recent

academic debates.

Prof. Dr.

Benjamin

Jung

International

Economics in the PC

Lab (extra-curricular

course)

In this course, you will be

introduced to data and

regression analysis using the

statistical software STATA.

You will learn how to

implement a theory-consistent

gravity equation and how to

apply it to trade policy

analysis. The course is extra-

curricular (so you do not earn

ECTS) and offered at

irregular intervals.

The

Microeconomics of

Globalization;

Microeconomic

Aspects of

Globalization;

Macroeconomic

Aspects of

Globalization,

Globalisation and

History

Summer 2017

Prof. Dr.

Sibylle

Lehmann-

Hasemeyer

Globalisation and

History

This course provides an

introduction to the history of

the international economy

over the past two centuries,

and asks: What were the

political and technological

underpinnings of increased

trade, capital and labour flows

during the period; what were

the effects of these flows on

income distribution within

countries; and what political

responses did they provoke?

What can explain the

deglobalisation experienced in

the years between 1914 and

1945? What, if any, were the

connections between

yes 4 VL+Ü Masterseminar

Economic History,

Microeconomics of

Globalisation,

International Trade

Empirics,

International Trade

Theory, Advanced

Economic Growth

Winter

7

globalization and

convergence? Between

globalization and growth?

Prof. Dr.

Sibylle

Lehmann-

Hasemeyer

Masterseminar

Economic History

Masterseminar on different

Topics in Economic History

2 S Globalisation and

History,

Microeconomics of

Globalisation,

International Trade

Empirics,

International Trade

Theory, Advanced

Economic Growth

Summer/Winter

Prof. Dr.

Aderonke

Osikominu

Microeconometrics This course discusses core

modeling techniques for the

analysis of cross-section and

panel data on microeconomic

units such as persons,

households, firms or regions.

After a review and update

covering key concepts in

Statistics and basic

Econometrics, we will discuss

linear models for panel data

that allow the analyst to

incorporate unobserved unit

specific effects. The last part

of the lecture deals with

Maximum Likelihood

estimation, an alternative

estimation principle to Least

Squares, that is particularly

suited for the analysis of

limited dependent variables.

While the course focuses on

yes 4 VL+Ü Topics in Labor

Economics,

Empirical Trade,

Empirical Public

Economics, Topics

in Econometrics,

Financial

Econometrics,

Economics of

Inequality

Summer

8

the theory and

implementation of

microeconometric methods,

we will also discuss selected

economic applications such as

the gravity equation of

international trade, the

economics of crime, labor

supply and wages, and the

demand for health care.

Prof. Dr.

Aderonke

Osikominu

Topics in

Microeconometrics

This course provides an

introduction to recent

advances in methods for

program and policy

evaluation. Causal inference

seeks to estimate the impacts

of programs or policy

interventions on outcome

variables of interest. For

example, labor economists are

interested in estimating the

causal effect of a training

program on earnings.

We first discuss the general

framework based on

counterfactual outcomes and

then cover the main methods

available to the empirical

researcher. For each method,

we discuss key theoretical

results, implementation issues

and applications from leading

research papers. We pay

particular attention to the fact

that the different methods

yes 4 VL+Ü Topics in Labor

Economics,

Empirical Trade,

Empirical Public

Economics, Topics

in Econometrics,

Financial

Econometrics,

Economics of

Inequality

Winter

9

make different assumptions

about the mechanism based

on which people are assigned

to the program. We start with

the assumption that program

assignment is conditionally

randomized. Suitable methods

in this case include matching

and regression methods. Then

we discuss methods that rely

on longitudinal information to

recover causal effects. We

further discuss instrumental

variable methods that are

suitable in the case of

confounded assignment. The

last part of the lecture covers

the regression discontinuity

design that exploits

deterministic assignment rules

generating discontinuities in

the probability of receiving

the program.

Prof. Dr.

Aderonke

Osikominu

Seminar in

Econometrics /

Microeconometrics

The objective of the seminar

is to provide you with

experience in conducting your

own econometric or empirical

project. The seminar builds

the basis for your further

econometric/empirical

research in the context of the

Master thesis as well as your

further professional career.

yes 2 S Topics in Labor

Economics,

Empirical Trade,

Empirical Public

Economics, Topics

in Econometrics,

Financial

Econometrics,

Economics of

Inequality

Summer

10

Prof. Dr.

Robert

Jung

Financial

Econometrics

The goal of the course is to

provide a solid foundation in

econometric methods that will

permit students to conduct a

serious empirical analysis of

economic and financial time

series data. The focus is both

on theoretical econometric

models and their applications.

Special emphasis will be on

discussing properties of the

models, estimators and test

statistics. The course builds

upon material covered in

Introductory Econometrics.

Throughout the course, the

methods discussed will be

demonstrated using actual

economic and financial data

and the software packages

STATA and R.

4 VL+Ü Two suggested

combinations: (I)

an econometrics

focus with all other

econometric

modules offered by

me and Prof.

Osikominu ; (II) a

combination with

the modules offered

in monetary

economics and in

banking and

finance from the

managment master

program

Summer

Prof. Dr.

Robert

Jung

Topics in

Econometrics

The course covers topics in

econometric methods and

applied econometrics from all

areas of econometrics which

are not yet covered by other

courses. In any particular year

the topic covered is chosen by

the instructor.

4 VL+Ü Winter

Prof. Dr.

Robert

Jung

Seminar Financial

Econometrics

This seminar covers topics in

time series analysis with an

emphasis on applications in

(international) finance,

monetary and financial

economics.

4 VL+Ü Winter

11

The focus will be on both the

econometric methods as well

as relevant applications in the

mentioned fields.

Prof. Dr.

Klaus

Prettner

Advanced Economic

Growth

Stylized facts of long-run

growth; exogenous growth

models (Solow model,

Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans

model, overlapping

generations model),

endogenous and semi-

endogenous growth models

(Romer model, Jones model),

Schumpeterian growth

models and unified growth

models. Critical assessment of

the frameworks; Application

of the models to answer

questions such as: What are

the determinants of long-run

economic growth? Which

policy measures are able to

affect long-run growth? Is

long-run growth

necessary/possible/desireable?

yes 4 VL+Ü International Trade

Theory, Recent

Developments in

Advanced

Innovation

Economics,

Globalisation and

History, Economics

of Inequality,

Seminar: Selected

Topics in Inequality

and Growth

Summer

Prof. Dr.

Klaus

Prettner

Economics of

Inequality

Characteristics of inequality

and statistical measures to

assess the degree of

inequality; stylized facts of

inequality between and within

countries; modeling the

evolution of inequality;

interrelations between

inequality and growth;

potential policy measures.

yes 4 VL+Ü Advanced

Economic Growth,

Topics in Labor

Economics,

International Trade

Empirics, Seminar:

Selected Topics in

Inequality and

Growth, Empirical

Public Economics

Winter

12

Prof. Dr.

Klaus

Prettner

Seminar: Selected

Topics in Inequality

and Growth

The students aquire advanced

knowledge regarding the

general topic of growth and

distribution and the

theoretical and empirical

research that has been done in

recent years. Furthermore,

students learn to

independently carry out

scientific research on their

own (literature search,

empirical analysis and formal

model building) with respect

to their own master thesis.

yes 2 S Summer and

Winter

Prof. Dr.

Alfonso

Sousa-

Poza

Consumer Economics This module will provide an

in-depth understanding of

life-cycle consumption and

savings decisions including

methodological skills to

model consumption and

savings decisions in an

intertemporal context and

under imperfect markets and

uncertainty. The way we save

and consume influences

economic growth, fiscal

policy and capital

accumulation - topics that will

be addressed in the

framework of neoclassical

growth theory. The course

will then go on to examine the

motivations for, and

implications of, financial

transfers between parents and

yes 4 VL+Ü Topics in Public

Economics,

Masterseminar

Public Economics,

Microeconometrics,

Topics in Labor

Economics,

Environmental

Economics 1

Winter

13

their children, as well as

investments by parents in

their children’s human capital.

Determining what motivates

these transfers and

investments is crucial to

understanding the

implications of various

government policies.

Prof. Dr.

Alfonso

Sousa-

Poza

Core Concepts of

Health Care

Management 2

This course aims at giving

students an in-depth

perspective on key issues in

health economics. It is

composed of 3 parts:

Part I: Lectures and readings

on key issues in health

economics: These lectures

will cover the key issues in

health economics, namely the

economic valuation of health,

the demand for health, the

market for physicians,

hospital services and optimal

remuneration of providers.

Part II: Special topics: A

second part of the course will

take a closer look two key

issue in health economics,

namely the economics of

ageing and health, and the

economics of obesity. Part III:

Lectures on selected topics in

the organization, delivery and

financing of healthcare

systems: This part will focus

yes 4 VL Topics in Public

Economics,

Masterseminar

Public Economics,

Microeconometrics,

Topics in Labor

Economics,

Environmental

Economics 1

Winter

14

on a specific topics related to

the organization, delivery and

financing of healthcare

systems. These topics will

bring to focus some of the

practical applications of

economic theory with

examples brought from both

developing and developed

countries as appropriate.

Prof. Dr.

Peter

Spahn

Interest and

Exchange Rates

The lecture deals with fixed

exchange rate systems. A

historical tour d'horizon

starting from the gold

standard, and extending to the

Bretton Woods and the

European Monetary System

explores leader-follower

relations between member

nations, economic policy

conflicts between internal and

external policy goals, and aks

for the reasons of the

downfall of each of those

systems. There is also a look

at the New Bretton Woods

constellation, the triangle of

the euro, the dollar and the

renminbi. Finally, it is shown

that the no-exchange-rate

system of European Monetary

Union reproduces key

problems of the European

Monetary System.

no 4 VL+Ü Summer

15

Prof. Dr.

Andreas

Pyka

Innovation

Economics

‘Innovation Economics I’ will

introduce the master students

into the broad field of modern

innovation economics.

Innovation economics has

gained momentum since the

1990s as an autonomous field

in economics qualified by the

increasing importance of

knowledge and innovation for

the competitiveness of firms,

regions and economies as

well as by the peculiarities of

innovations which makes

innovation processes difficult

to be analyzed in the context

of standard industrial

economics. It turned out that

modern innovation economics

has become a field of

interdisciplinary research

combining besides

economists, among others

technological historians,

economic sociologist,

engineers and complexity

researchers. In this course

students will be made

acquainted to the most

important concepts, schools,

problems and methodologies

in the analysis of innovation

processes.

4 VL+Ü Globalisation and

History; Advanced

Economic Growth;

Advanced

Industrial

Organization

Winter

Prof. Dr.

Andreas

Seminar: Selected

Topics In Innovation

Masterseminar on different

topics in Innovation

2 S Summer and

Winter

16

Pyka Economics Economics

Prof. Dr.

Andreas

Pyka

Recent Developments

in Advanced

Innovation

Economics

‘Innovation Economics II’

introduces the master students

into the most common

methods of modern

innovation economics. Due to

the high degree of complexity

of the phenomenon traditional

tools from economics quickly

come to their limits. In

innovation economics the

heterogeneity of actors is

considered to be an important

source for learning and

innovation. The concept of a

representative firm which

optimizes its profits is not

suited. Innovations trigger

dynamic processes of

entrepreneurship and

structural change. The

concept of economic

equilibrium most often is not

suited for the analysis of

Schumpeterian competition.

For this reason in innovation

economics new tools were

developed which allow

dealing with heterogeneity,

imperfect knowledge, non-

linearities and dynamics. In

this course we will introduce

to simulation tools like agent-

based models and social

4 VL+Ü Microeconometrics;

Topics in

Econometrics

Summer

17

network analysis which fulfil

to some extent the

requirements from innovation

economics.

Prof. Dr.

Michael

Ahlheim

Resource Economics

and Environmental

Policy

The lecture course will start

with an overview of the

different concepts of

sustainability that are

discussed in the economics

literature as well as in

practical environmental

policy. Then the economic

reasons for the failure of a

market economy to ensure

sustainability without

government intervention will

be scrutinized. Afterwards

various instruments of

environmental policy will be

analysed under the aspect of

their suitability to cope with

market failure in a national

and an international context.

Further, the problem of a

sustainable use of natural

resources over time will be

discussed on the basis of

different intertemporal

resource models. The

theoretical discussion will be

illustrated using examples of

practical environmental

policy. Another special topic

of this course will be the

no 4 VL+Ü Summer

18

international aspects of

successful environmental

protection. An accompanying

exercise course offers

students the opportunity to get

a deeper understanding of the

topics dealt with in the lecture

course by solving numerical

exercises and discussing case

studies.

Prof. Dr.

Michael

Ahlheim

Cost-Benefit Analysis

and Environmental

Valuation

This course focuses on the

changes in social welfare

caused by changes in

environmental quality and on

their measurement in

monetary terms. Based on

neoclassical welfare theory

the different concepts of

empirical welfare

measurement will be

discussed. Then practical

assessment techniques will be

introduced and illustrated on

the basis of case studies taken

from the able research of the

chair in this field. Revealed

preference methods like the

Travel Cost Method, Averting

Behaviour, Hedonic Prices

etc. as well as stated

preference methods like

Choice Experiments and the

Contingent Valuation Method

will be discussed at length.

An accompanying exercise

no 4 VL+Ü Winter

19

course offers students the

opportunity to get a deeper

understanding of the topics

dealt with in the lecture

course by solving numerical

exercises and discussing case

studies.

Prof. Dr.

Michael

Ahlheim

Consumer Policy This lecture course deals with

market failure in the

consumption sector and with

the possibilities of

government intervention in

order to protect the interests

of consumers. Special

emphasis will be placed on

the problem of consumer

information and on suitable

policy instruments to address

this problem. Major

theoretical topics include

asymmetric information, price

and quality uncertainty, moral

hazard, adverse selection, and

principal-agency theory. An

overview will be given of

market mechanisms that deal

with information issues such

as marketing, advertising,

warranties, licensing etc.

Another topic of this lecture

course will be the protection

of consumers against

exploitation due to

monopolistic or oligopolistic

market structures. The

no 4 VL+Ü Summer

20

accompanying exercise course

offers students the

opportunity to get a deeper

understanding of the topics

dealt with in the lecture

course by solving numerical

exercises and discussing case

studies.

Prof. Dr.

Ulrich

Schwalbe

Advanced Industrial

Organization

The lecture covers in its first

part price setting strategies of

firms and imperfect

competition as well as

abusive conduct of dominant

firms as e.g. predatory

pricing, margin squeeze,

bundling and tying. In part

two, vertical restrictions and

restraints are discussed. Here,

vertical mergers and

foreclosure, exclusive dealing

and resale price maintenance

are analyzed. As modern

economies are characterized

by digitization and dynamic

innovativeness, problems of

patent protection and

intellectual property are of

particular interest and will be

dealt with in detail in the third

part of the course. Integrated

excercises enable students to

learn to solve problems in

industrial organization theory.

2 VL+Ü Summer

21

Prof. Dr.

Ulrich

Schwalbe

Topics in

Competition Theory

and Policy

The lecture deals with recent

developments in competition

theory as well as policy.

Topics covered include

competition problems in the

digital economy, in particular

network effects, two-sided

markets and platform

competition. Other important

problems that will be

discussed are big data and

competition policy, artificial

intelligence, machine learning

and collusion and also the

Sharing economy. In addition,

competition policy topics will

be discussed as e.g. the

quantification of cartel

damages or optimal fines for

competition law violations.

Further developments relate

to alternatives to market

definition. The relevant

literature consists of recent

publications and discussion

papers. In addition, integrated

excercises will discuss actual

competition cases. Also, these

exercises give students the

opportunity to learn how to

solve problems in competition

theory.

3 VL+Ü Winter

Effective: April 2017