Study

Labor economics discusses to what extent and under which institutional framework conditions labour forces and jobs are combined on the labor markets, in which manifestations unemployment arises and which means of social policy and labor market instruments reduce unemployment. In the first part of the course, the theoretical concepts of labor economics are introduced and critically examined in group discussions. In the second part of the course, students will be guided in writing case-related papers on selected problems of labor economics (e.g. labor market reforms, unconditional basic income, Industry 4.0 or trade union theories).

The lecture is divided into three parts. Taking the national accounts as a basis, first the central macroeconomic variables are introduced and placed in the context of aggregate demand on goods and financial markets in the closed economy (IS/LM model). The short-run serves as a framework. Subsequently, the supply side and the consideration of the price level in the medium term (AS/AD model) are added to the model. In the third part of the course, the model is supplemented by the concerns of the open economy. In this context, a macroeconomic analysis of macroeconomic instabilities and financial crises will be developed and discussed on the basis of current case studies.

The lecture Regulatory Economics focuses on the integration of economic principles regarding the design of the interaction of markets and regulation. The main learning objective is the theory-based determination of the institutional framework conditions required by the various submarkets of an economy. In the first part of the lecture, the theoretical concepts are introduced and critically discussed in the group. In the second part of the lecture, students will prepare case-based papers on selected problems of regulatory economics (e.g. measurement of market power, the role of price discrimination, the economics of the internet or the regulation of natural monopolies).

Seminar: Equality, Justice and Welfare

"Price gouging in emergency situations, preventive killing, abortion, but also accepting responsibility for wrongdoings committed by one's ancestors, positive discrimination or consistent application of rules in sports towards the disabled - are these things correct? By what principles should one proceed if one is to make the right - namely just - decision in difficult situations?" (Sandel 2013)

Particularly in recent times, economics has often been criticized for ignoring questions of justice and distribution. This seminar is aimed at students who wish to study distribution issues, ethics and the morality of the market. The first area conveys the basics of distribution theories in relation to equality and justice. In the second area, we will refer to some current texts of the philosopher Michael Sandel to analyze these theories and view them from different justice theory perspectives. In the third block will then take this solid basis to scrutinize the role of markets, morality and the state.

The aim of the seminar is to use the examples and the argumentation of the literature mentioned above to elaborate, critically question and jointly discuss the distribution-theoretical and normative foundations of economics in various fields of application.

Seminar: Climate Economics

By the weekly school strikes of the "Fridays for Future" movement, at the latest, the problem of man-made climate change and its foreseeable consequences came to the awareness of the world's general public. "How dare you?" shouted the Swedish initiator, Greta Thunberg, to the global political and business elites at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice in 2019, urging them to take immediate action.

Yet for decades now, issues related to climate change and its mitigation have been the center of environmental economics. Standard theory since 1912 after Arthur Pigou, environmental damage has been conceptualized as negative externalities which are associated with welfare losses, whose prevention also imposes costs. Stern (2007) even calls climate change the "greatest market failure the world has ever seen". It is therefore the responsibility of the state to sway those responsible for environmental damage to behave in an environmentally compliant manner by means of sanctions and incentive mechanisms.

But what specific challenges do environmental economics and environmental policy face as a result of the climate problem? How should risk and time discounting be dealt with? Which climate policy instruments can be considered? How can the cooperation between different actors necessary to tackle the climate problem be ensured? These and other questions will be elaborated, critically examined and jointly discussed in the seminar on the basis of current, relevant scientific literature.

After an introduction to the central issues of economic policy, the foundations of welfare economics are first elaborated within the framework of the so-called main theorems of welfare economics, which provide a theoretical concept for the separation of allocative and distributive issues. Within the framework of allocative justification of government action, public goods, external effects, incomplete information and natural monopolies are treated as classical cases of market failure. Subsequently, the justification and implementation of distributive interventions are discussed. A rather positive analysis of state activity is provided in the subsequent sections on collective will formation and the so-called state failure. The course concludes with two chapters on taxation and public debt, each dealing with different facets of the state's revenue policy.

Based on David Ricardo's theorem of comparative cost advantages, the positive welfare effects of open markets have traditionally been the origin of many economic theories shaping the economics studies. When studying the foreign trade structures of an open economy, the focus is not only placed on theoretical models of pure and monetary foreign trade theory, but also on applied institutional issues of the European Economic Area, such as the constitution of the European Internal Market or the euro area. In addition to the practical and institutional questions of the foreign trade policy of an open economy, however, there will also be room for critical discussions of a largely unlimited deregulation, and globalization based on case studies.

This lecture explicitly deals with questions of distribution and justice, mostly addressed rather indirectly in economics, and applies them to concrete institutional or empirical questions of business administration and economic policy. The aim of the lecture is to use concrete examples to elaborate, critically question and jointly discuss the distributional and normative foundations of economics in various fields of application. In the first part of the lecture, participants develop the knowledge necessary for the second part of the course, which will be held as a seminar where participants apply their knowledge to a concrete problem and draw up a seminar paper.

Seminar: Equality, Justice and Welfare

"Price gouging in emergency situations, preventive killing, abortion, but also accepting responsibility for wrongdoings committed by one's ancestors, positive discrimination or consistent application of rules in sports towards the disabled - are these things correct? By what principles should one proceed if one is to make the right - namely just - decision in difficult situations?" (Sandel 2013)

Particularly in recent times, economics has often been criticized for ignoring questions of justice and distribution. This seminar is aimed at students who wish to study distribution issues, ethics and the morality of the market. The first area conveys the basics of distribution theories in relation to equality and justice. In the second area, we will refer to some current texts of the philosopher Michael Sandel to analyze these theories and view them from different justice theory perspectives. In the third block will then take this solid basis to scrutinize the role of markets, morality and the state.

The aim of the seminar is to use the examples and the argumentation of the literature mentioned above to elaborate, critically question and jointly discuss the distribution-theoretical and normative foundations of economics in various fields of application.

Seminar: Climate Economics

By the weekly school strikes of the "Fridays for Future" movement, at the latest, the problem of man-made climate change and its foreseeable consequences came to the awareness of the world's general public. "How dare you?" shouted the Swedish initiator, Greta Thunberg, to the global political and business elites at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice in 2019, urging them to take immediate action.

Yet for decades now, issues related to climate change and its mitigation have been the center of environmental economics. Standard theory since 1912 after Arthur Pigou, environmental damage has been conceptualized as negative externalities which are associated with welfare losses, whose prevention also imposes costs. Stern (2007) even calls climate change the "greatest market failure the world has ever seen". It is therefore the responsibility of the state to sway those responsible for environmental damage to behave in an environmentally compliant manner by means of sanctions and incentive mechanisms.

But what specific challenges do environmental economics and environmental policy face as a result of the climate problem? How should risk and time discounting be dealt with? Which climate policy instruments can be considered? How can the cooperation between different actors necessary to tackle the climate problem be ensured? These and other questions will be elaborated, critically examined and jointly discussed in the seminar on the basis of current, relevant scientific literature.

In Environmental Economics, the object of study "environment" is defined based on its interaction with the economy. Within the framework of the allocation-theoretical analysis, a basic model of environmental economics is developed from the social rivalry around the various environmental functions. Environmental problems are presented as market failures which arise with the provision of public environmental goods or externalities. These problems are placed in an environmental policy context, and contrasted with the various environmental policy principles within the relevant fields of action. In particular the discussion of the ethical foundations of environmental economics as well as the particularities of the valuation of environmental goods make up another focus.