Einführung in die Volkswirtschaftslehre (Wintersemester 2015/16, 2016/17, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25) - German

Anrechenbarkeit: Bachelor VWL Pflichtbereich, Bachelor BWL Pflichtbereich

Diese Veranstaltung vermittelt anhand ausgewählter Fragestellungen Grundwissen über die Inhalte, Begriffe und Methoden der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Sie versetzt die Studierenden in die Lage, volkswirtschaftliche Konzepte und Zusammenhänge zu verstehen. Dazu dient die Vermittlung von Grundkenntnissen der Bedeutung von Knappheit und Wahlmöglichkeiten, der Rolle von Angebot und Nachfrage in Märkten, gesamtwirtschaftlicher Zusammenhänge und der Wirkungen wirtschaftspolitischer Eingriffe. Diese Kenntnisse sind eine wichtige Voraussetzung dafür, wirtschaftliche und wirtschaftspolitische Probleme und Ereignisse zu verstehen und analytisch zu beurteilen.

European Policy (Sommer term2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, Winter term 2023/24) - English

Creditability: Bachelor VWL Vertiefungsgebiet: Wirtschaftspolitik und Finanzwissenschaft

In this lecture, various aspects of the ongoing economic integration within the European Union are analysed and discussed in more detail. The methods taught in the basic courses Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are used to analyse the individual aspects of European integration.

Theory of taxation (Sommer term 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024) - English

Creditability: Bachelor VWL Vertiefungsgebiet: Wirtschaftspolitik und Finanzwissenschaft

In this course, students acquire the basics of financial taxation. To this end, they learn to interpret and apply theoretical analyses of the effect of taxes on economic behaviour. They will also be able to evaluate such changes in behaviour from a normative perspective. Students will also be able to comment on the extent to which alternative concepts of taxation influence the welfare costs of taxation.

Environmental Economics (Summer term 2016, 2020, 2023, Winter term 2024/25) - English

Creditability: Bachelor VWL Vertiefungsgebiet: Wirtschaftspolitik und Finanzwissenschaft

This course teaches the fundamentals of environmental and resource economics based on allocation theory. Central to this is the realisation that environmental problems can in many cases be understood as problems of efficient allocation of scarce environmental resources. Particularly with regard to the current environmental debate, students should be able to evaluate proposed solutions from an economic point of view. After a basic microeconomic introduction, possible environmental policy instruments that can be used to remedy market failure are discussed and evaluated. Using the example of current climate policy, the link between environmental and resource economics is emphasised in particular. The exercise serves to deepen the acquired learning content and practises the transferability to the economic analysis of current environmental policy issues.

Behavioral Public Economics (Sommersemester 2023, 2024, 2025)

Creditability: Master Public Economics & Master Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Ausgewählte Themen der Sozialpolitik (Studienordnung 12/13), Applied Economic Theory (Studienordnung 22/23)

Language: English

The course introduces students to topics of behavioral public economics. Students learn to reflect on the distinction between normative and positive reasoning in economic discussions. This is grounded on an in-depth recapitulation of foundations of neoclassical economic theory and subsequent development of behavioral model elements in public economics. Students discuss and evaluate policy applications regarding major challenges in public economics.

Economics of the Welfare State (Wintersemester 2024/25)

Creditability: Master Public Economics; Master Economics; Master FACTS

Language: English

The lecture deals with the economic analysis of public finances. One focus is on public spending. In addition to a brief overview of the history of the welfare state, theoretical reasons for public intervention are discussed. The analytical part of the lecture examines how the state can provide welfare-enhancing income insurance, how resources can be optimally redistributed and how poverty can be reduced.

Großbaustelle Sozialstaat (Wintersemester 2015/16, 2016/17, 2018/2019, 2020/2021, 2024/25)

Anrechenbarkeit: Master Public Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Steuern und Sozialpolitik; Master Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Volkswirtschaftspolitik

Language: German

Diese Vorlesung führt in die normativen Grundlagen des Sozialstaates ein und analysiert vor diesem Hintergrund das bestehende deutsche Steuer- und Transfersystem, das System der gesetzlichen Sozialversicherung sowie die Grundlagen der deutschen Bildungs- und Familienpolitik. Die theoretischen Grundlagen werden anhand konkreter Reformen und ihrer Alternativen in den Bereichen Steuer- und Transfersystem, Gesundheitswesen, Alterssicherung, Bildung und Familie eingehender erörtert.

International Public Economics (Sommersemester 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)

Creditability: Master Public Economics Kernbereich; Master Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Volkswirtschaftspolitik

Language: English

The increasing internationalisation of modern economies is creating new framework conditions for government spending and revenue policy and new challenges for government actors. This course analyses the incentives and effects of state activities in an international context. Optimal tariff theory, strategic foreign trade policy, tax competition, non-cooperative and cooperative action between states in other fiscal areas are some of the topics analysed.

Optimal Taxation (Sommersemester 2024. 2025)

Creditability: Master Public Economics Kernbereich; Master Economics Schwerpunktbereich:Volkswirtschaftstheorie

Language: English

Optimal Taxation looks at government revenue policy at an advanced level. Building on undergraduate courses in fiscal taxation, the module provides you with an in-depth understanding of how taxes and tax-like instruments work. The skills you learn will enable you to contribute to discourses on tax theory and tax policy in a qualified manner in order to evaluate tax policy proposals.

Exemplary contents:

•     Conflicting goals between efficiency and distribution
•     Tax incidence analysis
•     Additional burden of taxation
•     Tax design and tax reform
•     Taxation of external effectse

Ökonomie des Glücks (Sommersemester 2016, Wintersemester 2019/20, 2021/22)

Anrechenbarkeit: Master Public Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Steuern und Sozialpolitik -oder- Markt und Staat; Master Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Volkswirtschaftspolitik

Die Vorlesung führt in die ökonomische Glücksforschung ein. Zunächst wird die Frage beantwortet, warum die Messbarkeit von individuellem Nutzen und gesellschaftlicher Wohlfahrt lange Zeit nicht auf der Agenda der Volkswirtschaftslehre stand, sich in den letzten Dekaden aber als ein stark wachsendes Forschungsfeld etabliert hat. Daraufhin werden die methodischen Grundlagen der Wohlbefindensforschung erläutert. Auf dieser Basis wendet sich der Kurs Anwendungsfeldern in der Finanzwissenschaft (Wohlfahrtsmessung, Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse) und der Arbeitsmarktökonomik (unfreiwillige Arbeitslosigkeit, Beschäftigungsschutz) zu. In der Übung werden konkrete empirische Projekte der Zufriedenheitsforschung zur Bearbeitung an die Teilnehmer ausgegeben und betreut. Vorkenntnisse in grundlegenden ökonometrischen Methoden sowie in der Anwendung statistischer Software (insbesondere Stata) sind hilfreich, wenn auch nicht zwingend erforderlich.

Staat und Beschäftigung (Wintersemester 2015/16, 2017/18, 2019/20, 2021/22)

Anrechenbarkeit: Master Public Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Arbeitsmarktpolitik; Master Economics Schwerpunktbereich: Volkswirtschaftspolitik

In dieser Vorlesung wird untersucht, inwieweit staatliche Eingriffe in die Wirtschaft positive oder negative Auswirkungen auf die Beschäftigung haben. Hierzu wird zunächst die Steuer-wirkung auf flexiblen und imperfekten Arbeitsmärkten analysiert und die Grundzüge eines optimalen Steuersystems charakterisiert. Anschließend beschäftigt sich die Vorlesung mit der Analyse konkreten arbeitsmarktpolitischer Maßnahmen.

Behavioral Public Economics (Sommersemester 2023, 2024)

Anrechenbarkeit: Berlin School of Economics, 6 LP

Kurssprache: Englisch

The course introduces students to topics of behavioral public economics. Students learn to reflect on the distinction between normative and positive reasoning in economic discussions. This is grounded on an in-depth recapitulation of foundations of neoclassical economic theory and subsequent development of behavioral model elements in public economics. Students discuss and evaluate policy applications regarding major challenges in public economics.

Regulations and the Labor Market (Sommersemester 2015)

Die Veranstaltung setzt sich mit den Fragen auseinander, wann ein staatlicher Eingriff in den Arbeitsmarkt gerechtfertigt ist. Die Vorlesung setzt dabei Akzente auf die tatsächlichen Kosten der Arbeitslosigkeit, indem die aktuellsten Erkenntnisse der Glücksforschung erörtert werden. Weiterhin werden die Politikmaßnahmen des Workfare und Mindestlohnes diskutiert. Die Veranstaltung wird unregelmäßig im Rahmen des BDPEMS angeboten.

Measuring Happiness - The Economics of Well Being  

Diese Veranstaltung führt in die ökonomische Glücksforschung ein. Grundlage ist dabei eine Einführung in die Methoden sowie eine breite Diskussion verschiedener Zufriedenheitsmaße. Weiterhin werden zwei Themen intensiv diskutiert: Der Zusammenhang von Zufriedenheit und Einkommen sowie der Effekt von Arbeitslosigkeit auf das Glück. Die Veranstaltung wird nicht regelmäßig angeboten.

Our chair regularly offers seminars on labor market, financial, economic and social policy, and behavioral economics topics. The seminars are always announced on our homepage well in advance of the start of the lecture period; preliminary discussion and assignment of topics take place in the first few weeks after the start of the lecture period. Registration always takes place after the preliminary meeting. Please also note our instructions for the preparation of seminar papers and theses.

Seminar: Selected Fields of Action in Social Security (Bachelor, Winter term 2025)

Language: German, literature might be in English

The seminar deals with topics of social policy as part of the financial and economic policy module. Participants learn how to deal with theoretical and empirical literature and gain an initial insight into academic work. In addition, participants are introduced to the institutional framework of German social policy and work through current reform proposals from academia, the political arena and German social organisations. What they have learnt is applied and deepened in joint discussions based on current issues and the derivation of their own economically sound policy recommendations. In terms of content, the focus is on social security using the example of the German basic social security system and social insurance using the example of statutory health insurance.

Seminar: International Business Taxation (Master, Winter term 2023/24)

The seminar focuses on tax policy and international taxation issues, with an emphasis on multinational enterprises’ activities and the tax implications of these activities. It addresses numerous themes in between, with a variety of topics ranging from the discussion of corporate taxation to tax challenges occurring as a result of the digitalization of the economy.

Seminar: Behavioural Welfare Economics (Master, Winter term 2022/23)

In the seminar, students discuss the foundations of welfare economics and learn about intersections and fundamental debates with behavioral economics. We discuss the importance of different concepts of welfare for policy and economic research.

Seminar: Renten- und Gesundheitspolitik – Reformbedarf aus ökonomischer Perspektive? (Master, Winter term 2022/23)

The seminar deals with topics of social policy with a focus on the areas of health/care and old-age security. Students will be introduced to features and stylized facts of the German welfare state and will be shown relevant interfaces of the current social security system. They will learn about challenges, proposed political solutions and reform approaches of social policy and discuss them against the background of economic theory.

Seminar: Behavioural Public Economics (Master, Sommer term 2021)

The seminar deals with topics in finance at the interfaces with behavioral economics. The course imparts basic knowledge on various welfare concepts and the practical application in the context of happiness research. Students develop and learn concepts of behavioral economics, which can be relevant as an instrument in the design of political processes (nudging, political framing, taxation of "sin goods", etc.). In addition, from an individual perspective, students will explore the extent to which the image of a homo economicus can be dissolved and, in turn, what challenges arise for policy (self-control and poverty, personality and tax fraud, etc.). By specifically contrasting standard theories with the behavioral economics perspective, the course creates an important complement to existing courses in finance.

Aktuelle Forschungsfragen der internationalen Finanzpolitik (Master, Winter term 2020/21, 2021/22)

The seminar deals with current issues in international financial policy, international trade and international taxation. Students will gain insights into the current literature of the different topics and learn in-depth theoretical and empirical approaches to analyze fiscal policy problems. The goal is to develop an independent research question and analyze it. In addition, participants learn how to prepare their findings in a non-technical summary.

Finanz-  und Wirtschaftspolitik (Bachelor, Winter term 2020/21)

The seminar deals with basic topics of financial and economic policy. The focus is on understanding theoretical economic models. Participants learn how to deal with scientific literature and get a first insight into scientific work. In addition, participants receive an introduction to the institutional framework of German social and economic policy. The knowledge gained will be applied in joint discussions on the basis of current issues and the derivation of own policy recommendations.

Aktuelle Forschungsfragen der theoretischen Finanzwissenschaft (Sommer term 2020)

The seminar deals with basic theoretical models of finance. Participants will become familiar with existing theoretical literature on relevant topics in finance and work through it systematically. The focus is on understanding and applying theoretical models as well as critically questioning the model construction based on a discussion of the underlying assumptions. The aim is to train the application competence of economic modeling and scientific work.

Theoretische Grundlagen der Sozialpolitik (Master, Winter term 2017/2018)

In the course of the seminar, comprehensive problem areas of social policy are discussed with the help of theory-based analysis. The focus is on the critical examination of the modeling as well as the transfer to current challenges.

Seminar Mindestlohn (Bachelor, Winter term 2016/2017)

The seminar will deal with issues surrounding the minimum wage. The focus will be on the introduction of the nationwide minimum wage in Germany.

Determinanten des Arbeitsangebots (Bachelor, Winter term 2014/2015)

Labor supply depends on a variety of individual and institutional factors. The seminar will examine how individual factors affect labor supply. The focus will be on the design of social security systems and family-related regulations and benefits (e.g. parental leave, parental allowance). In addition, new findings from economic happiness research on the individual determinants of labor supply are examined (e.g. status consumption).

Arbeit und Glück (Bachelor, Sommer term 2014)

Why do humans work? Classical labor supply theory has a simple answer to this: we want to consume. Otherwise, working mainly brings us "costs" through the loss of time for other activities. The view of economic happiness research is different: When people become unemployed, they suffer far more than the loss of income can explain - and this despite the fact that they gain leisure time. This is one example of many where economic happiness research opens up a new perspective on economic models and their assumptions. The seminar Work and Happiness reviews some of the findings of this research area, questions them methodologically and discusses the insights for labor economics.

The seminar is aimed at advanced bachelor students who are interested in empirical questions in the field of labor economics and who want to prepare for their bachelor thesis with a first scientific seminar paper.

Armutsvermeidung in der Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik (Master, Sommer term 2016, 2019)

The seminar deals with various issues of poverty reduction in labor market policy and social policy. Students are introduced to the theoretical foundations of the statutory social security system and labor market policy in Germany. Topics include the tax and transfer system, labor market, old age security, housing policy, education and family.

Behavioral Public Economics (Master, Winter term 2014/2015, Sommer termr 2011)

The seminar considered the utility concept in economics in the context of choice, expectations, relative comparisons, social norms, and fairness preferences.

Seminar Markt und Moral (Master, Sommer term 2013)