KOMMENTIERTES VORLESUNGSVERZEICHNIS (MODULHANDBUCH) COURSE CATALOGUE STUDIENGANG MASTER – M.Sc. IN ECONOMICS Compulsory Courses MASTER – M.Sc. in Economics Mathematics for Economists Modul Mathematics for Economists (CM 1) Professor/Lecturer N.N. Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Compulsory Hours/week 2+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 6 Language English Prerequisites „Abiturwissen” mathematics; basic knowledge of linear algebra and multivariable calculus; being open for a rigorous approach - theorems stated carefully and some proofs given Syllabus/Course outline 1.Introduction 2.Methods of Proof 3.Matrix Algebra 4.Functions 5.Integration 6.Optimization 7.Basics in Probability Theory 8.Basic Stochastic Processes 9.Basics in Dynamic Programming 10.More Advanced Material in Topology Literature Most of the material is covered in any good math for econ book. We will mostly be using the ones below. Most of the relevant core material is covered in the Jehle/Reny appendix. de la Fuente. Mathematical Methods and Models for Economists. Cambridge University Press (2000) M. Hoy, J. Livernois, C.J. McKenna, R. Rees, and T. Stengos. Mathematics for Economics. MIT Press. 2nd edition (2001) G. Jehle and P.J. Reny. Advanced Microeconomic Theory. Addison Wesley. 2nd edition (2000) Mas-Colell, M.D. Whinston, and J.R. Green. Microeconomic Theory. Oxford University Press (1995) C.P. Simon and L.E. Blume. Mathematics for Economists. W. W. Norton & Company (1994) K. Wainwright and A. Chiang. Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. 4th edition (2004) Econometrics Modul Econometrics (CM 2) Professor/Lecturer Winter, Joachim Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Compulsory Hours/week 2+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 6 Language English Prerequisites Empirische Ökonomie für Fortgeschrittene or an equivalent course in econometrics; basic knowledge of matrix algebra and probability theory. Syllabus/Course Outline This course introduces graduate students to econometric methods for the analysis of cross-sectional and panel data. The course presents commonly used inference methods for linear and nonlinear specifications, including linear and nonlinear regression models, maximum likelihood estimation, instrumental variables estimation, generalized method-of-moments estimation, and estimation methods for models with qualitative and limited dependent variables. In the accompanying exercise sessions, participants practice the application of these methods to real- world problems, using the econometrics package STATA.The linear model and OLS estimation 1. Instrumental variables 2. Linear models for panel data 3. Treatment effects 4. M estimators Literature The course is based on the textbook by Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002, complemented by material from the new book by Joshua D. Angrist, Mostly Harmless Econometrics, Princeton, NJ, and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009. Additional references will be given as appropriate. Optional Courses MASTER – M.Sc. in Economics Advanced Macroeconomics Modul Foundations of Applied Economics (OM 1) Professor/Lecturer Carstensen, Kai Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 2+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 6 Language English Prerequisites Undergraduate macroeconomics Syllabus/Course Outline This course introduces to economic growth and business cycle theory. 1. Neoclassical Growth Model (Solow/Swan Model) 2. Ramsey Model 3. New Growth Theory 4. Real Business Cycle Model Literature David Romer (2011) Advanced Macroeconomics, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill, Boston. Advanced Microeconomics Modul Foundations of advanced Economics (OM 1) Professor/Lecturer Schnitzer, Monika Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 2+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 6 Language English Prerequisites Undergraduate microeconomics Syllabus/Course Outline This course is addressed to master students who are not currently planning on following up with a PhD degree or doing research on their own. It will introduce the theoretical concepts needed in field courses throughout the master program. The emphasis is less on methodology, but rather on examples where to use these theoretical concepts. The topics covered in this module include game theory, market behavior in oligopolistic markets and decision making under risk and uncertainty. The rational-choice foundations of microeconomics are examined critically, particularly in the light of experimental evidence and of alternative theories of economic decision-making. The Course will focus on the following topics: Topic 1: Introduction, Game theory: Static games (with notes) Topic 2: Game theory: Dynamic games (with notes) Topic 3: Game theory: Static games with incomplete information (with notes) Topic 4: Game Theory: Dynamic games with incomplete information (with notes) Topic 5: Price Competition with capacity constraints (with notes) Topic 6: Product Differentiation (with notes) Topic 7: Strategic substitutes versus strategic complements (with notes) Topic 8: Innovation (with notes) Topic 9: Monopolistic competition (with notes) Topic10: Decision making under uncertainty (with notes) Topic11: Risk sharing, securitization (with notes) Topic12: Limitations of expexted utility theory (with notes) Topic13: Time preferences and discounting (with notes) Topic 14: Final discussion Literature Core texts are: Gibbons, R., A primer in Game Theory, Prentice Hall 1992. Tirole, J., Industrial Organization, 7th edition, 1993. Gravelle, H., Rees, R., Microeconomics, 3rd edition, Pearson Education, 2004. Public Economics Modul Foundations of Applied Economics (OM 1) Professor/Lecturer Holzner, Christian / Sinn, Hans-Werner Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 2+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 6 Language English Prerequisites Undergraduate Level Economics Syllabus / Course Outline 0. Introduction 0.1. Distribution − Allocation − Stabilisation 0.2. Efficiency and equity 0.3. Statistics 1. History of the welfare state 1.1. From ancient times to present 1.2. Bismarck‘s reforms 1.3. Social development in the 19th century 2. Pensions and intergenerational contract 2.1. Pension system 2.2. Pension formula and the reforms from 1992 and 1999 2.3. PAYGO system 2.4. Excursus: Interest and growth rate in the Solow Model 2.5. Capital cover vs. PAYGO system: implicit sovereign debt, implicit taxes and the transition problem 2.6. Mackenroth Thesis 2.7. Crisis of the German pension system 2.8. Reform proposal of the Wissenschaftliche Beirat beim Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft 2.9. Value of children and immigrants for the pension system 2.10. Social Security Hypothesis 2.11. PAYGO system as insurance against childlessness 2.12. PAYGO system, one-sided altruism and the investment in human capital 3. Health insurance 3.1. Some facts 3.2. Moral Hazard 3.3. Reasons for insurance compliance 3.3.1. Kinked utility function 3.3.2. Adverse Selection 4. Social benefits and unemployment insurance 4.1. Country comparison 4.2. Disincentives 4.3. Reform proposals 5. Theory of the welfare state 5.1. Redistribution as insurance: Evaluation under the veil of ignorance 5.2. Private versus public insurance 5.3. Risk taking, insurance and redistribution 6. Welfare state under systems competition 6.1. Redistribution and factor mobility 6.2. Social politics in Europe: Centralisation or Nationality Principle Literature References will be given in the lecture. Macroeconomics (Research) Modul Foundations of Economic Research (OM 2) Professor/Lecturer Illing, Gerhard / Sunde, Uwe Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 4+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 9 Language English Prerequisites Good knowledge in macro-, microeconomics, and mathematical methods (calculus) Syllabus/Course Outline Macroeconomics has two goals: It (should) develop theories to describe/understand the evolution of important aggregate variables such as consumption, output, investment, employment, as well as prices such as interest rates and wages. It should judge policy measures in a normative way based on the relevant macroeconomic theories. In it’s methods, modern macroeconomics is based on the concept of dynamic, stochastic, general equilibrium models. The Course will focus on the following topics: I Growth 1. Neoclassical Growth Model: Solow-Swan and Extensions 2. Neoclassical Growth Model: Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans 3. Extensions of the Neoclassical Growth Model a. AK-Models b. Growth through Externalities c. Public Sector Investments d. Human Capital 4. Endogenous Growth 5. Heterogeneity: Overlapping Generations Models 6. Growth Empirics and Current Research Topics II Fluctuations (Business Cycles) 1. Fluctuations: Stylized Facts and Recap of Models 2. Real Business Cycles 3. New Keynesian Models of Fluctuations III Policy (Fiscal, Monetary, Unemployment) 1. Fiscal Policy a. Debt and Deficit b. Ricardian Equivalence c. The Fiscal Multiplier d. Strategic Debt e. Delayed Stabilization f. Debt Crises g. Fiscal Policy and Growth 2. Monetary Policy 3. Unemployment a. Hiring, Firing, and Adjustment Costs b. Efficiency Wages c. Frictions Literature: D. Romer, Advanced Macroeconomics, McGraw Hill, 3rd edition, 2006. Further references will be given in the lecture. Microeconomics (Research) Modul Foundations of Economic Research (OM 2) Professor/Lecturer Schmidt, Klaus Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 4+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 9 Language English Prerequisites Good knowledge in microeconomics Syllabus/Course Outline This course is addressed to master students who are interested in economic research and who would like to learn modern methods of microeconomic theory at a more rigorous level. The course is structured in a similar way as microeconomic courses at top international graduate schools. It is entirely based on the leading textbook of Mas-Colell, Whinston and Green and offers a solid preparation for more applied research in almost all fields of micro- and macroeconomics. If you think about writing a doctoral dissertation or if you consider working in a research institution you should definitely take this course. But the course is also addressed to students who enjoy rigorous thinking and precise arguments and who may consider a career in an international organization, in a consultancy, in public service or private enterprise. The only prerequisite is that you are open-minded and interested in the deep questions of economics and how to answer them rigorously. This does not require any specific mathematical knowledge that goes beyond the mathematics course offered in our master program. The course is not necessarily more difficult or labor intensive than the courses on Advanced Microeconomics, but the emphasis is different. If you don't know which course to take, try it out. The course will focus on following topics 1. Game Theory 2. Consumer and Producer Theory 3. Decisions under Uncertainty 4. Information Economics 5. Partial and General Equilibrium Theory Literature Core text: The main reference is Mas-Colell, Whinston and Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995. All participants have to work with this book. Additional references will be given in the lecture. Advanced Economic Histor y Modul Economic Theory (OM 3) or Applied Economic Analysis and Empirical Economics (OM 4) or Modul Economic Research (OM 6) or Economic Research & Public Economics (OM 7) Professor/Lecturer Cantoni, Davide Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 4+2 Exam Term Paper and Presentation Cycle Winter-Semester ECTS-Points 9 Language English General Prerequisites Basic macroeconomics (esp. growth theory) and econometrics MSc-Course Prerequisites Advanced (or Applied) Macroeconomics, Econometrics Syllabus/Course outline This course aims to explain the very long run trends in economic history. The two main questions that underlie the classes will be: (1) why are our societies so much more productive/rich than our ancestors’ ones? and (2) why are there such large differences in income levels across societies today? To investigate these questions, we will look for the explanatory power of various factors, such as geography, technology, institutions, and culture, trying to isolate fundamental determinants from proximate ones. As put by North and Thomas in 1973: “The factors we have listed (innovation, economies of scale, education, capital accumulation etc.) are not causes of growth; they are growth”—instead, causes of growth will be the focus of this class. As such, this class is highly complementary to any courses or readings you might do in economic growth, economic development, or political economy. Moreover, the focus of this class will be on reading and discussing research papers with a strongly empirical focus; it will thus be complementary to the (micro)econometrics classes in the program and should be viewed as good preparation to one’s own writing of applied research papers. Literature Specific readings will be indicated in the course. New Ke y nesian Macroeconomics Modul Economic Theory (OM 3) or Applied Economic Analysis and Empirical Economics (OM 4) or Modul Economic Research (OM 6) or Economic Research & Public Economics (OM 7) Professor/Lecturer Carstensen, Kai and Wollmershäuser, Timo Course type Lecture and Tutorial Compulsory/Optional Optional Hours/week 4+2 Exam Written Exam (120 minutes) Cycle Summer-Semester ECTS-Points 9 Language English General Prerequisites Advanced (or Applied) Macroeconomics (Real Business Cycle models, dynamic modeling); Time- series Econometrics; MSc-Course Prerequisites Advanced (or Applied) Macroeconomics, Econometrics Syllabus/Course Outline Objectives: The main goal of the course is to introduce into New Keynesian Macro- economics (NKM) both from an empirical and a theoretical perspective in order to explain business cycles. A particular emphasis will be put on inflation and monetary policy: How do we measure monetary policy shocks? What are the empirical effects of monetary policy? Can we explain these effects theoretically? How should optimal monetary policy look like? 1. Stylized Macroeconomic Facts of the European and US Business Cycle a. The Hodrick-Prescott filter b. Some stylized facts 2. Stylized Microeconomic Facts of the Price Setting Mechanism a. Evidence based on micro price data b. Evidence based on firm surveys 3. VAR Models a. The identification problem in macroeconomics b. The VAR model c. Identification strategies for VAR models d. The monetary transmission mechanism in the US e. The monetary transmission mechanism in the euro area 4. The New Keynesian Baseline Model 5. Monetary Policy Design in the New Keynesian Model a. Sources of suboptimality b. Optimal monetary policy I c. Simple policy rules I d. The welfare function e. Monetary policy tradeoffs f. Optimal monetary policy II (discretion versus commitment) g. Simple policy rules II h. Monetary policy under uncertainty 6. Extensions of the Baseline New Keynesian Model Literature Galí, J. (2008), “Monetary Policy, Inflation, and the Business Cycle”, Princeton University Press. Walsh, C. (2003), “Monetary Theory and Policy”, The MIT Press. [...]... which involve situations with strategic interaction  Introduction, methodology  Bargaining games  Social preferences  Cooperation  Individual decision-making  Laboratory, programming, statistics  Guessing game and learning  Auctions  Team decision-making  Self-control (and neuro -economics) Literatur: There is no single textbook which covers the course Information about specific readings will... ECTS-Points English Language Basic economic thinking (microeconomics) and General Prerequisites standard game-theoretic concepts Advanced (or Applied) Microeconomics MSc-Course Prerequisites Syllabus/Course Outline The course focuses on how psychological insights and experimental methods have been influencing economic thinking We will discuss several selected topics in microeconomics and public economics, ... economic thinking (micro -economics and General Prerequisites public economics) Advanced (or Applied) Microeconomics , Public MSc-Course Prerequisites Economics Syllabus/Course Outline In its first part, the course discusses various measures of inequality and both classical and neoclassical theories of distribution The second part is devoted to applications in International Economics, Labour Economics, ... Political Economics Literature A.B Atkinson, F Bourguignon (2000): Introduction: Income Distribution and Economics, in: A.B Atkinson, F Bourguignon (Eds), Handbook of Income Distribution, Vol 1, Amsterdam etc , pp 1-58 F.A Cowell (1995): Measuring Inequality, LSE Handbooks in Economics, Second Edition Systems Competition Modul Economic Theory (OM 3) or Applied Economic Analysis and Empirical Economics. .. allocations can be (parametrically) computed In addition structured reading assignments are given which include guidelines and questions that point to the role of specific modelling assumptions and core results in the paper Literature Gareth D Myles (1995): Public Economics Cambridge University Press Original journal articles Search and Matching Theory with Applications in Labour Market Policy Modul Economic... rational expectations, providing you with a good understanding of macroeconomic general equilibrium models You are expected to have taken a master course in Advanced (or Applied) Macroeconomics at a level corresponding to David Romer’s textbook Macroeconomics , Microeconomics , Econometrics MSc-Course Prerequisites Syllabus/Course Outline The aim of the course is to introduce into core models of Monetary... Public Economics (OM 7) Meier, Volker and Stimmelmayr, Michael Professor/Lecturer Lecture and Tutorial Course type Optional Compulsory/ Optional 4+2 Hours/week Written Exam (120 minutes) Exam Winter-Semester Cycle 9 ECTS-Points English Language Basic economic thinking (micro -economics) and General Prerequisites public economics Advanced (or Applied) Microeconomics , Public MSc-Course Prerequisites Economics. .. Summer-Semester Cycle 6 ECTS-Points English Language The course is largely self-contained Nevertheless, General Prerequisites advanced knowledge in macroeconomics (particularly growth) is required Macroeconomics Research MSc-Course Prerequisites Syllabus/Course Outline This course offers an introduction to modern macroeconomics The course addresses master and PhD students interested in long-run development... Literature Lecture notes and papers read in the course are made available at the beginning of the course on http://www.tax.mpg.de/en/pub/public _economics /courses/ empirical_public _economics. cfm Frontiers in International Trade Modul Economic Theory (OM 3) or Applied Economic Analysis and Empirical Economics (OM 4) or Economic Research (OM 6) or Economic Research & Public Economics (OM 7) Eckel, Carsten Professor/Lecturer... given in the course Political Economics Modul Applied Economic Analysis and Empirical Economics (OM 4) or Public Economics (OM 5) or Economic Research (OM 6) Meier, Volker Professor/Lecturer Lecture and Tutorial Course type Optional Compulsory/ Optional 2+2 Hours/week Written Exam (120 minutes) Exam Summer-Semester (sporadic) Cycle 6 ECTS-Points English Language Basic economic thinking (micro -economics) . Compulsory Courses MASTER – M. Sc. in Economics Mathematics for Economists Modul Mathematics for Economists (CM 1) Professor/Lecturer. appropriate. Optional Courses MASTER – M. Sc. in Economics Advanced Macroeconomics Modul Foundations of Applied Economics (OM 1) Professor/Lecturer