ModuleCatalogInternationalEconomicsandFinance
Coursesthatgivecreditforthespecialization“InternationalEconomicsand
Finance”intheMScinEconomics
Content
Prof. Thomas Bauer, Applied Economic Research
Economics of Migration (5 ECTS)
Prof. Matthias Busse, International Economics
International Trade (5 ECTS)
African Economic Development (10 ECTS, lecture and seminar)
Empirical International Economics (10 ECTS)
Seminar in Development Economics (5 ECTS)
Economic Reform, Income and Poverty (5 ECTS)
International Monetary Economics (5 ECTS)
Prof. John P. Haisken-DeNew, Competition Theory and Policy
Economics of Conflict and War (5 ECTS)
Prof. Manfred Lösch, Quantitative Analysis
Time Series Analysis (10 ECTS)
Prof. Wilhelm Löwenstein, Development Economics
Growth and Development Economics (5 ECTS)
Cost-Benefit Analysis (5 ECTS)
Prof. Michael Roos, Macroeconomics
Financial Macroeconomics (5 ECTS)
Macroeconomic and Financial Governance (5 ECTS)
Behavioral Macroeconomics (5 ECTS)
Topics in Macroeconomics (5 ECTS)
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Prof. Thomas Bauer, Applied Economic Research
Economics of Migration (5 ECTS)
Whether immigration can solve the problems connected to the demographic change, the problem of
the economic and social integration of immigrants or whether the EU-enlargement will lead to
dramatic East-West migration flows are very important topics on the political agenda in almost all
developed countries and source of heated public debates. This module aims to introduce the
participants to the economics of migration. In a basic lecture, the participants are introduced to the
basic theoretical and empirical concepts of the three main topics of the economics of migration: (i) the
migration decision; (ii) the economic and social integration of migrants; and (iii) the economic effects
of migration on natives. The students will then be assigned to present major publications on the
economics of migration in order to deepen the knowledge obtained through the lecture.
Prof. Matthias Busse, International Economics
International Trade (5 ECTS)
This course provides an advanced study of international trade theory and policy. We will discuss
aspects of international trade at a fairly abstract level. The issues that will be addressed are, among
others, the fundamental gains from trade, the implications of imperfect competition for trade patterns
and welfare, how firms of different sizes and productivities engage in trade and investment, and
justifications for policies that restrict trade. Also covered are real-world areas of international trade,
including trade institutions as well as regional and bilateral trade agreements. Prerequisites: none.
African Economic Development (10 ECTS, lecture and seminar)
The aim of this course is to increase the capacity of students to use their knowledge of economic
theory and development economics in rigorous analysis of a subset of the critical issues facing policy
makers in sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on both microeconomic and macroeconomic issues in
Africa. “African Economic Development”, consisting of a lecture and a seminar, intends to explain the
reasons for the continued widespread poverty throughout the continent. The heterogeneity of African
economies is stressed and students are expected to focus their written work (i.e., the seminar paper) on
particular countries and issues. The course also emphasizes the importance of a detailed grasp of
economic history as a basis for critically assessing generalized debates on the determinants of recent
economic performance. Prerequisites: Growth and Development Economics (or equivalent) and basic
econometrics.
Empirical International Economics (10 ECTS)
This is a course in applied empirical methods in international economics, with a heavy emphasis on
international trade and/or development economics. It is devoted to deepening your knowledge about
international economics and to applying empirical techniques to current problems in international
economics that are relevant from a policy perspective. The course provides a hands-on, practical
introduction to applied international economics work. Students will write their own research paper,
focusing on an empirical application. Students will also participate actively in class discussions,
including presentations of their research. To help students to conduct their research, an optional
introduction into the econometric software package STATA will be offered. Prerequisites:
International Trade or Growth and Development Economics or equivalent courses; Econometrics.
Seminar in International Economics (5 ECTS)
The seminar analyses theoretical models and examines current policy topics related to the international
economy. The main goals are (1) to develop analytical tools to understand the causes and
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consequences of global economic integration, (2) to examine empirical evidence on how the
globalization of markets for capital, goods and services affects macroeconomic performance in
developed and developing economies, and (3) to assess the choices available to countries regarding
fiscal, monetary, trade, technology and other policies. Depending on the main focus of the seminar, a
role playing game on international trade negotiations might be part of the seminar. Prerequisites:
International Trade or equivalent.
Seminar in Development Economics (5 ECTS)
The seminar will deal with major issues in development economics. By enrolling in this seminar,
students can broaden their theoretical and empirical knowledge in this field. The seminar intends to
focus on particular aspects of development economics, such as the integration of developing countries
into the world economy, poverty and health, governance and institutions, macroeconomic distortions,
or civil war. Students will apply analytical tools to understand these issues in developing countries, to
examine empirical evidence, and to evaluate policy options for governments in developing countries to
enhance growth rates and promote development. Prerequisites: Growth and Development Economics
or equivalent.
Economic Reform, Income and Poverty (5 ECTS)
By enrolling in this course, students can learn theoretical concepts underlying the impacts of economic
reforms. The course will focus on key elements of economic reform programs, for example, programs
implemented in the context of PRS (Poverty Reduction Strategy) or trade reforms from a theoretical
and empirical point of view. Also, students will hone their skills to assess problems of implementation
and evaluate economic reform programs. By the end of the course, students are able to discuss
economic reform programs and their income and poverty effects by applying the acquired theoretical
knowledge. Prerequisites: Modules International Trade or Growth and Development Economics or
equivalent courses.
International Monetary Economics (5 ECTS)
A sound knowledge of international monetary economics is essential to understand recent events and
current policy issues in that field. The theory presented in this course covers a wide range of topics
including exchange rate determination, monetary and fiscal policy in an open economy, balance of
payment issues, the choice of exchange rate systems, currency unions and international debt. The
insights provided by these theoretical frameworks will enable us to discuss topics such as the single
currency in Europe, the US current account deficit and global finance imbalances, the financial crises
in Asian and Latin-American countries, or government intervention in the foreign exchange market.
Prerequisites: Module Macroeconomic Theory.
Prof. John P. Haisken-DeNew, Competition Theory and Policy
Economics of Conflict and War (5 ECTS)
In its various forms, conflict is one of the main obstacles to social and economic development. The
aim of the course is to give some guidance to think about questions of conflict and war in local and
global economies. The content will be based on the recent theoretical as well as empirical
microeconomic and macroeconomic literature on causes and consequences of conflicts and wars. The
course focuses on the application of theoretical and empirical economic tools to the study of conflict
and the relationship between conflict and development. By the end of the course, students should (1)
be able to evaluate existing research that attempts to measure the monetary and non-monetary costs of
conflict and (2) know the tools to analyze complex conflict settings. Attendance, active participation
and submitting a term paper is compulsory to pass the course.
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Prof. Manfred Lösch, Quantitative Analysis
Time Series Analysis (10 ECTS)
This advanced course covers univariate time series analysis for forecasting and the decomposition of
economic and business time series. We start with discussing conventional descriptive methods, for
example single exponential smoothing and Holt-Winters’ exponential smoothing, simple seasonal
adjustment, and periodogram analysis. Afterwards, the concept of stationary and nonstationary time
series and the estimation of the mean and correlation structure of a time series process are presented.
The Box-Jenkins ARIMA models are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the concept of structural time
series models, the general state-space model approach and the related Kalman filter procedures will be
examined. The course finishes with time series analysis in the frequency domain based on the Fourier
transformation theory. The lectures are accompanied by tutorials in a computer lab.
Prof. Wilhelm Löwenstein, Development Economics
Cost-Benefit Analysis (5 ECTS)
A change in the provision with public goods affects the well-being of people. This holds for changes
in environmental goods as well as for changes in public services as e.g. in the provision with health or
educational services or with infrastructure. This lecture is answering two basic questions: 1. Under
which circumstances can the resulting variations in well-being be measured in monetary terms?
Answers to this question are derived from microeconomic theory. 2. Which theory-based empirical
approaches are available to capture the damages that people feel being affected by an oil spill, the
advantages of nature conservation, the effects of the construction of a dam, or the impact of being
protected from natural hazard? These and related questions will be discussed within the lecture based
on real-world case studies. Prerequisites: Good knowledge of microeconomics and an interest in
combining microeconomic theory with empirical research.
Growth and Development Economics (5ECTS)
Starting from Keynesian macroeconomics the lecture gives an overview over post-keynesian growth
models and addresses the underlying assumptions on production technology. It highlights the
employment gap, the savings and the foreign currency gap as barriers for economic development and
discusses the relevance of these old-fashioned approaches for real world development policy. The
course’s main focus is the presentation and discussion of neoclassical growth models and of a variety
of model extensions. They allow for problem-oriented applications to analyse real-world challenges
that developing countries are faced with when trying to foster economic growth. These challenges
include poverty traps, development financing and trade, the present financial and economic crises, and
HIV/AIDS. Prerequisites: Good knowledge of economic theory and an interest in empirical research.
Prof. Michael Roos, Macroeconomics
Financial Macroeconomics (5 ECTS)
In this module we talk about how financial markets and the real economy influence each other. The
recent financial crisis, but previous crises as well, have shown that disruptions in financial markets
have severe real consequences. Economic theory, however, has largely failed to incorporate realistic
financial markets into macroeconomic models. We discuss both partial and general equilibrium
models that explain how financial markets function and how they impact on the real sector. We also
summarize the current debate about the regulation of banks and financial markets and what theoretical
models imply for this issue. Prerequisites: Macroeconomic Theory recommended.
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Macroeconomic and Financial Governance (5 ECTS)
This module is a seminar in which topics of high policy relevance are discussed. Depending on current
policy debates we will cover different topics such as the international financial architecture, banking
regulation, policy measures to cope with financial and economic crises, or the design and governance
of supranational entities such as the European Union. The discussions are based on up-to-date research
literature. One objective of the module is to familiarize students with current policy debates in order to
prepare them for jobs with a strong focus on macroeconomic and financial policy. A second aim is to
enable the participants to relate policy debates to the research literature in macroeconomics and to
sensitize them to the scope and limitations of economic models for policy conclusions. Prerequisites:
none.
Behavioral Macroeconomics (5 ECTS)
Modern mainstream macroeconomics has solid microfoundations. In order to derive macroeconomic
outcomes from individual behaviour, researchers often make restrictive simplifying assumptions such
as homogeneity of agents, strict rationality, optimal learning, irrelevance of affects and others.
Behavioral economics has demonstrated that many of the standard assumptions of the neoclassical
homo oeconomicus are empirically refuted. The resulting macroeconomic models may have little
empirical relevance and fail to explain important phenomena such as persistent poverty and major
economic crises. We discuss how methods and results from behavioral economics can be applied to
macroeconomics issues and models. Prerequisites: Macroeconomic Theory recommended.
Topics in Macroeconomics (5 ECTS)
This module is a seminar, in which students read, present, and discuss recent research papers in
macroeconomics. The topics can vary from macroeconomics theory to applied policy questions. The
main objective of this module is to expose students to original research literature. The ability to read
and understand research papers is a precondition for all research-related activities such as writing the
master’s thesis or pursuing a research project. Prerequisites: Macroeconomic Theory.
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