Teaching
Courses offered in the current Winter Term 2024/25
The Economics of Terror (Lecture, Master)
Prof. Dr. Günther G. Schulze (Tutorials by Fabian Haas, M.Sc.)
Language: English
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Reale Außenwirtschaft (Vorlesung, Bachelor)
Prof. Dr. Günther Schulze
Language: German
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Introduction to Empirical Economics Using Stata - Master (2nd year)
Dr. Nikita Zakharov
Language: English
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Content Today, quantitative analysis is the primary tool of economists. The course will introduce you to the statistical software – Stata – widely used in empirical research. Participants will master data collection, building datasets, data diagnostics, regression analysis, and production of tabulated and graphical output. The course's ultimate goal is to provide the students with the knowledge and programming skills sufficient to undertake empirical research on their own (e.g., for writing their master thesis). The lecture part will introduce primary commands with practical examples. The tutorial part will focus on the coding exercises employing datasets from the existing empirical papers on the political economy and development economics. Both parts of the course require diligent attendance and will be followed by the exam.
Requirements The course is restricted to 16 participants. The main requirement is a good knowledge of econometrics. If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to nikita.zakharov@vwl.uni-freiburg.de. Please attach your transcript or records so that we can see which econometrics courses you have taken so far. The deadline for application is October 1. Later enrolment is possible as long as places are available. You do not need a STATA-license to participate as you will have access to STATA through the university.
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The Political Economy of Migration - Seminar (Master, 2nd year)
Prof. Dr. Günther Schulze, Ramón Rey, M.Sc.
Language: English
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Content Immigration has emerged as a highly contentious issue in contemporary Western politics, often sparking heated debates and polarizing public opinion. Our upcoming seminar examines this issue through the lens of economic analysis. Employing advanced econometric techniques, we will investigate the factors influencing migration patterns, explore the potential links between immigration and crime rates, analyze the motivations behind emigration decisions, and evaluate the effects of immigration on labor markets and technological innovation.
Requirements As the literature is mostly empirical, the seminar requires the knowledge of econometrics to the extent taught in intermediate econometrics.
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Causal Analysis in Labor Economics using R - Lecture (Master, 2nd year)
Prof. Dr. Alexander Spermann
Language: English
The course will be taught online (live sessions, Zoom)
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Content The course covers empirical labor economics, modern econometrics, and modern business analytics. The main textbooks are Taddy et al. (2023) and Huber (2023). I use R scripts for each session. Students should sign in at posit.cloud to get access to RStudio. Each session will be recorded via Zoom. Complementary YouTube-Videos are available on my channel (https://www.youtube.com/chan-nel/UCi5oODsxMKzuMiI9PFp3CSw). Topics covered are:
Lecture ZOOM Live Sessions Zoom-Link via mail to signed-in participants (Ilias)
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Summer term 2024
The Political Economics of Information and Media - Reading course & tutorial (Master, 2nd year)
Prof. Dr. Günther Schulze, Ramón Rey, M.Sc.
Language: English
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Content The reading course focuses on the role of information and the media for the behavior of individuals in the marketplace, in the polity, and in bureaucratic hierarchies. Students are familiarized with the empirical approaches that analyze the relationship between the individual behavior and media presence or the availability of information. In a tutorial, complementary material is presented and discussed. |
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Requirements A good command of econometrics and solid knowledge of micro- and macroeconomics are required since most papers are empirical. |
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The Economics of Corruption - Reading course & tutorial (Master, 2nd year)
Dr. Nikita Zakharov
Language: English
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Content At the core of almost every dysfunctional economy lies a primordial disease – corruption. Yet, the discipline of economics has only recently turned its attention to study this dire phenomenon. This reading course invites you to join the most recent developments in empirical research on the causes and consequences of corruption around the world by surveying cutting edge scientific articles. Our primary focus will be on the econometric design and the empirical methods behind the main findings of the literature. By the end of the course, the participants are expected to excel at reading, understanding, and interpreting the economic papers. These skills are essential for any economist and apply beyond the topic of corruption. In a tutorial, additional complementary material is presented by the students and discussed in the group. |
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Requirements Knowledge of econometrics at an intermediate level is strongly recommended. The course requires intensive reading prior to the reading sessions and active participation in the discussions. |
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Causal Analysis in Labor Economics using R - Lecture (Master 2nd Year)
Prof. Dr. Alexander Spermann
Language: English
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The course will be taugh online (live sessions, Zoom)
Content This updated course covers empirical labor economics, modern econometrics, and modern business analytics. The main textbooks are Taddy et al. (2023) and Huber (2023). I use R scripts for each session. Students should sign in at posit.cloud to get access to RStudio. Each session will be recorded via Zoom. Complementary YouTube-Videos are available on my channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5oODsxMKzuMiI9PFp3CSw).
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Lecture Please register for the course in ILIAS in order to get access to the Zoom-Link. Zoom-Link via mail to signed-in participants (ILIAS). |
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Literature
Wooldridge, J. (2018): Introductory Econometrics, A Modern Approach, 7th edition, Cengage Learning.
Lübke, K., & Gehrke, M., & Horst, J. & Szepannek, G. (2020): Why We should teach Causal In-fererence: Examples in Linear Regression with Simulated Data, Journal of Statistics Education, 28:2, 133-139. Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) Difference-in-Differences (DiD) IV and LATE Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Introduction to Machine Learning Simulation Based Inference (Shuffling and Resampling/Bootstrapping)
Hansen, B. (2022): Econometrics, Princeton University Press, forthcoming.
Huber, M. (2023): Causal Analysis, University of Fribourg, unpublished. Lechner, M. (2023): Causal Machine Learning and its use for public policy, Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (2023) 159:8, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41937-023-00113-y
Taddy, M. (2019): Business Data Science, Mc GrawHill, New York |
The Economics of Religion - Seminar (Master, 2nd year)
Prof. Dr. Günther Schulze, Fabian Haas, M.Sc.
Language: English
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Content The seminar analyzes the complex relationship between religious beliefs and socio-economic outcomes from an economic perspective using economic methods. Researchers in this field investigate the impact of religion on various facets of society, including the economy, policies, institutions, social capital, and norms, as well as the reciprocal influence of such (and other) factors on religious dynamics. The aim of this seminar is to examine the empirical literature on the economics of religion in order to address critical issues in this nexus such as: What are the determinants of religiosity? Why do religious beliefs persist until today? Does religiosity lead to reduced growth and development? Does religion have an influential impact on current institutions and laws? Does religion lead to more trust within the religious in-group but also to more xenophobia? Requirements As the literature is mostly empirical, the seminar requires the knowledge of econometrics to the extent taught in intermediate econometrics. The seminar is restricted to 12 participants. There are still some places left. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to our secretary Judith Müller at sek.schulze[at]vwl.uni-freiburg.de, attaching your transcript of records. Time and Location:
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Die Ökonomik der Familie - Blockseminar (Bachelor, 3rd year)
Prof. Dr. Günther Schulze, Lukas Pohn, M.Sc.
Language: German
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Inhalt Im Sommersemester 2024 bieten wir ein Seminar zur Ökonomik der Familie für Bachelorstudierende der Volkswirtschaftslehre und des polyvalenten Lehramtsstudiums an. Die Familienökonomik analysiert wichtige Entscheidungen „rund um die Familie“ aus ökonomischer Perspektive, etwa die Partnerwahl, die Entscheidung Kinder zu bekommen, sich wieder zu trennen, oder wie Kinder und Berufstätigkeit miteinander verbunden werden können. Dabei sind sowohl Determinanten wie Folgen dieser Entscheidungen Gegenstand der Untersuchung und natürlich insbesondere die Frage, wie staatliche Maßnahmen diese Entscheidungen beeinflussen. Die von der Familienökonomik behandelten Themen umfassen Fragen wie etwa: Warum und wann entscheiden wir uns für die Ehe? Welche Faktoren beeinflussen die Wahl des Partners/der Partnerin? Wie beeinflussen Ehe und Kinder das persönliche Wohlbefinden? Welche Folgen haben eine antizipierte mögliche Scheidung auf Humankapitalbildung der Ehepartner, der Kinder und die Entscheidung zu heiraten? Was sind die Folgen von Teenager-Müttern? Welche Folgen haben die Elternzeiten für die Kinder? Für die Mütter? Welche Folgen haben fehlende Väter für die Kinder? Wie und warum haben sich die Heiratsquoten im Zeitablauf verändert? Voraussetzungen Da wir verschiedene theoretische und empirische Artikel behandeln werden sind mikroökonomische Kenntnisse und Grundkenntnisse in empirischen Methoden nötig. Das Seminar wird für das dritte Jahr des Bachelor Studiums empfohlen. Unterrichtssprache ist Deutsch. Da die Kernliteratur in englischer Sprache verfasst ist, setzen wir auch gute Englischkenntnisse voraus. Das Seminar ist begrenzt auf 12 Studierende. Es gibt nach ein paar freie Plätze. Wenn Sie interesse haben, bewerben Sie sich bitte per Email bei unserer Sekretärin Judith Müller (sek.schulze[at]vwl.uni-freiburg.de). Schicken Sie bitte Ihre aktuelle Leistungsübersicht mit. . Zeit und Ort
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Our Teaching Concept
The teaching concept of our chair focuses on promoting crucial skills essential for an empirical economist. We offer different kind of courses – reading courses, applied courses, and seminars and writing workshops – which build on each other and promote particular skill sets corresponding to a different research phase (work with the literature, data analysis, scientific writing, academic presentation).
In reading courses, such as 'The Economics of Terror', 'The Economics of Corruption', or 'The Political Economics of Media', master students learn how to read and understand scientific articles, the empirical concepts behind them - including possible pitfalls -, how to generate relevant research ideas, and how to select the appropriate econometric model for identifying causal relationships.
In hands-on applied empirical courses (e.g., 'Introduction to Empirical Economics Using Stata'), students learn how to implement their own research practically, which includes data acquisition, programming, generating and visualizing output, and evaluating it.
In our seminars (e.g., 'The Determinants of Violent Behavior', 'The Political Economy of Religion'), we teach and practice scientific writing.
Finally, we supervise and support our students closely in developing their theses, which includes participating in our advanced seminars where students present their work, see others presenting theirs and get detailed feedback.
Since the grand objective of our concept is to motivate independent and original research among students, we can certify its success by the significantly increasing number of students who write empirical theses and, more pertinently, the growing number of theses that are (jointly) published in highly ranked peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Law and Economics, Economic Letters, European Journal of Political Economy, European Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics. This is highly unusual.
We review our concept in real-time and ensure that our courses contain the latest literature and developments. The teaching approach is based on didactic principles and involves a very high degree of interaction and feedback. Our goal is to enable students to really understand research and to carry out their own projects and to fast-track them to PhD projects.