Political Economics - Theory and Experiments
Modul: | 22-10.260 Political Economics - Theory and Experiments |
Lehrende | Prof. Dr. Dr. Lydia Mechtenberg |
Veranstaltungsart | Seminar |
Kommentare/Inhalte: | Content: This course offers a fresh perspective on Political Economics by asking how Behavioral Economics promotes our knowledge of Political Economics. Political Economics traditionally addresses issues like voting, political institutions, and government intervention. Behavioral Economics incorporates insights psychology and other neighboring disciplines in the social sciences into economics to make economics a more powerful science of human behavior. Grading: Each part i) to iii) below is graded on a scale 1 to 5 and the final grade is the weighted average of these grades using the weights indicated below. i) Present. The Student in charge presents the paper or topic of the day in about 45’ and answers questions for clarification by the participants and the instructor (about 15’). ii) Guide the discussion. The Student in charge prepares questions for discussion. Send me a sheet (max. 1 page) with questions for discussion on the topic of the day (by e-mail, deadline: 1 pm on the day of the presentation) and distribute copies to students in class. Student in Charge leads/navigates the discussion. Note that we may discuss a (long, interesting or difficult) paper on more than one session. (20% of final grade). iii) Discuss. Grading is also based on active participation. Students must not miss more than two sessions else they are graded “fail” on this part (10% of final grade). |
Lernziel: | Aim: Students learn to be critical consumers of current research in behavioral political economics. Students learn to contrast the empirical and theoretical findings in behavioral economics with conventional approaches and results in selected topics of political economics. Students critically reflect on the challenges for theory and policy applications of conventional political economics. The course provides ample opportunity for students to foster their presentation, writing and debating skills. |
Vorgehen: | Organization: Students will present and discuss papers individually. We determine the “Student in Charge” for each paper/topic in the first session. It is therefore imperative to participate in the first session where I briefly summarize the papers and students pick which ones to present. Students who cannot (for a good reason) participate in the first session should send me an e-mail naming at least three papers from the reading list which they are committed to present one week before the first session. Method: Students present and discuss recent research in behavioral public economics in class. They also provide short papers which summarize and critically reflect on selected recent research. |
Literatur: | |
Zusätzliche Hinweise zu Prüfungen | Requirements: Participants need to have taken an introduction to Microeconomics. Knowledge in Public Economics (“Finanzwissenschaft”) and Experimental Economics is helpful. |