Course Catalog of the Online Exchange Initiative (OEI) at University of Mannheim – spring semester 2023

• Van Mol, C. and de Valk, H. (2016). Migration and immigrants in Europe: a historical and demographic perspective. In B. Garces-Mascarenas & R. Pennix (Eds.), Integration Processes and Policies in Europe (pp.31–55). Springer International Publishing.
• Levitt, P. and Jaworsky, B.N. (2007). Transnational migration studies: Past developments and future trends. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 129–156.
• Zhou, M. (1997). Segmented assimilation: Issues, controversies, and recent research on the new second generation. International Migration Review, 31(4), 975–1008.
• Alba, R. (2008). Why we still need a theory of mainstream assimilation. Migration und Integration. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. Sonderheft, 48(2008), 37–56.
• Blank, R. M., Dabady, M. and Citro, C. F. (2004). Measuring racial discrimination. Panel on methods for assessing discrimination, National Research Council (pp. 90–155). Washington DC: The National Academies Press.
• Dollmann, J., I. Kogan and M. Weißmann. 2020. “Speaking Accent-Free in L2 Beyound the Critical Period: The Compensatory Role of Individual Abilities and Opportunity Structures.” Applied Linguistics 41(5): 787–809.
• Heath, A. F. and Brinbaum, Y. 2007). Explaining ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. Ethnicities, 7(3), 291–305.
• Kogan, I., Kalter, F., Liebau, E. and Cohen, Y. (2011). Individual resources and structural constraints in immigrants' labour market integration. In M. Wingens et al. (Eds.), A Life-Course Perspective on Migration and Integration (pp. 75–100). Springer.
• Ahmed, A. M, Andersson, L. and Hammarstedt, M. (2010). Can discrimination in the housing market be reduced by increasing the information about the applicants? Land Economics, 86(1), 79–90.
• Maddox, Amrei. 2019. “Parental Influence on the Ethnic Partner Choice within Immigrant Families in Europe”. Dissertation, Mannheim. Pp. 8–10, 14–18, 20–22, 29–37.
• Jacob, K. and Kalter, F. (2013). Intergenerational change in religious salience among immigrant families in four European countries. International Migration, 51(3), 38–56.
• Helbling, M. (2014). Opposing Muslims and the Muslim headscarf in Western Europe. European Sociological Review, 30(2), 242–257.

• Our first goal is to introduce the canonical models in international trade. A tentative list of topics includes the gravity equation, neoclassical trade theory, trade and labor markets, economic geography, and the role of firms in international trade. 
• The second goal is to present the empirical tools used in international trade. A tentative list of topics includes the US-China trade war, trade and labor market, and the gravity equation. Students will also get familiar with several widely used trade-related datasets and learn how to conduct empirical analysis.
• Our third goal to introduce frontier researches to students. We will draw on some recent academic papers from international trade, which will allow students to have a good understanding of cutting-edge researches and help students outline future research questions.

The class Comparative Law II – The Common/Civil Law divide will focus on the Common/Civil Law divide and in particular compare aspects of the legal system in Germany on the one hand, and Australia/the United States on the other hand. Methodological differences between the Civil law and the Common law systems will be pointed out, and subjects of particular importance for daily business, such as formation of contracts, agency, contract interpretation etc., will be treated in greater detail.

The course has three main components. The first part of the course will consider the origins and utility of comparative law, its aims, tools and methods. The second part of the course will review and analyse the two main legal traditions in the world, Common Law and Civil Law. The objective will be to understand differences and similarities between these two ways of understanding law and organizing legal institutions and procedures, on the other hand. In this context, an overview on the differences with regard to the rule of law, judicial review and the legal profession will be provided. The third part of the course will focus upon applying comparative legal analysis to actual cases and international disputes and show how the results differ depending on which legal order is applied.

• Basic features, tools and methods of comparative law
• Development and current status of Common Law as a legal family
• Development and current status of Civil Law as a legal family
• The education and role of lawyers
• Judges and judiciaries, lay judges and juries
• Legal reasoning
• Statutes and their construction
• Judicial precedents
• Particular legal institutions and instruments in a comparative assessment

• Cassese, Antonio, ‘International Criminal Law’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008)
• Cryer, Robert, ‘An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure’ (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Schabas, William A., ‘The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010)
• Werle, Gerhard, ‘Principles of International Criminal Law’ (The Hague, Asser, 2005)

The course provides a general introduction to German Constitutional Law i.e. the constitution, its background and contents and methods to work with constitutional legal texts.
The German Grundgesetz (Basic Law) which up to this day forms the formal constitutional document of the Federal Republic of Germany has its roots in the allied occupation of Western Germany after World War II. It has proven to be a reliable foundation for the development of the German democratic system and the federal state. The provision of fundamental rights (Art. 1 – 19) puts the Grundgesetz in the tradition of European and North American human rights thinking. It has had an enormous impact on all German law.
Although experiencing some changes throughout the years – especially during the process of the German reunification – the general structure and main provisions of the Grundgesetz remained unchanged.
The course will cover the structure of the German Grundgesetz and its most important provisions while putting a particular focus on the first chapter containing the fundamental rights provisions. Additionally, students will learn about constitutional law in general, the federal structure and the fundamental constitutional principles of the Federal Republic and its integration in the European Union legal system as well as understand the function of the constitutional organs and the legislative process.

Contents:
•    The German legal system
•    Constitutional Law
•    The Grundgesetz and the European Union
•    Fundamental Rights
•    Fundamental Constitutional Principles
•    The Federal State
•    Constitutional organs
•    Legislative procedure
•    Public administration
•    The judicial system

Learning Target:
Students will be able to understand the basic principles and most important provisions of the Grundgesetz and solve simple cases regarding fundamental rights. They will be familiar with the structure of the federal state and its function as well as its most important constitutional, administrative and judicial organs. Students can assess by way of comparison similarities and dissimilarities in other legal systems.

Literature:
No specific textbook is required. Additional reading recommendations will be given in the lecture.

Examination:
Oral Exam.

The course provides an introduction to “law and economics” (also known as the “economic analysis of law”), i.e. the application of concepts and methods from economics to legal problems. It is offered in collaboration with the university’s economics department. The course starts with the foundations of microeconomic theory, welfare economics and law and economics and then covers selective topics from the three main areas of private law.

Foundations of law and economics

• Basic positive economics: utility maximization under constraints
• Basic welfare economics: Pareto and Kaldor/Hicks efficiency
• Coase theorem

Property law and economics

• Tragedy of the commons as the main rationale of property rights
• Information problems in property rights
• The limits of property rights: tragedy of the anticommons

Tort law

• The objective of accident cost minimization
• Negligence liability and strict liability
• Unilateral and bilateral care
• Special problems: causation, punitive damages, pure economic loss, liability for physical injury

Contract law

• The objective of maximizing surplus
• Default rules as a way to economize on transaction costs
• Efficient and inefficient breach of contract
• Penalty defaults
• Legal remedies to adverse selection caused by asymmetric information
• Economic analysis of standard terms and conditions

The class Comparative Law II – The Common/Civil Law divide will focus on the Common/Civil Law divide and in particular compare aspects of the legal system in Germany on the one hand, and Australia/the United States on the other hand. Methodological differences between the Civil law and the Common law systems will be pointed out, and subjects of particular importance for daily business, such as formation of contracts, agency, contract interpretation etc., will be treated in greater detail.

The course has three main components. The first part of the course will consider the origins and utility of comparative law, its aims, tools and methods. The second part of the course will review and analyse the two main legal traditions in the world, Common Law and Civil Law. The objective will be to understand differences and similarities between these two ways of understanding law and organizing legal institutions and procedures, on the other hand. In this context, an overview on the differences with regard to the rule of law, judicial review and the legal profession will be provided. The third part of the course will focus upon applying comparative legal analysis to actual cases and international disputes and show how the results differ depending on which legal order is applied.

• Basic features, tools and methods of comparative law
• Development and current status of Common Law as a legal family
• Development and current status of Civil Law as a legal family
• The education and role of lawyers
• Judges and judiciaries, lay judges and juries
• Legal reasoning
• Statutes and their construction
• Judicial precedents
• Particular legal institutions and instruments in a comparative assessment

• Cassese, Antonio, ‘International Criminal Law’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008)
• Cryer, Robert, ‘An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure’ (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Schabas, William A., ‘The International Criminal Court: A Commentary on the Rome Statute’ (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010)
• Werle, Gerhard, ‘Principles of International Criminal Law’ (The Hague, Asser, 2005)

The course provides a general introduction to German Constitutional Law i.e. the constitution, its background and contents and methods to work with constitutional legal texts.
The German Grundgesetz (Basic Law) which up to this day forms the formal constitutional document of the Federal Republic of Germany has its roots in the allied occupation of Western Germany after World War II. It has proven to be a reliable foundation for the development of the German democratic system and the federal state. The provision of fundamental rights (Art. 1 – 19) puts the Grundgesetz in the tradition of European and North American human rights thinking. It has had an enormous impact on all German law.
Although experiencing some changes throughout the years – especially during the process of the German reunification – the general structure and main provisions of the Grundgesetz remained unchanged.
The course will cover the structure of the German Grundgesetz and its most important provisions while putting a particular focus on the first chapter containing the fundamental rights provisions. Additionally, students will learn about constitutional law in general, the federal structure and the fundamental constitutional principles of the Federal Republic and its integration in the European Union legal system as well as understand the function of the constitutional organs and the legislative process.

Contents:
•    The German legal system
•    Constitutional Law
•    The Grundgesetz and the European Union
•    Fundamental Rights
•    Fundamental Constitutional Principles
•    The Federal State
•    Constitutional organs
•    Legislative procedure
•    Public administration
•    The judicial system

Learning Target:
Students will be able to understand the basic principles and most important provisions of the Grundgesetz and solve simple cases regarding fundamental rights. They will be familiar with the structure of the federal state and its function as well as its most important constitutional, administrative and judicial organs. Students can assess by way of comparison similarities and dissimilarities in other legal systems.

Literature:
No specific textbook is required. Additional reading recommendations will be given in the lecture.

Examination:
Oral Exam.

The course provides an introduction to “law and economics” (also known as the “economic analysis of law”), i.e. the application of concepts and methods from economics to legal problems. It is offered in collaboration with the university’s economics department. The course starts with the foundations of microeconomic theory, welfare economics and law and economics and then covers selective topics from the three main areas of private law.

Foundations of law and economics

• Basic positive economics: utility maximization under constraints
• Basic welfare economics: Pareto and Kaldor/Hicks efficiency
• Coase theorem

Property law and economics

• Tragedy of the commons as the main rationale of property rights
• Information problems in property rights
• The limits of property rights: tragedy of the anticommons

Tort law

• The objective of accident cost minimization
• Negligence liability and strict liability
• Unilateral and bilateral care
• Special problems: causation, punitive damages, pure economic loss, liability for physical injury

Contract law

• The objective of maximizing surplus
• Default rules as a way to economize on transaction costs
• Efficient and inefficient breach of contract
• Penalty defaults
• Legal remedies to adverse selection caused by asymmetric information
• Economic analysis of standard terms and conditions

• Primary Sector: Agriculture, Energy Production
• Secondary Sector: Production, Supply Chain Management
• Tertiary Sector: Healthcare, Education, Finance