Course Catalog

E8004: Reading Course in Environmental Economics (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Tom Krebs

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8001

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	07.09.22 – 07.12.22	Wednesday	13:45 – 15:15	L7, 3–5 Room P043

E8008: Doctoral Colloquium (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Andreas Gerster

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8004

Credits: 2.5

Prerequisites

Presentations

Course Content

Students will read, present and discuss papers in environmental economics.

Competences acquired

Presentation skills
Participation in scientific discourse
Absorption of recent research in environmental economics
Acquisition of a reading routine

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday, every two weeks	13:45 – 15:15	L9, 1–2 Room 002

E8010: Econometrics Research Seminar (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Klaus Adam

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8008

Credits: 5

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	13:45 – 15:15	L7, 3–5 Room 247

E8012: Macro Reading Group (2nd year +)

Lecturer(s)

Christoph Rothe

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8010

Credits: 5

Course Content

This seminar provides a forum for internal and external speakers to discuss their recent research in econometrics. Students working on either econometrics or an empirical project with a substantive econometric component are welcome to present. Please contact the instructor to set up a date.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	15:30 – 17:00	L7, 3–5 Room 410

E8017: Macroeconomic Shocks & Propagation: Methods and applications (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Minchul Yum

Miren Azkarate-Askasua

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8012

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

Formal: 2nd and higher year Ph.D. students from the Center for Doctoral Studies in Economics (CDSE).
2nd year students from the Master of Economic Research.

Requirements for the assignment of ECTS Credits and Grades

Presentation 80%
Discussion 20%

Course Content

Students are expected to gain knowledge on the frontier of modern quantitative macroeconomic research on growth and business cycles.

Competences acquired

Students are expected to gain knowledge on the frontier of modern quantitative macroeconomic research on growth and business cycles.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday	13:45 – 15:15	L7, 3–5, Room 410

E8028: Financial Contract Theory (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Matthias Meier

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8017

Credits: 7.5

Prerequisites

E700–703, E801–806

Requirements for the Assignment of ECTS Credits and Grades

A research paper and regular assignments.

Course Content

This course covers both methods and applications in empirical macroeconomics. On the methodological side, we cover structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) models. The focus will be on various identification strategies (e.g., short-run/long-run restrictions, sign restrictions, external instruments), but also inference, factor models, nonlinear models. In addition, we discuss narrative approaches to identify structural shocks and univariate methods to study their propagation. The lectures and assignments introduce a range of applications. Those include the analysis of technology shocks, monetary policy shocks, and fiscal policy shocks.

Teaching Method

Lecture (2 SWS) and Exercise (1 SWS)

Literature

Ramey (Handbook of Macroeconomics, 2016, Volume 2A, Chapter 2: Macroeconomic Shocks and Their Propagation)

Kilian and Lütkepohl (Structural Vector Autoregressive Analysis, 2017; see www-personal.umich.edu/~lkilian/book.html)

Lütkepohl (New Introduction to Multiple Time Series Analysis, 2005)

Competences acquired

The course introduces students to econometric methods and macroeconomic applications with a focus on business cycles.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	05.09.22 – 17.10.22	Monday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room 002
Lecture	24.10.22 – 24.10.22	Monday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room 001
Lecture	28.10.22 – 28.10.22	Friday	08:30 – 10:00	L9, 1–2 Room 003
Lecture	14.12.22 – 14.12.22	Wednesday	08:30 – 17:30	L9, 1–2, Room 003
Tutorial
Exercise	05.09.22 – 17.10.22	Monday	17:15 – 18:45	L9, 1–2 Room 002
Exercise	24.10.22 – 24.10.22	Monday	17:45 – 18:45	L9, 1–2 Room 001
Exercise	28.10.22 – 28.10.22	Friday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room 003

E8035: PhD Seminar for Job Market Candidates (5th year +)

Lecturer(s)

Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8028

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

E700–703, E801–806

Requirements for the assignment of ECTS-Credits and Grades

One homework (40%), one research paper about a set of articles (40%), and a presentation (60 minutes) of this paper (20%).

Course Content

The course teaches contract theory at the level of the research frontier. It reviews a number of classic topics in contract theory and puts them in an abstract general framework that makes it possible to understand the underlying common structure of these topics. All topics are from finance, but there are many links to other fields of economics. The course therefore also benefits doctoral students in finance and serves as a bridge between the two fields.
The main topics are:
1. Contracts and contingent markets, 2. Debt Contracts, 3. Hidden actions, 4. Incomplete contracts and renegotiation.

Competences acquired

Students are supposed to understand the deep structure of hidden information, hidden actions, and unverifiability problems and the common features shared by these problems. They are able to master the complex technical difficulties arising in the formulation and solution of such problems and can use the tools of contract theory in their own research.
Students are able to read publications at the research frontier in information economics and contract theory in the fields of finance and related areas and to judge the conceptual value of the approaches taken in these papers. They can communicate their findings to other students and researchers by means of full academic presentation and in research-type articles. They can evaluate the relevance and correctness of technical arguments made in the literature and identify mistakes in publications. They are capable of assessing which arguments are novel and likely to generate intellectual progress, and which ones are just technical firework.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	08:30 – 10:00	L7, 3–5 Room P044

E8036: Research Seminar in Applied Economics (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Christoph Rothe

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8035

Credits: 2.5

Prerequisites

Prerequisites: Students should expect to graduate within the next academic year.

Course Content

This seminar introduces PhD students that expect to graduate within the next year to the academic job market for economists. Topics covered include (i) job prospects for academic economists, (ii) preparing applications, in particular the job market paper, (iii) interviewing for academic jobs, (iv) job talks and flyouts. Students will receive both general information and personalized guidance on these topics.

Competences acquired

Upon course completion, students will be able to successfully navigate the job market for academic economists.

Contact Information: Christoph Rothe; Phone: (0621) 181 1921; email: rothe@vwl.uni-mannheim.de, Office: 1.11, Office hours: by appointment

E8037: Public Economics I (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Antonio Ciccone

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8036

Credits: 2.5

Course Content

The seminar will adapt to the interests of the participants as it is meant to help them start on their path to their own research. Participants will be asked to present their ideas and projects, which could be in a very preliminary state, as well as papers that relate to their ideas and projects. We will try and identify open research questions and empirical strategies that can answer these questions.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	07.09.22 – 07.12.22	Wednesday, every two weeks	13:45 – 15:15	L7, 3–5 Room S031

E8040: Topics in Experimental Econometrics and Causal Inference (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Eckhard Janeba

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8037

Credits: 7.5

Prerequisites

E700-E703 or equivalent

Grading

One 120-minute written exam (100%)

Course Content

This course is intended to be the first part of the two-semester PhD-level Public Economics sequence. The field is large, with significant theoretical and empirical components. The first course covers core ideas in the areas of market failures and public intervention, optimal taxation, provision of public goods, political economy of taxation and redistribution, tax incidence, tax evasion. We consider both normative approaches, that is, we ask what an ideal state would do in order to achieve distributive objectives, as well as positive perspectives, that is, how policies affect outcomes and how they come about. The contents will be mostly but not exclusively theoretical, and the theoretical foundations will work as building blocks for empirical studies which will be covered in more detail in Public Economics II.

Topics to be covered:

Public Goods

Externalities

Price vs. Quantity Regulations

Introduction to Taxation / Tax Incidence

Excess Burden

Optimal Commodity Taxation

Optimal Income Taxation

Taxation of Firms/Capital

Taxation of Mobile Firms and Households

Tax Evasion

Competences acquired

The course introduces the core topics in Public Economics. The course should prove useful for any student interested in analyzing policy issues.

Further information: Lecture notes will be provided.

Useful references:

Gruber, Public Finance and Public Policy, Worth Publishers, 2019

Atkinson and Stiglitz, Lectures on Public Economics, Mc Graw-Hill, 1980

Salanié, Microeconomics of market failures, MIT Press, 2010

Cornes and Sandler, The Theory of Externalities, Public Goods and Club Goods, Cambridge University Press, 2012

Salanié, The economics of taxation, MIT Press, 2011

Myles, Public Economics, Cambridge University Press, 1995

Mas-Collel, Whinston, Green, Microeconomic Theory, Harvard University Press, 1996

Stiglitz, Economics of the Public sector, 3rd Edition, 2000, Norton & Company

Hindriks and Myles, Intermediate Public Economics, MIT Press

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday	08:30 – 10:00	L7, 3–5 Room P043
Lecture	07.09.22 – 30.11.22	Wednesday, every two weeks	08:30 – 10:00	L7, 3–5 Room P043

E8041: Environmental Economics Research Seminar (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Markus Frölich

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8040

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

Successful completion of first two years of PhD program

Requirements for the assignment of ECTS Credits and Grades:

A written seminar paper on a topic of own choice and a presentation in class.

Course Content

Research seminar where Ph.D. students, who have completed their course work, present their own research and receive feedback. This seminar is intended to discuss topics around theoretical as well as applied research in the area of causal inference as well as randomized experiments and experimental design. Students are encouraged to review literature on a topic within this field, and explore if such research field may reflect or support their development of their own PhD project. Seminar topics normally refer to either Econometric Theory, i.e. identification or design development as well as estimators and their properties, or the applicability of methods that are linked to causal identification.

Competences acquired

Doctoral Students will know how to
– identify a research question,
– put a research question into context of the relevant literature,
– present their current stage of research to their peers in a seminar environment.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	06.09.23 – 06.12.23	Wednesday	12:00 – 13:30	L7, 3–5, Room P043

E8042: Economic History (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Andreas Gerster

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8041

Credits: 2.5

Course Content

In this seminar, internal and external speakers discuss their recent research in environmental economics. Students working on an empirical or theoretical project that is related to environmental economics are welcome to present. Please contact the instructor to set up a date.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday, every two weeks	12:00 – 13:30	L7, 3–5 P044

9 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Alexander Donges

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8042

Credits: 9

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Grading

Written exam (100 min, 70%), presentation (20%), discussion participation (10%).

Additional requirements for PhD students
In addition to the regular course work, PhD students have to write a short empirical research paper on a topic that will be developed together with the course instructor (potential data sets are also provided by the course instructor); the regular course work (exam, presentation, and discussion participation) and the research paper account for 50% of the overall grade, respectively.

Course Content

Economic history is important to understand long-run economic development, in particular to study the question why some countries are rich and others remain poor. In this course, we focus on selected topics of quantitative economic history that applied economists and economic historians explored in recent years. Topics include trade and the growth of cities, the importance of institutions for economic development, religion, human capital, innovation, market integration, financial development, inequality, and health and epidemics. The lecture (2 hours) gives you an overview on recent empirical research on each topic. In the exercise sessions, we then discuss important research papers in more depth. It is required that every course participant presents a critical discussion of a research paper in the exercise session. The presentation accounts for 20% of the final grade, and the participation in the related discussions accounts for 10% of the final grade.

Competences acquired

Students will acquire thorough knowledge of empirical methods used in modern applied economics and of the main topics of research in economic history. They will be able to apply their knowledge of econometrics in analyzing research questions in economic history and to discuss potential policy implications, for example with respect to development policy. The course also aims at enabling students to critically evaluate research designs they may encounter in their future career.

Further information: I will upload a detailed syllabus (including a list of references) on my website (https://www.vwl.uni-mannheim.de/en/donges/) in July.

Contact: Dr. Alexander Donges; phone: 0621-181-3428; e-mail: donges@uni-mannheim.de; office: L7, 3–5, Raum S10.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room S003
Tutorial
Exercise	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	12:00 – 13:30	L9, 1–2 Room S003

E8047: Markets, Morality and Social Responsibility (2nd year)

E8049: Research Seminar in International Economics (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Nicolas Bonneton

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8047

Credits: 7.5

Prerequisites

All first year PhD courses

Grading: the student can choose between:

i) one presentation + one referee report,
ii) one research proposal.

Course Content

This course covers some recent advancements on the topic morality & markets.
Each paper discussed will provide an element of answer to one of the following questions:

• How to measure and model the ethical preferences of market participants (managers, consumers, employees, etc.)?

• Why, and how, do many companies undertake supposedly virtuous actions?

• How to design contracts to screen and incentivize motivated employees?

• How to incite companies to adopt more sustainable practices? Warning: incentives may backfire.

Although we are going to discuss both the empirical (mainly field and lab experiments) and theoretical literature, the focus will be mainly put on the theory.
In addition to students interested in morality and markets, I particularly welcome and encourage theory-oriented students to take this class if they are interested in incorporating ideas and tools from
behavioral economics into their research.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room 002
Tutorial
Exercise	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	12:00 – 13:30	L9, 1–2 Room 002

E8052: Market Design: Auctions and Matching Algorithms (2nd year)

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8049

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

Core PhD courses, PhD International Trade

Grading and ECTS credits

Grades are based on active participation, presentation of research project: participation in class (50%), presentations (50%).

Course Content

This is a research seminar for 3rd and 4th year students who are writing their thesis in the field of international economics. Students present their own research projects and we discuss relevant papers in international economics.

Competences acquired

The aim of the course is to follow and guide students during the thesis writing process. The acquired competences will be to develop and structure research projects in international economics, to improve academic writing and presentation skills.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room 003

6 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Vitali Gretschko

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8052

Credits: 6

Prerequisites

E700-E703

Grading and ECTS credits

Seminar paper (50%) + presentation (50%)

Course Content

Goals and contents of the module:

The digital economy led to many new services where supply is matched with demand for various types of goods and services. More and more people and organizations are now in a position to design market rules that are being implemented in software. The design of markets is challenging as it needs to consider strategic behavior of market participants, psychological factors, and computational problems in order to implement the objectives of a designer. The recent years have led to many new insights and principles for the design of markets, which are beyond traditional economic theory. This course introduces the fundamentals of market design, an engineering field concerned with the design of real-world markets.

Competences acquired

Expected competences acquired after completion of the module:
After participating in the course, the participants will be familiar with (part of) the research frontier in market design. In particular, regarding the application of auctions and matching algorithms.

Contact Information: Gretschko, Vitali; vitali.gretschkomail-zew.de

Schedule

Seminar
Introductory Meeting	09.09.22 – 09.09.22	Friday	12:00 – 13:30	L7, 3–5, Room P044
Seminar	08.12.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	11:00 – 16:00	B6, 30 -32, Room 230
Seminar	09.12.22 – 09.12.22	Friday	11:00 – 16:00	L7, 3–5, Room P043

E8053: Colloquium for PhD Students (3rd & 4th year)

E8054: Research in Health and Labor Economics (2nd & 3rd year)

Lecturer(s)

Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8053

Credits: 2.5

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	14.09.22 – 07.12.22	Wednesday, every two weeks	13:45 – 15:15	L7, 3–5 S031

10 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Ziebarth Nicolas R.

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8054

Credits: 10

Prerequisites

E700 – 703, E801 – 806

Requirements for the assignment of ECTS-Credits and Grades

Paper presentation: 10%

Research sketches on promising research ideas: 25%

Report on fellow student’s research sketches: 15%

End-of-semester presentation of most promising research sketch: 15%

Extended research sketch on most promising research idea and design: 25%

Class participation: 10%

Course Content

This course has two main objectives: (i) To teach PhD students the process of developing research ideas and carrying out research themselves. (ii) To provide a state-of-the-art overview of research topics at the intersection of health and labor economics.

Competences acquired

Acquiring an understanding of the process of doing research.
Acquiring tools and techniques to publish scientific papers in the field of applied economics.
Learning how to generate and dismiss research ideas.
Acquiring the ability to write concise and high-quality research sketches and provide constructive feedback on other students’ sketches.
Obtaining an up-to-date overview of the studies, methods, and findings of the applied economics literature at the interaction of health and labor.
Applying knowledge from (applied) (micro)econometrics and microeconomic theory to topics in health and labor.
Improving presentation and communications skills.
Discussing others’ work in a constructive manner, and to learn how to deal with constructive critique.

Further information

Syllabus will be posted in the first week of class. Readings for each week will be announced each week.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	13:45 – 15:15	B6, 30–32, Room 209
Lecture	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	08:30 – 10:00	L7, 3–5 Room P043

E8055: Trade and the Environment

E823: Advanced Time Series Analysis (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Philipp M. Richter

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E8055

Credits: 2.5

Prerequisites

E700-E703. Recommended: E891 [International Trade] and E8004 [Reading Course in Environmental Economics] can be taken simultaneously

Grading

30-minute presentation (50%), Participation in class (10%), 3 Assignments (40%)

Course Content

This course covers the recent academic literature on the link between trade and the environment. A particular focus lies on the shift to the micro-level both in the theoretical and empirical work. The course content will be adjusted according to the interests of participating Ph.D. students.

The course is based on presentations and discussions of research papers that should be read in advance and are covered by assignments.

Competences acquired

Ability to understand current academic research on trade and the environment.

Ability to critically evaluate theoretical and empirical research in environmental economics.

Improvement of presentation and academic writing skills.

Basic readings

Cherniwchan, Jevan M. and M. Scott Taylor (2022). International Trade and the Environment: Three Remaining Empirical Challenges. NBER Working Paper Series 30020

Copeland, Brian R., Joseph S. Shapiro and M. Scott Taylor (2021). Globalization and the Environment. NBER Working Paper Series 28797

Cherniwchan, Jevan, Brian R. Copeland and M. Scott Taylor (2017). Trade and the Environment: New Methods, Measurements, and Results. Annual Review of Economics 9(1): 59–85

Contact: Prof. Dr. Philipp M. Richter, e-mail address: tba; office hours: by appointment (meetings on-site or in zoom)

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	15.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday, every two weeks	15:30 – 17:00	L9, 1–2 Room 002

9 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Carsten Trenkler

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E823

Credits: 9

Prerequisites

E700-E703 and E801-E806

Grading and assignment of ECTS-credits

Paper (40 %), presentation (30 %), assignments (30 %)

Course Content

The lecture will focus on multivariate time series models. After reviewing a few issues on (non)stationary univariate time series models discussed in Advanced Econometrics III, we will first deal with stable VAR models and their use for forecasting, Granger causality and impulse response analysis. To this end, we will also discuss important issues on asymptotic- and bootstrap-based inference. Afterwards, we discuss stable VARMA processes and infinite-order VARs. Finally, we consider integrated multivariate processes, i.e. will we deal with unit root econometrics as well as cointegration, including VEC modelling. The course both addresses asymptotic analyses as well as implementation issues. Accordingly, tutorial sessions are also devoted to coding and empirical problems besides addressing theoretical problems. In the last part of the course, participants introduce or discuss in more details (further) model classes by giving presentations and writing a paper. We may cover e.g. Bayesian VARs, structural VARs, factor-augmented VARs, VARMA models, etc.. This course is complementary to the course Structural Vector Autoregessive Analysis offered by Matthias Meier. While the latter course focus on structural modelling approaches from an applied macro perspective, we take an econometric approach and deal with multivariate I(1) approaches, VECM and VARMA models in more detail.

Literature

Hamilton, J.D. (1994), Time Series Analysis, Princeton University Press
Hayashi, F. (2000), Econometrics, Princeton University Pres
Lütkepohl (2017), Structural Vector Autoregressive Analysis, CUP
Lütkepohl, H. (2005), New Introduction to Multiple Time Series Analysis, Springer
Lütkepohl, H. and Krätzig, M. (2004), Applied Time Series Econometrics, CUP
Davidson R. and MacKinnon, J.G. (2004) Econometric Theory and Methods, Oxford University Press
White, H. (2000), Asymptotic Theory for Econometricians, Academic Press

Competences acquired

The students have acquired the necessary demanding econometric, statistical and mathematical techniques to understand and solve theoretical problems in uni-variate and multiple, time series analysis, i.e. in special fields of Econometrics. They are able to understand methodologically demanding specialist literature and, based on that, can extend their methodological knowledge independently. They are able to sort out relevant literature for problem solving, i.e. they can analyze and synthesise the special literature. The students have acquired basic tools for empirical time series analysis and can understand empirical time series literature. Based on their methodological expertise, they are able to independently extend their knowledge in order to conduct own empirical analyses. The students can formulate research questions, are able to analyze and address them, and and can present, discuss, and defend research results in written and oral form.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday	15:30 – 17:00	L9, 1–2 Room 002
Tutorial
Exercise	07.09.22 – 07.12.22	Wednesday	17:15 – 18:45	L9, 1–2 Room 002

E839: Topics in Macroeconomics (3rd & 4th year)

E846: PhD Reading Course in Industrial Organization (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Andreas Gulyas

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E839

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

First and second year PhD courses.

Requirements for the assignment

Presenting of Research Projects

Course Content

Research seminar where Ph.D. students, who have completed their course work, present their own research and receive feedback. Occasionally we will also have an outside speaker.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	12:00 – 13:30	L7, 3–5 P044

E854: Topics in Mechanism Design (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Nicolas Schutz

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E846

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Requirements for the Assignment of ECTS Credits and Grades

Presentation (100 %)

Course Content

This seminar is aimed at PhD students writing their dissertation in Industrial Organization. It is intended to guide students at all stages of dissertation research. The emphasis be on presentation and discussion of material by students.

Competences acquired

Doctoral students will know how to

identify a research question,
put a research question into context of the relevant literature,
present their current stage of research to their peers in a seminar environment.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	09.09.22 – 09.12.22	Friday	12:00 – 13:30	L9, 1–2 Room 003

E859: Institutional Economics and Economic Policy (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Thomas Tröger

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E854

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

First-year sequence in the Economics PhD program

Course Content

Students will read, present and discuss current research concerning the optimal design of mechanisms.

Grading and assignment of ECTS-credits

Presentations

Competences acquired

On successful completion of the module, students are expected to attain the following competences:

Presentation skills
Participation in scientific discourse
Absorption of recent research in mechanism design
Acquisition of a reading routine

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday	10:15 – 11:45	B6, 30–32 Room 211

E866: Research Seminar in Economic Policy (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Hans Peter Grüner

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E859

Credits: 7.5

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Requirements for the assignment of ECTS-Credits and Grades

Written exam (90 minutes)

Course Content

Goals and Contents of the module

The Role of institutions in economic policymaking/Ordnungspolitik
    Overview of the course
    Game theory: a short introduction
    Mechanism Design
        Basic setup
        The revelation principle in dominant strategies
        The Gibbard Satterthwaite theorem
        Bayesian implementation/the revelation principle
    Quasilinear environments
        VCG mechanisms
        AGV mechanisms
        Participation constraints
        The Myerson Satterthwaite theorem
        Robust possibility theorems
        Auctions
        Optimal mechanisms
        Robust mechanism design
    Preference aggregation
        Theory
        Experimental evidence
    Information aggregation in committees
        Theory
        Experimental evidence
    Financing public goods
        Theory
        Experimental evidence
    Mechanisms for fiscal stability
    Economic policy and credit markets
    Mechanisms for monetary policy

Competences acquired

Students learn about theories of information aggregation in institutions. They learn to apply them to practical problems.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday	14:45 – 17:00	L7, 3–5 Room P043

E873: Research Seminar in Public Economics (3rd & 4th year)

Lecturer(s)

Hans Peter Grüner

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E866

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Grading

At least one presentation. Students who wish to obtain ECTS credits should sign up for the course, students who do not wish to obtain credits should not sign up for the course.

Course Content

Students present and discuss policy related economic research.

Competences acquired

Students learn to apply economic theory and quantitative methods to policy problems.

Further information: Students who would like to participate should contact Hans Grüner before the beginning of the semester

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	05.09.22 – 05.12.22	Monday	17:15 – 18:45	L7, 3–5 Room P043

E877: Behavioral Game Theory (and Experiments) (2nd year)

Lecturer(s)

Eckhard Janeba

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E873

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Requirements for the assignment of ECTS-Credits and Grades

Oral presentation of own reserach, contribution to discussion of other perticipants' reserach; only pass/ fail.

Course Content

Presentation and discussion of current research in public economics (external and internal speakers)

Competences acquired

Improve presentations skills, obtain feedback to improve research paper.

Schedule

Seminar
Seminar	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	12:00 – 13:30	L7, 3–5 Room P043

4 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Jörg Oechssler

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E877

Credits: 4

Prerequisites

First year courses

Grading and assignment of ECTS credits

Written exam (90 min)

Course Content

The course introduces the recent literature on behavioural game theory and learning:

Information Cascades

Quantal- response equilibrium

Level- k theories

Fictious Play

Reinforcement Learning

Experience weighted attraction learning

Imitation

Literature
Fudenberg, D. and D. Levine (1998) “The Theory of Learning in Games”, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT- Press

Colin Camerer (2003) “Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction”, Princeton University Press

Competences acquired

Expected competences acquired after completion of the module: Students should be able to read and understand the literature on learning in games. They should acquire several necessary theoretical and experimental tools that can be a starting point for independent Ph.D.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	18.10.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	13:45 – 15:15	L9, 1–2 Room 002

E883: Topics and Projects in Experimental Economics (2nd year)

10 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Henrik Orzen

Wladislaw Mill

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E883

Credits: 10

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Grading and ECTS credits

Presence and participation in discussion and presentation of own research. Writing a research proposal. Grades are assigned on a pass/non-pass basis.

Course Content

This module is intended to introduce students to current topics in Experimental and Behavioral Economics and to familiarize them with recent advances in the field. The course will be delivered via a mix of lectures,
joint readings of papers, in-class discussions, and project work. The lectures will provide introductions to various topics and give relevant background information. Selected papers from the recent relevant literature will be discussed in depth. For this to work all participants will have to read these papers in advance. Over the course of the semester each student is expected to lead the in-class discussion of two of the papers. The module will also provide a forum for students to discuss research ideas and preliminary work. In fact, students are expected to develop a research project of their own and present their advances, experimental design or data. This can be done individually or in pairs.

Competences acquired

On completion of the module students will have gained insights into recent topics of research in experimental and behavioral economics. They will have improved their ability to present – in a clear and structured manner- their own research ideas. They will have gained practice in adequately and constructively criticizing research ideas and their implementation, and they will have acquired advanced skills in communication and team work. They will have developed an improved sense of recognizing the potentials of a research idea.
Further information: Please refer to the syllabus of this course for further information, in particular on the required presentations in week two of the semester.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	09.09.22 – 09.12.22	Friday	13:45 – 17:00	L9, 1–2 Room 003

E887: Topics in Microeconometrics (2nd-Year)

10 ECTS

Lecturer(s)

Christoph Rothe

Mengshan Xu

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E887

Credits: 10

Prerequisites

E700-E703, E801-E806

Grading and ECTS credits:

Presence and participation in discussion, presentation of short research proposal. Grades are assigned on a pass/non-pass basis.

Course Content

This module introduces students to current topics in microeconometrics, such as non- and semiparametric methods, machine learning, and causal inference. The course will be delivered via a mix of lectures, joint readings of papers, in-class discussions, and student presentations. It is geared towards both students with an interest in econometric theory, and students who want to use modern econometric methods for their empirical research.

In the Fall '22, the covered topics will be Machine Learning in Economics (Rothe) and Nonparametric Econometrics (Xu)

Competences acquired

On completion of the module students will have gained insights into recent topics of research in microeconometrics. They will have gained practice in adequately and constructively criticizing research ideas and their implementation. They will have developed an improved sense for how to use modern microeconometric techniques in their own research.

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	06.09.22 – 06.12.22	Tuesday	10:15 – 11:45	L7, 3–5 Room P043
Lecture	08.09.22 – 08.12.22	Thursday	10:15 – 11:45	L7, 3–5 Room P043

E891: International Trade (2nd year)

RES (Bridge Course): Women in Leadership

Course Type: elective course

Course Number: E891

Credits: 5

Prerequisites

All first year Ph.D. courses

Grading

Active participation in class (20%), problem sets (40%), presentation (40%).

Course Content

This course offers a rigorous introduction to international trade at the Ph.D. level, emphasizing both theoretical models and empirical evidence. The first part of the course will be structured as a lecture. We will discuss the core models of modern international trade theory. We will first study neoclassical trade models, i.e., the Ricardian- (Eaton-Kortum) and Heckscher-Ohlin models, and then move to trade models with imperfect competition. Particular emphasis will be given to models with firm-level heterogeneity. We will also discuss theories of multinational firms, offshoring and global value chains, the labor market consequences of international trade and trade policy.
The second part of the course will be organized as a seminar: depending on the number of participants, either students will present papers at the research frontier or there will be a reading group format. Topics covered depend on the students’ interests.

Competences acquired

Students are familiar with the core models and methods used in modern research in international trade. They know the research frontier in this field and are able to start independent research projects that may lead to a dissertation in the field of international trade.

Further information:

No single textbook covers the topics of this course adequately and the lectures will be based mostly on research articles. A useful reference for students who want to get an idea about the field of international trade is:

Feenstra, R.C. (2015): Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence, 2nd edition, Princeton University Press.

Gopinath, G. E.Helpman and K.Rogoff, eds. (2014): Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier

Contact Information: Harald Fadinger; Phone: (0621) 181 -3505; email: herald.fadinger@uni-mannheim.de Office: 4.19, Office hours: upon appointment

Schedule

Lecture
Lecture	07.09.22 – 07.12.22	Wednesday	10:15 – 11:45	L9, 1–2 Room 002