Master
Winter Semester 2022/23
Lecturer: Dr. Judith Saurer
Syllabus
Aim and outline of the course:
Migration has become a key issue in the political and public debate all over the world. Thus, economists increasingly engaged in studying determinants and consequences of migration as it has a substantial impact on receiving and sending countries. This course offers an introduction to the key concepts of migration economics and will cover the following topics:
1) Migration Decision and Forms of Migration
2) Effects on Migration on Employment and Wages
3) Effects of Migration on Attitudes and Political Economy
4) Integration and Integration Policies
5) Refugee Migration
6) Impacts of Emigration
At the end of the course students are familiar with the basic theoretical and empirical concepts in the area of economics of migration. A special focus will be on the understanding of the identification of causal effects and the ability to connect links between the different areas of analysis.
The course will consist of frontal teaching of the basic theoretical as well as empirical tools as well as a careful reading of some of the key scientific articles related to the outlined topics (a reading list will be provided at the beginning of the semester). At the end of the semester, students will have the opportunity to present their term papers.
Prerequisites:
Solid background in Microeconomics and Econometrics is required
Literature:
The course will be based mostly on well-published scientific papers (they willbe made available via Wue Campus). For an overview of the topic please refer to the following books:
- Bodvarsson Ö.B. and Van den Berg H., 2013, The Economics of Immigration: Theory and Policy, 2nd Edition, Springer
- Borjas, G.J. 2014 Immigration Economics. Harvard University Press
- Chiswick B.R. and Miller, P.W., 2015, Economics of International Migration
Lecture notes will be provided additionally.
Grading:
Grading will be based on a presentation (30% of the grade) and a term paper (70% of the grade) on a selected topic in migration economics.
Lecturer
Dr. Patrick Schneider
Summer Semester 2023
Lecturer
Lecturer: Dr. Mario Bossler (mario.bossler@gmail.com)
Semester: Summer 2023, first date of the course is Thursday 20 April 2023
Room and time:
- Lecture: Thursday, 10-12 am in HS 315
- Tutorial, Tuesday, 10-12 am in the “Sparkassen-Hörsaal” (Sanderring)
Module: 12-M-OEA
Aim of the course:
The course Advanced Labor Economics is designed to give students an insight into all basic areas of the labor market. In addition to the classical theories of labor demand and labor supply, this also includes the human capital theory, the search theory and theories that explain the fluctuation and mobility of labor. It is a course in which theoretical concepts are taught and practiced, which can be discussed on the basis of observed findings and policies.
Contents
1. Labor market overview
2. Labor supply
3. Human capital
4. Labor demand
5. Labor market search
6. Mobility and migration
7. Wage setting
8. Compensating wage differentials and discrimination
9. Unemployment
Literature:
- P. Cahuc / S. Carcillo / A. Zylberberg: Labor Economics, 2. Aufl., Cambridge, Mass. 2014
- G. J. Borjas: Labor Economics, 8. Aufl. New York 2019
(Detailed references will be provided during the lecture.)
Grading:
The course will be graded based on a final exam (60 minutes).
General information:
The Chair of Labour Economics supervises Master's theses in the area of labour, education, and migration economics. Topics usually relate to actual policy concerns, examples are discrimination, early child development, education, integration of immigrants, labour supply, peer effects, just to name a few. Theses should be of empirical nature using either primary or secondary data. The thesis can be written either in German or English. For more information regarding the formal and content-related structure of the thesis, see: Thesis Guideline
Former thesis‘ topics:
- The impact of parental benefits on parental gender norms
- Gender stereotypes and occupational decisions of adolescents
- Intergenerational changes for migrants in Germany
- Acceptance of a universal basic income
- Incorporating social identity into economic analysis
Procedure:
It is highly recommended to attend the master seminar, where the students can discuss their ideas, elaborate a literature review and familiarize themselves with the appropriate empirical methodology. The thesis will build on these skills.
There is no list with prespecified topics, but each students approaches the chair with his or her own idea. Following a written application including a short description of the idea and the motivation as well as a transcript of courses and grades, conversations with the members of the chair will help to finetune the exact topic. A close supervision is guaranteed and desired throughout the whole process of thesis writing.
