Course archive

Labor Economics

In this course students have the opportunity to gain insights into basic terms and concepts of labor economics, learn to explain current labor market phenomena, and are enabled to analyze the possibilities of national labor market policies.

Seminar: Firm performance, market selection, and employment outcomes

The performance of firms is not only relevant for the development of an economy as a whole, but also for job creation and destruction which in turn affects individual workers in various ways. In this seminar, we will discuss recent empirical papers dealing with different aspects of firm performance and its determinants, market selection mechanisms, job creation and destruction, and the consequences of involuntary job loss for affected employees.

Seminar: Wage and Income Inequality

Rising wage and income inequality has increasingly become an important topic in both academic and policy debates. In this seminar, we will discuss various empirical papers on the development of wage and income inequality and its sources.

Bachelor Thesis Seminar

Returns to tenure / Erträge auf spezifisches Humankapital

Seminar: Topics in Labor Market and Social Policy

Labor market and social policy measures constitute important elements of modern welfare states. Evaluations of such policies are crucial to assess whether the intended effects really appear or whether they come along with unintended side effects. In this seminar, we will discuss recent papers evaluating different measures of active, passive, and regulatory labor market and social policy measures.

Seminar: Firms, Workers, and Wages (22386)

It is a long established finding in the literature about wage differentials that not only worker but also employer characteristics, such as firm size or industry affiliation, play an important role for wage formation. In this seminar, we discuss both classical and recent empirical studies that shed light on the role of firm characteristics in the wage formation process.

Seminar: Economic Crises: Consequences of Firm Closure and Worker Displacement

The closure of firms and large-scale job displacement can have immense spillover effects on wages and long-term employment, especially so in times of economic crises. Apart from that, socio-economic side effects can have an impact on health and fertility decisions, which further effects long-term demographic developments. In this seminar, we discuss recent empirical studies that examine the effects of firm closure and worker displacement on economic factors, as well as the extent and consequences of socio-economic side effects.

Seminar: Economic Shocks and Voting Behaviour: Consequences of Economic Crises, Globalisation and Technological Change

ecent polarization of the political landscape in Europe and the success of both far-right and far-left populist parties have been quite surprising for social scientists. There are two competing paradigms that try to explain this development: Cultural backlash and economic nationalism. In this Seminar, we want discuss literature on how the latter can explain changes in voting behavior, and how the effects of economic shocks such as financial crisis, automation and globalization affect local labor markets and influence voting patterns.

Seminar: Robots at Work - Economic Effects of Automation
The rise of industrial robots has again sparked the debate about labor market effects of automation. In this seminar, we discuss recent empirical studies that examine the effects of industrial robots on labor market outcomes and productivity, as well as distributional consequences of automation.

Last Modification: 15.02.2022 -
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