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Core Courses (36 ECTS)

Our core courses provide important basic knowledge in Public Finance.

We suggest you complete these 6 courses within the first 2 semesters of study. All of the 6 courses are in English.

A microeconomic education is a key part of any Economics program. Therefore, this modul provides you with in-depth methods and knowledge on microeconomic fundamentals. During the course, you will familiarize yourself with the newest microeconomic approaches and applications. The goal of this module is to train you to recognize restrictions, approaches, and to carry out model extensions.

Topics:

  • Households’ and firms’ decision theory
  • General Equilibrium Analysis
  • Fundamental theorems of Welfare Theory
  • Partial Equilibrium Analysis
  • Imperfect Competition
  • Game Theory

Our course in Macroeconomics is based on the Bachelor’s course and provides advanced methods in modern Macroeconomic models. If you are interested in further elective course in this area of study, you should complete this course at the beginning of your Master’s.

 Topics:

  • Solow-Model

  • Ramsey-Model

  • Real Business Cycle

  • New keynesian Model

  • Dynamic Optimization

The course in Welfare Economics discusses the Theory of Market Failure from a public finance perspective and provides advanced methods for analyzing public expenditure. Students shall learn to analyze fundamental problems of a welfare state in an independent manner and to assess the economic importance of central welfare institutions within a market economy.

Topics:

  • Role of the welfare state

  • Market failure and insurance

  • Ensuring labor income through the State

  • Redistribution by means of income taxation

  • Public supply of private goods

  • Poverty alleviation

Command of microeconometric methods is a key requirement for the independent execution of empirical analysis in the field of Public Finance. Besides fundamental empirical models, students shall learn quasi-experimental methods of modern causal analysis. The theoretical contents are illustrated through empirical analyses of microdata in relation to current economic policy issues. The goal of this course is to enable students to perform independent, empirical work and to analyze and develop the presented methods and approaches.

Topics:

  • Logit, Probit, Tobit models

  • Difference-in-differences methods

  • Instrumental variables

This course provides students with an understanding of public finance interdependencies of open economies. In this respect, diverse issues such as European integration, globalization, tax competition, and global trade policy are presented. The goal of this course is to provide the economic tools to identify and solve public finance problems in scenarios with competing state stakeholders.

Topics:

  • Federalism

  • Strategic aspects of taxation: e.g. tax competition, tax coordination.

  • Economics of international negotiations

  • International aspects of consumption, factor income and resource taxation

  • Economics of customs and trade policy.

Public Finance theories on optimal taxation as a part of Governmental Accounting are a fundamental component of this course. Based on the contents taught, the students obtain a deep understanding of the workings of taxes. Students learn about the relevant interest conflicts of taxation and discuss them from an economic perspective. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to provide economically founded recommendations in order to develop and analyze taxation theory and policy instruments.

Topics:

  • Optimal taxation theory

  • Tax incidence analysis

  • The excess burden of taxation

  • Design of tax systems and tax reform

  • Conflict of interests between efficiency and redistribution

  • Taxation of external effects