Content & Aim

This course covers basic topics in public economics from an empirical point of view. We focus on empirical studies of the distributional, fiscal and behavioral effects of the tax and transfer system and public policy, as well as welfare-state institutions and reforms, particularly in the context of demographic change. The leading example will be public policies and the current political debate in Germany. We discuss both policy content and empirical strategies and introduce different microeconometric techniques for evaluating public policies. Students learn to read, critically assess and present empirical research and gain hands-on experience in their own empirical projects.

General Structure

The course combines input and method training sessions with active student participation. Students apply the topics and methods covered to conduct empirical analyses and present their own and other research (three homework assignments, research paper presentation, research replication and extension). Tasks are performed individually and in groups of two. Students receive feedback on their empirical projects, present their progress in an interim meeting and their final projects in blocked meetings. The students will also learn how to critically discuss and present empirical research papers. The final course paper consists of the assignments and own research project. The grade is based on the written course paper and student presentations.

Prerequisites

In this course, we will provide an introduction how to use empirical methods to causally answer important policy and economic questions. The prerequisites are intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic theory and principles in econometrics. Experience with Stata or R are necessary.

Important Information on Registration!

The course is restricted to 24 students. To apply for the course, please send a short motivation (half a page max.) and your current transcript of records to ls-danzer@wiwiss.fu-berlin.de no later than October 12, 2026.