Seminar Public Finance (MW23.4) - Summer Term 2025

Untangling Cause and Effect: Topics in Public Economics

Content

In this seminar, we review the literature on current issues in public economics related to the pension system, education, migration, and economic inequality. The focus will be on the study of these issues through causal analysis. The identification of causal relationships enables researchers to provide reliable scientific advice to policy makers on relevant economic policy issues. Students will learn to discuss the application of empirical methods to the study of current issues such as income inequality, educational choice, and the economic integration of refugees. This seminar focuses on writing a detailed seminar paper discussing the empirical methodology, interpreting the research results and deriving policy recommendations.

Requirements

You will have to read and understand original empirical research papers as part of this course. We therefore recommend taking "Empirical Methods" (MW24.1) before this seminar.

Important Remarks

The Chair of Public Finance follows a zero-tolerance policy with respect to plagiarism. In previous seminars, up to 20% of the students failed because of plagiarism in their seminar papers. Please read again carefully the slides about plagiarism and conduct the test on "How to Cite/ How to Avoid Plagiarism" available in the Moodle-course "Approaches to Economic Science" ("WS2024-Approaches"). (If you do not have access to this Moodle-course, contact Elisa Stumpf.)

Guidelines

For guidelines and regulations, see here

Topics

To submit your topic preferences and review the slides after the information event on 12 February 2025, please go to Moodle Uni JenaExternal link ("Seminar Public Finance (MW23.4) - Summer Term 2025").  You will also find further information and materials on the seminar there.