Module and Master Seminar · Winter Semester 2026/27
How do households respond when their economic circumstances change? How far can they protect consumption and other aspects of their lives against shocks? This combined module and seminar (either can be taken on its own) explores these questions through economic reasoning and empirical work, with particular attention to insurance and the role of market imperfections.
Possible applications include changes in income, employment or health and their relationship to household outcomes such as consumption or labour supply. These examples provide starting points for investigating how households adjust and why responses may differ across households.
A central question is how to recognise and measure shocks in the data. What distinguishes an observed change from an unexpected event? How do the definition and timing of a shock affect the way we interpret its relationship with an outcome? We will use such questions to connect economic ideas with empirical evidence.
The course combines selected readings, discussion and guided empirical work. We will work with microdata from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a longitudinal study following individuals and families in the United States. Empirical analyses will be carried out in Stata, a commercial software package that students can access through the faculty's terminal server.
To help all students get started with the joint empirical work, we will refresh their knowledge of Stata and revisit empirical methods and concepts covered in previous coursework. Examples include linear regression, the generalised method of moments (GMM), and time-series analysis.
Students will practise formulating research questions, understanding how variables are constructed, and interpreting descriptive evidence and results from empirical models. Economic concepts and empirical methods will be developed step by step in connection with the questions under study.
The emphasis is on understanding the reasoning behind an analysis: what a particular comparison tells us, which assumptions support its interpretation, and how the evidence relates to the economic question. Specific questions and applications will develop as the course progresses, guided by the literature and the empirical findings.
The joint opening meeting for the Master’s seminar and Economics of Market Imperfections (MWiWi 2.16) will take place one week earlier than announced:
Friday, 16 October 2026, at 12 noon via Zoom.
There will be no meeting on 23 October. Attending the opening meeting does not commit you to participating in the seminar.
Room: O.06.06 – Hörsaal 16
| Course | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Master Seminar (MWiWi 6) | Friday | 12:00–16:00 |
| Module Economics of Market Imperfections (MWiWi 2.16) | Friday | 12:00–16:00 |
| Module Economics of Market Imperfections (MWiWi 2.16) | Friday | 16:00–18:00 |
The module and the seminar address the same overarching theme and therefore take place at the same time and in the same room. Students may earn credits for the module, the seminar, or both. The workload, the amount of material to be studied, and the form and scope of assessment will depend on this choice. Assessment requirements will be aligned with the credits to be earned.
Students taking only one of the two will have fewer contact hours than those taking both. The detailed schedule and arrangements will be planned and discussed together in the course.
Eligibility and Prerequisites
The seminar is open to students who have previously taken either Dynamic Quantitative Economics (MWiWi 2.8) or International Macroeconomics and Globalization (MWiWi 2.5). Any exceptions require prior agreement with the instructor.
Students must have successfully completed Dynamic Quantitative Economics (MWiWi 2.8) and be enrolled in the Applied Economics degree programme with the Empirical Analysis specialisation. (Students in the International Economic Policy specialisation cannot take this module.) No exceptions to these requirements are possible.
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