Economics
Economics Is Everywhere
Economics is a social science that studies all aspects of human behaviour and social interaction. The traditional focus of economics is on the study of labour, investment, production, consumption, money, trade, taxes, and government expenditure. Modern economics has extended its focus to also analyse seemingly non-economic aspects of life such as crime, law, family, health, culture, politics, psychology, and evolution.
Economics is characterized by a unique way of understanding human behaviour involving choices and how these drive society. Economics analyses how individuals and groups make decisions with limited resources to best satisfy their wants and needs, and the intended and unintended consequences of these decisions. The key to economic analysis is that social phenomena result from the interactions among the choices people make in response to the expected benefits and costs.
Economics takes into account that decisions depend on cultural and institutional frameworks such as religion, law, government, and companies, which means that economics has a strong policy focus and provides us with an understanding of political processes and analyses the role of policy intervention in shaping the outcomes of social interactions. Economics studies the influence of policy on the creation and distribution of wealth and well-being.
Economics combines theory with rigorous empirical research. Understanding real life requires theoretical models to be systematically tested using large datasets on individuals, companies, and countries. To analyse these datasets, quantitative methods provided by the fields of statistics and econometrics are applied. Empirical research also helps evaluate the consequences of policy intervention.
About Our Course of Studies
The Department of Economics offers several bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes. The programmes combine research and policy orientation. The policy orientation provides an excellent preparation for a career in both the private and the public sector. The research orientation qualifies students to enter a PhD programme after the completion of one of the master’s programmes.
The bachelor’s degree programmes are:
The Bachelor of Economics offers specializations in the following fields:
- Empirical Economics
- Labour Markets, Personnel Economics and Social Security
- Money and International Trade
- Public Economics
The Master’s degree programmes are:
- M.Sc. Economics
- M.Sc. Survey Statistics
- M.A. International Economics and Public Policy (joint programme with the Department of Political Science)
- Double master’s degrees with the University of Warsaw and the University of Bergamo
The Master’s degree programme M.Sc. Economics is offered in five different versions:
- Empirical Analysis
- European Finance
- European Labour Markets and Innovation
- European Political Economy
- European Social Security and Health Systems
About Our Research
Research at the Department of Economics spans a wide range of topics.
The Department of Economics comprises the following chairs:
Economic and Social Statistics
Prof. Dr. Ralf Münnich
Empirical Economics
Jun. Prof. Dr. Matthias Neuenkirch
International Economic Policy
Prof. Dr. Xenia Matschke
Law and Economics
Jun. Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf
Public Finance
Prof. Dr. Ludwig von Auer
Economics of the Welfare State and Health Economics
Prof. Dr. Normann Lorenz
Environmental Economics
Prof. Dr. G. Müller-Fürstenberger
Labour Economics
Prof. Dr. Uwe Jirjahn
Monetary Economics
Prof. Dr. Christian Bauer
