Lehre

Details siehe GRIPS.

Die Vorlesung schließt an die Veranstaltung „Mikroökonomie I“ des Wintersemesters an und ist Teil der mikroökonomischen Grundausbildung im Bachelor-Studium. Wir beschäftigen uns mit der Theorie individueller Entscheidungen (Konsum, Arbeitsangebot, Sparen, Risiko), Fragen der Gleichgewichtstheorie (Wohlfahrtssätze, Adverse Selektion, Handel) und der Theorie der Firma (Produktions- und Kostentheorie, Prinzipal-Agenten-Beziehungen, Grenzen der Firma).

Summary: This course is taught in German. The lecture builds on "Mikroökonomie I", which is taught in the winter term. The course introduces students to the important concepts of microeconomic theory. We focus on individual decision-making (e.g., consumption and savings, labor supply, decision-making under risk), the welfare properties of markets, and the theory of the firm (production theory, principal-agent theory).

Primäre Literatur:

Die Wissenschaftssprache in der Volkswirtschaftslehre ist Englisch. Je früher man sich dieser Realität stellt, desto besser. Deshalb empfehle ich dringend, auf die englischen Originalausgaben der Lehrbücher zurückzugreifen (von denen es aber auch deutsche Übersetzungen gibt).

• Pindyck, R. S. und D. L. Rubinfeld (2008): Microeconomics, 7th ed., Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ.
• Varian, H. R. (2007): Intermediate Microeconomics, 7th ed., W. W. Norton, New York u.a.

Eine intuitive Einführung in die Mikroökonomik (mit einem Augenzwinkern):

• Klein, G. und Y. Bauman (2010): The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, Vol. One: Microeconomics, Macmillan.

Details see: GRIPS.​​​

Starting in the summer term 2022, this course is taught in English.

Summary: Many real-world decisions are strategic in the sense that the optimal course of action depends on the behavior of others. For example, this holds for firms competing with each other, bidders in auctions, parties in negotiations, employees competing for promotions, politicians in electoral competition, or players in games like poker, chess, or soccer. The present lecture provides an introduction to game theory in order to be able to analyze such interdependent decision-making. Students will learn how to formulate a strategic interaction as a game. Students will be introduced to various solution concepts, such as Nash equilibrium, subgame perfect equilibrium, and perfect Bayesian equilibrium.

Literatur:

• Gibbons, R. (1992): Game Theory for Applied Economists, Princeton University Press.
• Osborne, M. (2003): An Introduction to Game Theory, Oxford University Press.

This course is taught in English.

In the summer term 2024, the course will be taught by Dr. Karoline Ströhlein (Karoline.Stroehlein@ur.de; https://sites.google.com/view/karolinestroehlein/home)

The goal of this course is to give you a thorough introduction to the field of organizational economics exposing you to state-of-the-art theoretical, empirical, experimental, and behavioral insight on how to make organizations more successful. The course will be based on a textbook (which will be available in the library) and recent research articles.

TEXTBOOK: Peter Kuhn: Personnel Economics. 2018. Oxford University Press.

OUTLINE OF THE COURSE:

Part 1:  The Principal-Agent Model
Part 2:  Evidence on Employee Motivation
Part 3:  Co-operation in the Workplace - Teams
Part 4:  Competition in the Workplace - Tournaments and Promotions
Part 5:  Employee Selection

Details see: GRIPS.

Advanced Microeconomics is one of the three compulsory courses in the first semester of the master program. The course gives a rigorous introduction to the fundamental concepts and models of microeconomic theory. It consists of two parts.

The first part on Mathematical Methods of Microeconomics is part of the two-week math boot camp at the beginning of the semester that is jointly taught by the instructors of the three compulsory courses. This part introduces students to mathematical methods that are essential for the analysis of microeconomic models, and we will review a number of central concepts. Students are expected to present solutions to exercises in class.

The second part of the course introduces students to central concepts of game theory, incentives and contract theory, and behavioral economics. These tools play a major role in modern microeconomics. Again, students will be expected to present solutions to exercises in class.

Literature:

• Bolton, P. and M. Dewatripont (2005): Contract Theory. MIT Press.
• Camerer, C. F. (2003): Behavioral Game Theory, Princeton University Press.
• Fudenberg, D. and J. Tirole (1991): Game Theory, MIT Press.
• Jehle, A. J. and P. J. Reny (2011): Advanced Microeconomic Theory, Prentice Hall.
• Kreps, D. M. (1990): A Course in Microeconomic Theory, Princeton University Press.
• Laffont, J. J. and D. Martimort (2009): The Theory of Incentives: The Principal-Agent Problem, Princeton University Press.
• MasColell, A., M. D. Whinston and J. R. Green (1995): Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press.
• Osborne, M. J. and A. Rubinstein (1994): A Course in Game Theory, MIT Press.
• Plott, C. R., and V. L. Smith (2008): The Handbook of Experimental Economics Results, North Holland Press.
• Roth, A. E., and J. H. Kagel (1997): The Handbook of Experimental Economics, Princeton University Press.
• Tadelis, S. (2013): Game Theory: Introduction, Princeton University Press.

An overview, including lecture times and rooms, can be found here and on GRIPS (please register).