Courses

Every other year this course is taught by the Chair of Economics, esp. Public Economics. Course-Link in OPAL https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/opal/auth/RepositoryEntry/32206880773)

This course is an introduction to national economic thinking and methodology. It explains the basic concepts of economics, e.g. comparative costs, supply and demand, elasticity. Additionally, we look at economic policy measures, like taxation and price control as well as the behavior of consumers and firms. Furthermore, we discuss different types of competition, e.g. perfect competition and monopoly. Labor market economy, national income and price index, production, growth, and the monetary system are also topics this lecturer deals with.

Recommended literature:

Mankiw, N. Gregory and M. P. Taylor (2008): Grundzüge der Volkswirtschaftslehre,
Stuttgart: Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag, 4. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage
(English original release: Economics, South-Western, 2006)

The course covers the fundamentals of transport economics and provides an overview of street, rail, aviation as well as water transportation specific characteristics. The general part covers basic concepts and figures. Subsequently, technical, legal as well as business, and infrastructure characteristics of each mode of transport are taught. Additionally, we focus on the market for transportation services to understand competition and regulation issues in several sectors.

In this module, students acquire knowledge of information research and the preparation of scientific theses. General qualifications, e.g., rhetoric, research techniques, scientific writing, self/time management, project management, are deepened.

Contents of the module are explanations of the economic and spatial effects of integration based on foreign trade theory, migration theory, growth theory, and the approaches of the New Economic Geography, as well as the application of econometric techniques related to the contents.

This lecture gives an introduction to location theory and urban economics. Therefore, it starts with analyzing the difficulty of choosing the optimal industrial location, followed by a detailed discussion of location factors. Furthermore, spatial pricing and the interdependence of location decisions concerning differently structured markets are highlighted. In addition, theories of urban economics (Alonso) are discussed.

The tutorials, in the form of a Proseminar, deepen and complement topics from the lecture.

Contents of the module are the processing of scientific literature, the elaboration of scientific questions, and the presentation of results using the learned media competence and presentation skills.

The module's subject is an introduction to the microeconomic foundations of spatial economics concerning transport, environment, and agglomeration. Among other things, we will cover the modeling of commuting and location decisions and external effects. Taking into account the approach of the New Economic Geography, political options for action with spatial relevance are discussed. The modeling of complex interregional relationships is carried out within the framework of general equilibrium models using a software-based algebraic modeling language for mathematical optimization. The contents are based on current research results in regional economics.

Basic literature:

• Krugman, P. (1998): Space: The Final Frontier, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12, S. 161-174.
• Neary, P. J. (2001): Of Hype and Hyperbolas: Introducing the New Economic Geography, Journal of Economic Literature, 39, S. 536-561.
• Baldwin, R., R. Forslid, P. Martin, G. Ottaviano und F. Robert-Nicoud (2003): Economic Geography and Public Policy, Princeton University Press.
• Brakman, S., H. Garretsen und C. van Marrewijk (2001): An Introduction to Geographical Economics, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT-Press.
• Krugman, P. (1991): Geography and Trade, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• Fujita, M., P.Krugman und A. Venables (1999): The Spatial Economy, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• Krugman, P. (1995): Development, Geography, and Economic Theory, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT-Press.
• Krugman, P. (1993): On the Relationship between Trade Theory and Location Theory, Review of International Economics, 1(2), S. 110-122.
• Ottaviano, G.I.P. und D. Puga (1998): Agglomeration in the Global Economy, A Survey of the ‘New Economic Geography’, The World Economy, 21(6), S. 707-731.
• Schmutzler, A. (1999): The New Economic Geography, Journal of Economic Surveys, 13(4) S. 355-379.

This course focuses on basic regression analysis and spatial econometric techniques commonly used for spatial and regional research purposes. Methods presented during the semester are, for example, spatial regression, panel analysis, and approaches to estimate causal effects (i.e., natural experiments).

The lecture is highly application-oriented and accompanied by computer-assisted tutorials. During these tutorials, the econometric software R and the geographic information system QGIS are introduced, and students are asked to work in groups on particular tasks using different methods.

The contents of the module are the theoretical foundations of urban economics and the analysis of the effects of policy measures in the urban environment. The focus is on housing and land use regulation, traffic in urban areas, agglomeration effects, external effects caused by emissions, environmental effects, and urban economic issues in developing countries. These socially relevant issues are addressed in a scientific context with research relevance.

The content of the module is the independent processing, discussion, and presentation of scientifically relevant questions in the fields of regional, environmental and urban economics, such as the empirical or numerical analysis of the spatial effects and welfare impact of public investments, regulatory interventions in the housing market or natural disasters.

The module's subject is the central foundations of transport policy and economics, particularly the economic and structural characteristics of transport and approaches to the division of tasks between the market and the state.

The module deals with the economic importance of transport infrastructure, economic approaches to its valuation, and central approaches to assessing the relationship between the state and the market in the provision of transport infrastructure.

This seminar on the bachelor level encourages students to freely choose and independently work on specific scientific topics from transport economics. Students are expected to autonomously work on research with literature and conduct some research to solve the scientific problem fully. 

This lecture focuses on empirical methods used for analyzing scientific problems with a background in transport policy. Therefore, basic regression analysis and discrete choice models are highlighted and applied using the statistical programming language R.

This lecture conveys knowledge regarding valuation methods applicable for the planning process of transport facilities. Therefore, it focuses on the main valuation methods and their specific fields of application and application boundaries. Furthermore, it discusses, partially by the example of specific cases, methods of standardized valuation for public transport, recommendations for economic feasibility studies of roads (EWS), and particular methods of the German Bundesverkehrswegeplanung (BVWP).

The module's subject is the detailed presentation of the possibilities of measuring and evaluating costs and benefits as well as the associated problems and difficulties. Furthermore, the module deals with how the measurement and evaluation of costs and benefits change when central framework conditions in the transport sector change. Current research results in transport economics are part of the module and basic approaches to the formalization of analyses.

Within each industry, supply and demand are determined by costs and prices. A particular factor in transport is the gap between private and social costs. Additionally, the cost structure depends on the returns to scale. Thus, a market-based pricing method would lead to inefficiencies in providing supplies as road capacity and meeting the whole demand (as the number of flights during peaks). To avoid inefficiencies, political interventions concerning pricing are possible, as well as regulations.

This lecture aims at a detailed description, analysis, and discussion of these relations, including the use of private motor vehicles, public transport, and aviation. Students are asked to independently analyze problems concerning different modes of transport and develop their own solution approaches.

Students are asked to independently work on scientific relevant topics, present, discuss and evaluate their research results in a sophisticated and qualified way. This course aims at providing qualifications regarding rhetoric, presentation, and presentation techniques.