Teaching at the Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade

Das Tutorium beginnt erst in der 47. KW.

The course introduces the students into important fundamental economic aspects of development, environment and trade. It provides an overview of socioeconomic and demographic developments and world-wide trends (urbanization, digitalisation) which characterize the globalizing world. It focuses on environmental concepts and terms (e.g. externalities, public goods, optimal pollution). Economic growth theories for development and poverty concepts are discussed next to sustainability concepts or footprints. Interlinkages between development and environmental issues are clearly identified and analysed. International framework conventions and organisations in charge of both development and environment are briefly introduced.

Selected articles will be provided during the course.

Erwartete Vorkenntnisse: Modules of the first two terms; fair command of English language: the students should have a basic understanding of microeconomic theory. They are free to choose the language – English or German – in the exam.

• Concepts, measures and approaches to evaluate the international competitiveness of sectors in an increasingly globalized world (e.g. Global Competitiveness indices)
• International trade and the impact of standards and labelling on competitiveness of countries
• New institutional economics and its role in strengthening competitiveness
• Case studies from the agro-food and industrial sector.

• Porter, M. E. (1998) On Competitiveness, New York.
• World Economic Forum (Hrsg.) The Global Competitiveness Report, Geneva, published annually.

A list with selected references will be distributed at the beginning of the course.

Die Studierenden sollen zu einem Thema einen 20 minütigen Vortrag halten, der anschließend diskutiert wird. Für die erfolgreiche Teilnahme (Hausarbeit, Vortrag, Teilnahme an der Diskussion) wird ein Schein erteilt.

Wird themenabhängig bekannt gegeben.

Der Termin der Vorbesprechung wird in Stud.IP bekannt gegeben, weitere Informationen werden dort ebenso zur Verfügung gestellt.

Prüferin: Prof. Dr. Grote

The exercise is a supplement to the lecture “International Competitiveness” by addressing and deepening course contents and exploring further perspectives of selected topics. Students apply and discuss theoretical and scientific approaches by means of practical applications. The exercise also aims to promote interaction between students. For this purpose, they jointly assess case studies.

Selected Dates will be announced.

This block course consists of two to three sessions. It is highly recommended to students who aim to write their Bachelor thesis at the Institute of Environmental Economic and World Trade (IUW). In the first part, the students learn about potential topics and meet their tutors. In addition, students learn about

• the formal process from registration to submission of the final thesis.
• their options of writing a scientific literature review, a meta-analysis or doing a thesis with an empirical part.
• How to find, evaluate and use literature efficiently.
• How to find a central topic and suitable title.
• How to formulate research questions and to structure a thesis based on scientific standards.
• Formal requirements of citation, tables, figures etc.
• Scientific writing based on practical examples.
• the process of analyzing data and producing descriptive tables, based on some exercises.

In follow-up sessions in the second part, students have the opportunity to present their outlines and the objectives they pursue with their thesis to their tutors. No credit points are awarded for this course.

In a written assignment, students will review a scientific paper and write a proposal related to a topic of current economic issues related to a comprehensive dataset from Southeast Asia (i.e. the Thailand Vietnam Socio-Economic Panel (TVSEP)). The assignments will be done in small groups. The proposals will need to be presented and defended at the end of the seminar.

The course will provide in-depth knowledge on the design and the organization of surveys for collecting representative household data in emerging market economies; main topics include: sampling design, interview techniques, questionnaire design, data cleaning and use of secondary data.

The course and the exam are in English.

The basic idea of the course »International Business Relations« is to link current topics and issues from development economics to the major International Organizations and Agencies in Development Assistance. Development Organisations generally follow different development strategies and theoretical concepts which are not made apparent in conventional textbooks of development economics. However, it becomes increasingly important to understand such connections. Exploring them will make the agenda and interests of development agencies more transparent and allows those engaged in development activities to better understand the arguments and actions forwarded by these agencies. More in detail, the course will be structured into major current development topics like the effectiveness of development assistance; underdevelopment, poverty, and vulnerability; sustainability, food safety and food security; world food crisis and price fluctuations; globalization and trade, and climate change. These topics have been developed, adjusted and shaped by major socio-economic, institutional and political and environmental trends over time. They were taken up by different international organisations and agencies like the United Nations System, the World Bank, the Regional Development Banks, the World Trade Organisation, the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, private sector organisations including the German Technical Agency (GIZ), or non-governmental organizations. As major objectives of the course, the students will (i) get familiarized with the major players in development assistance, (ii) learn about the development strategies and conceptual theories, and (iii) discover the connection between development strategies of international organisations and their underlying economic and development theories.

The course and the exam are in English.

Simulation models are of high importance for policy-planning, decision-making and scientific analyses. Applications range from business and economy problems to behavioral and impact evaluations. The course provides knowledge about the methodology, design and implementation of different modeling techniques focusing on micro- and macroeconomic simulations. In particular, students deal with the construction and application of optimization, equilibrium, agent-based and econometric models. Hands-on exercises help to familiarize. Finally, students gain useful skills about the GAMS, NetLogo and Stata software. In this way, the course is relevant for business practice, but possibly also for the methodological application in a master thesis.

The course and the exam are in English.

This course will provide guidelines to the students who plan to do their Master’s thesis at the Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade. It will be majorly a block course, with some additional lectures. At the end of the course, we expect the students to have a proposal for their thesis. A proposal should be a one-page document that highlights the research topic, questions, and basic methodology that will be followed by the thesis.

Course structure:

Session 1: Deciding on a thesis topic and guidelines for the course

Thesis areas or topics will be pitched to the students by the IUW team. If students already have an idea, they could also pitch these to the supervisors.

(Pause of 1 to 2 weeks (can be longer), where students will decide on topics and submit these to the institute. If they need assistance, they can talk to the IUW team)

Session 2 to session 4: Understanding and working with data sets

Session 2 – Introduction to datasets and study regions

We can create student groups based on their region of study (SE Asia, Africa).

Session 3 – Introduction to Econometrics and STATA

Session 4 – Basic STATA commands and methods

Session 5 and Session 6: How to write a thesis

We talk about thesis structure, how to find literature, referencing, how to time your progress, give examples of good theses (we will not share any thesis, just give hypothetical examples), and answer student questions. Additionally, guidelines on how to write a proposal will be discussed.

(Pause of 1 to 2 weeks for students to work on proposal)

Session 7: Proposal presentation

The students present their proposal to the IUW team and other students. They can get feedback and also ask questions. This would be optional.

Additional benefits from the course:

1. Work groups – student working on similar topics or datasets can form groups to help each other through the process
2. Group forum – on StudIP, we create a forum, where students can ask questions. This way, other students could also help or if the supervisor answers, it would also be helpful for the other students.

No credit points are awarded for this course. It is highly recommended for Master students who write their thesis at IUW.

Access to energy is the linchpin of industrial production. Yet the energy market itself is not an ordinary commodity market. In this context many questions arise: What drives energy prices on this market? How is trade of energy products regulated and distorted? How do players deal with market imbalances? How do environmental concerns factor in?

This course will provide you with tools to analyse these and other questions linked to energy value chain. With an emphasis on environmental issues we will cover topics surrounding the energy sector like the certification schemes, CO2 trade, national and global institutions, resource management, market power and others.

Selected reading material will be provided.

The course and the exam are in English.

17.10.2023: Room I-442, Building 1501

24.10.2023 - 23.01.2024: Room A003 (Niedersachsensaal), Building 1501

The course focuses on the following four major topics: (1) the economics of pollution (the role of taxes, standards, subsidies, labeling, marketable pollution permits and payments for environmental services); (2) methods for valuing the environment (revealed, imputed and expressed willingness to pay); (3) accounting and integrative methods (footprints, national accounting matrix, life cycle analysis), and (4) the economics of natural resources (renewable and exhaustible resources ; extinction of species).

• Pearce, David and Kerry Turner (1990): Economics of Natural Resources and The Environment. Essex, England.
• Tietenberg, Tom and Lynne Lewis (2012): Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Pearson International Edition, 9th Edition.

Selected articles will be provided during the lecture.

The course and the exam are in English.

The exercise is a supplement to the lecture “Environmental Economics” by addressing and deepening course contents and exploring further perspectives of selected topics. Students apply and discuss theoretical and scientific approaches by means of practical applications. The exercise also aims to promote interaction between students.

The exercise will take place every two weeks 1 ½ hours. Selected Dates will be announced.

Studies and progress reports presented by doctoral students will be critically assessed and discussed.

Interested participants are requested to register at the secretariat of the Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade.

17.10.2023: Room I-112, Building 1501

24.10.2023 - 23.01.2024: Room A003 (Niedersachsensaal), Building 1501

The exercise is a supplement to the lecture “Environmental Economics” by addressing and deepening course contents and exploring further perspectives of selected topics. Students apply and discuss theoretical and scientific approaches by means of practical applications. The exercise also aims to promote interaction between students.

The exercise will take place every two weeks 1 ½ hours. Selected Dates will be announced.

The course focuses on the following four major topics: (1) the economics of pollution (the role of taxes, standards, subsidies, labeling, marketable pollution permits and payments for environmental services); (2) methods for valuing the environment (revealed, imputed and expressed willingness to pay); (3) accounting and integrative methods (footprints, national accounting matrix, life cycle analysis), and (4) the economics of natural resources (renewable and exhaustible resources ; extinction of species).

• Pearce, David and Kerry Turner (1990): Economics of Natural Resources and The Environment. Essex, England.
• Tietenberg, Tom and Lynne Lewis (2012): Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Pearson International Edition, 9th Edition.

Selected articles will be provided during the lecture.

The course and the exam are in English.