Teaching

This course offers an introduction into the fundamentals of industrial economics, including, among others, insights into competitive processes, the functioning of markets and entrepreneurial behavior. In addition, possible implications for economic policy are discussed. Various determinants such as market structure, market entry and exit, product differentiation, network effects or uncertainty are examined with regard to their effect on the strategic behavior of firms in order to subsequently answer questions about whether a certain government intervention can improve market outcomes.

(For students enrolled in the Bachelor of Media Economics, the subject is completed as a complex exam together with the subject "Theory of Economic Policy").

For further information on the course, please see the current module board.

Lecture: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Grebel
Exercise: Simon Bruhn, M. Sc.

Moodle course: https://moodle2.tu-ilmenau.de/course/view.php?id=297

This course provides an overview of the current state of the theory of economic policy. Among other things, the normative goals, the carriers as well as the instruments of economic policy are presented. In addition, the potentials and the weaknesses of economic policy in democracies are problematized. The course draws on concepts of microeconomics and macroeconomics as well as on applications of institutional economics, welfare economics, and new political economy.

(The subject is completed as a complex exam together with the subject "Industrial Economics").

For more information on the course, please see the current module board.

Lecture: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Grebel
Exercise: Simon Bruhn, M. Sc.

Moodle-course: https://moodle2.tu-ilmenau.de/course/view.php?id=296

The objective of this course is to prepare students for basic empirical work. It is a hands-on course, where students learn to work with simulated as well as real data. Topics include basic data analysis, data collection, OLS-regression, testing and forecasting. The topics will be aligned to traditional economic research questions as well as to typical questions in media science such as content analysis.

Students will get in touch with software such as Mathematica and Stata and they will acquire the necessary skills to carry out their own empirical research.

For more information on the course, please see the current module board.

Lecture/Exercise: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Grebel and Rohidul Islam, M. Sc.

Moodle-course: https://moodle2.tu-ilmenau.de/course/view.php?id=298

This course offers insights into the real structures of the economy at the international level and into the classical theories of international trade as well as modern foreign trade theory. In addition, the effects, causes and instruments of protectionism are covered and discussed. Students also learn about trade regimes at the European and international level and gain insights into theoretical exchange rate regimes and the European and international monetary regimes.

For more information on the course, please see the current module board.

Lecture: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Grebel
Exercise: Simon Bruhn, M. Sc.

Modle-course: https://moodle2.tu-ilmenau.de/course/view.php?id=301

This course provides an introduction into the theoretical analysis of innovation processes and the models on incentives to process innovation. Adoption, diffusion and imitation processes are examined. Furthermore, path dependencies, common property rights and their effects, arguments for and against governmental measures to promote research and development, instruments of research policy as well as the current political practice in Germany and the European Union will be presented.

For more information on the course, please see the current module board.

Lecture: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Prof. Grebel
Exercise: Rohidul Islam, M. Sc.

Moodle-course: https://moodle2.tu-ilmenau.de/course/view.php?id=300

This is an advanced course in applied econometrics. Empirical tools and concepts of modern econometrics will be discussed. Topics include cross-section, time-series as well as panel-data analysis. The objective is to learn how to work with linear regression, indicator variables, instrument variables, panel-data and other modern concepts. Students will learn to conceptualize and perform empirical analyses using Stata.

For more information on the course, please see the current module board.

Lecture/Exercise: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Grebel and Xijie Zhang, M. A.

Moodle-course: https://moodle2.tu-ilmenau.de/course/view.php?id=879

You can find all information about the Hauptseminar in the course "Hauptseminar / Graduate seminar" and about the Proseminar in the course "Proseminar Industrial Economics" on Moodle.

You can find all information about the proseminar in the course "Proseminar Industrial Economics" on Moodle.

You can find all information about the graduate seminar in the course "Hauptseminar / Graduate seminar" on Moodle.

You are interested in current economic policy problems? You want to analyze your questions scientifically and deal objectively with the topics others only talk about? You want to know more about a topic than what you can find in the media?

In the Department of Economic Policy, the topics are based on the students' own ideas and the research interests of the supervising team member (see individual team members' websites). Generally speaking, topics within the following areas can be the subject of Bachelor and Master theses:

• Economic Policy

• Industrial economics

• Energy economics

• Health economics

• Entrepreneurship

• Economics of Innovation

• Economics of Science

If you are interested in writing a thesis in one of these areas, you can contact us with your topic proposal. Feel free to present your idea to us and we will clarify whether a scientific question can be derived and whether it can be implemented in the context of a Master or Bachelor thesis at our department.

Note: Please also see the guidelines  for the preparation of written scientific papers when writing your thesis.

We provide current topic proposals for Bachelor and Master theses. For more detailed information and literature on the topics, please contact the mentioned supervisor.

Simon Bruhn:

Rohid Islam:

• Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) of climate change

• The economic impacts of climate change

• The impacts of European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) on competitiveness

• The impacts of EU ETS on carbon leakage in European manufacturing

• Carbon tax or ETS

• Climate change induced poverty trap

• Climate change refugees

• Determinant of renewable energy innovation (or environmental innovation)

• Economics of innovation and technological change

Xijie Zhang:

Economics of scientific publishing

• The competition of publishing houses

• The pricing strategy of publishers

• The elasticity of journal subscribers/readers

Economics of reputation

• The relationship between company reputation and revenue

• The relationship between company reputation and price premium

• The composition of the reputation of scientific publishers

The dissemination of knowledge through networks

• The role of networks in the diffusion of innovations

• How do networks form?

Below you will find examples of former topics that have been worked on at the Department of Economic Policy and that might offer an inspiration for your own search of a topic:

• Diversity in founding teams: opportunities and risks

• The “Energiewende”: a competitive advantage for industrial companies in Germany?

• Electromobility as a niche market? - The market for electric cars in Germany as an application field for niche market theories

• The Implementation of the EU Directive on "Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services" (2006/32/EC) in the Residential Sector - an Economic Analysis with a Focus on Germany

• Governmental programs and instruments for the promotion and expansion of electromobility in passenger car transport in Germany 

• Thuringia's support instruments for strengthening the regional economic structure - an analysis using the example of mechanical engineering

• The transformation of print and online daily newspapers in Germany since 1995 

• Access regulation in the German railroad sector - an economic assessment of alternative regulatory regimes 

• Competition between Cable Networks and Telecommunications Networks

• The Liberalization of Long-Distance Bus Services in Germany in 2013 - An Analysis of the Effects of Market Opening on Intermodal Competition between Bus and Rail in Long-Distance Passenger Services 

• European Union Emission Trading System - Environmental Economics, Implementation, Criticism 

• Free Money on the Test Bench - A Macroeconomic Discussion between Silvio Gesell and John Maynard Keyness 

• Substitutability of Conventional Passenger Vehicles by Electrically Powered Passenger Vehicles - A Market Analysis

• Impact of the shale gas revolution on international energy markets 

• Sustainability - the future of the food industry/implementation of the sustainability principle on the German consumer society 

• Theory of meritorical goods - legitimation of state support for art and culture in Thuringia 

• Effects of a nationwide minimum wage in Germany 

• Combined Wages in Germany 

• The Economics of Hollywood 

• Evaluation of the measures and instruments adopted in the Kyoto Protocol to reduce CO2 emissions 

• Functional Diversity in Teams 

• Potential Consequences of a Privatization of the Water Sector in Germany 

• Oil prices modeling and macroeconomic dynamics  Innovation barriers and innovation gains through the digitalization of the sales process using the example of AUDI AG