Stefan Pichler: Catalogue data in Spring Semester 2016

Name Dr. Stefan Pichler
URLhttps://sites.google.com/site/stefanpichler85/
DepartmentManagement, Technology, and Economics
RelationshipLecturer

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
363-0570-00LPrinciples of Econometrics
Prerequisites: previous knowledge in economics.
3 credits2GJ.‑E. Sturm, S. Pichler
AbstractThis econometrics course focuses on regression analysis. It covers fundamental methods of cross-sectional, time series, and panel data analysis.
ObjectiveThis course provides an introduction to fundamental econometric methods. An equal emphasis is placed both on theoretical understanding and on applying methods to real-world problems.
ContentThis course is intended for students who are interested in econometrics and have already taken introductory course in economics (e.g. the course "Principles of Macroeconomics". Econometrics stands for the application of some specific statistical methods to the field of economics. In econometrics, the starting point is a theoretical model explaining some aspect of the economy. This model is compared with the available statistical facts about the economy. Econometrics uses statistical tests to tackle various questions, including: How well or badly does the model fit the observed facts? Does any other available model fit them any better? In any model, how large is the estimate of the effects of one variable on any other, and how reliable is the estimate? How far into the future, and with what degree of reliability, can the model predict any variable of interest?
LiteratureWooldridge, Jeffrey M. (2016), Introductory Econometrics : A Modern Approach, 6th Edition. ISBN 130527010X | 9781305270107
860-0013-00LPolitical Economics
Prerequisite: An introductory course in Economics is required to sign up for this course.
3 credits2VJ.‑E. Sturm, S. Pichler
AbstractThis course takes incentives of politicians into account to form a better understanding of the formation of policy and the role of different political institutions in shaping economic policy.
ObjectiveIn principles courses of economics, the functioning of markets and ways in which the government can shape and influence are discussed. The implicit assumption thereby is that the government will act in the interest of society at large. This course takes incentives of politicians into account to thereby form a better understanding of the formation of policy and the role of different political institutions in shaping economic policy. The course will consist of three blocks. In the first, the basic issues and the tools of modelling political equilibria will be discussed. These will subsequently be used to look into redistributive policies. The focus thereby is on how the interplay between democratic institutions and self-seeking individuals, lobby groups, and parties determines the degree of redistribution in a society. By taking also intertemporal issues into account, the third part allows us to analyse public debt levels, pensions, capital taxation and economic growth.
Prerequisites / NoticeAn introductory course in Economics is required to sign up for this course.