Institute of Economics

Seminar on Political Economy and Redistribution (Bachelor)/Topics on Political Economy and Redistribution (Master)

This seminar deals with central topics of political economy, with a particular focus on the determinants and consequences of redistribution policy. It examines how political institutions, electoral competition, and power relations shape economic inequality and the design of welfare states, and how contemporary challenges such as populism, globalization, and changing voter preferences affect redistributive outcomes.

Current theoretical and empirical contributions to the field will be presented and discussed as part of the seminar. Students will engage with international research literature, analyze how political systems influence fiscal and social policy, and critically assess competing explanations for inequality and redistribution. The seminar aims to strengthen students’ ability to connect formal models with real-world evidence and to develop their own research questions in this area.

Procedure and dates

Participants are expected to write a seminar paper and deliver a presentation. A preliminary meeting will be held at the beginning of the semester to introduce the specific literature for each topic and to provide guidance on how to prepare the seminar papers and presentations. All admitted students will be informed of the date by email in a timely manner. The seminar is planned to take place as a block seminar in January. Attendance at both the preliminary meeting and the block seminar is mandatory. Students must also complete their registration in the university portal in due time.

Registration modalities

Seminar places are allocated exclusively through the web-based central seminar allocation system of the Department of Economics (WiWi). Please apply using your University of Ulm email address via the following website: http://econ.mathematik.uni-ulm.de:3838/semapps/stud_de/

Valuation

Seminar paper (50% of the final grade)

The seminar paper must be prepared in accordance with the guidelines provided here: https://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/mawi.inst.160/pdf_dokumente/richtlinien_3.3/richtlinien_03.pdf. The paper should be approximately 3,000 words (±10%), excluding the bibliography, list of figures, and list of tables.

Presentation (40% of the final grade)

Each student will present their topic in a 15-minute presentation. Following the presentation, other participants may ask questions and the topic will be discussed together (participation in the discussion = 10% of the final grade). The 10-minute discussion is moderated by the presenter.

The seminar paper and the presentation should preferably be completed in English.