Giving credit to the research focus of the master program, students will work on a self-study project applying relevant economic theories (Downs´ public choice, welfare approach) including quantitative measures to various major policy fields like monetary and fiscal policy, labor market policy, social policy etc. Students will integrate their findings in a scholarly presentation and a seminar paper.
During the semester, students will learn about and discuss current issues in Japan’s political economy – e.g. recent policy initiatives like Abenomics.
The successful completion of the seminar enables students to
…work out a structured approach to solve the tasks at hand
…get familiar with the application of theories (operationalization, hypothesis building and testing, interpretation of results)
…get to know some basic quantitative tools (regression analysis) and critically evaluate their benefits for their own analysis
…learn how to present complicated materials to a wider audience
…get acquainted with ways of developing, presenting and defending hypotheses
…understand current economic policy issues in Japan |
