Few economic policy measures have been as controversial in recent years as the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States or the attempt to establish a semiconductor industry in Germany—industrial policy measures in response to a multitude of economic, political and social changes and crises. In this seminar, students will take an in-depth look at the positive and negative effects of industrial policy measures from an economic perspective. The seminar will begin with a definition and delimitation of the term industrial policy, as well as a discussion of theoretical arguments for and against industrial policy measures. Over the course of the semester, students will then intensively examine a scientific study assigned to them that empirically analyses the effects of a specific industrial policy measure. The studies discussed will examine, for example, the effects of state funding for basic research, the effects of temporary import duties as protection for newly developing domestic industries, or the effects of comprehensive tax breaks. Students will write a term paper on the topic of the assigned study and present their most important findings to the other participants at the end of the semester.

After participating in the seminar, students will be able to:

• understand and analyze a current topic
• to independently develop a research topic based on a literature search
• to conceive, plan and carry out a scientific work
• to present and defend interim results