Seminar (Summer term 25): Empirical research project: How strongly do firms react to corporate tax cuts?

Description: An empirical research project will be carried out together with members of the chair. The seminar begins with an introduction to relevant methodological principles and a hands-on introduction to empirical work in practice. The seminar includes the conceptualisation of a research project, data preparation and data analysis and the writing of the research paper. There are regular project group meetings with members of the department. The focus is on the question of whether and to what extent corporate tax cuts change the behaviour of companies. The data basis is comprehensive balance sheet information on companies in Europe.

Organisation: The first meeting will take place on Monday, 7 April at 8:30 am in room STA 1. The seminar will be held in German.

You can either register for the seminar by e-mail at the chair or after the first meeting. If you have any questions, please contact nadine.riedel@wiwi.uni-muenster.de.

Seminar (Summer Term 2025): FDI and Development (Topics in Policy Evaluation)

Description: Multinational enterprises are at the centre of policy debates in low- and middle-income countries. As some of the most productive and innovative firms in the world, which are at the core of global supply chains, multinational enterprises (MNEs) can accelerate development in the countries hosting them, both directly with their presence, and indirectly through linkages to local economic actors. At the same time, when MNEs operate in lower-income countries, they are often blamed for environmental degradation (especially in extractive sectors), crowding out productive local firms, undermining good governance, and having lax labour standards.

In this seminar, we  review the effects of MNEs  on lower-income economies. Specifically, we examine

• how MNEs affect labor markets, in particular wages, employment and labor standards;
• how MNEs affect domestic firms through supplier/buyer relationships and technology spillovers; 
• the effects of MNEs on the environment;
• and the role of multinationals in sectors devoted to natural resource extraction.

Prerequisites: The seminar exposes participants to academic work at the current research frontier. It is particularly suited for students with a strong background and interest in empirical microeconomics.

Organisation: Interested students can register for the seminar until  March 15 by sending an email to tobias.boehm@uni-muenster.de. If the seminar is oversubscribed, preference is given to students with a strong background in empirical microeconomics.  An introductory meeting takes place in the beginning of April. To obtain credits, participants have to write a seminar paper (15-20 pages) and give a presentation (presumably around mid June).

In case of any question, please feel free to send an email to tobias.boehm@uni-muenster.de.

Seminar (Summer Term 2025): Independent Research on Tax Policy

Description: The aim of this seminar is to give students first-hand experience in independent academic research. Students will be assigned - based on their interest - to one of two groups. Group 1 will write a policy paper that aims to provide policymakers with a comprehensive perspective on what we know from the theoretical and empirical acedemic literature on the effect of certain tax policy instruments on economic activity and to formulate policy implications mthat follow from the academic insights. The second group of students writes a scientific paper targeted to an academic audience. The paper will be empirical in nature and will assess the effect of tax policy on firm and/or household behaviour. 

Organisation: If you are interested in this seminar, please join us for the first meeting on Tuesday, April 8 at 8.30am in STA 2. 

In case of any questions, do not hesitate to contact us under nadine.riedel@wiwi.uni-muenster.de.