Summer Term
Seminars
Prof. Dr. Christian Cordes
Seminar: every year
ECTS: 9
Language: english
Learning outcomes:
A naturalistic approach to economics explains economic phenomena as a dimension of cultural evolution based on and influenced as well as constrained by humans’ evolved cognitive dispositions. These include cultural learning capabilities, biases taking effect therein, and affective facets of human behavior. Our naturalistic approach applies formal models of cultural evolution theory to depict regularities in human behavior and relates these to various economic settings. Such a scientific endeavor is necessarily interdisciplinary in nature. We collaborate with anthropologists and draw on insights from social psychology, cognitive psychology, evolutionary biology, and behavioral sciences. This enhanced perspective on human economic behavior is applied to the theory of the firm, evolving corporate cultures, human behavior in organizations in general, industry evolution, technological diffusion, consumption behaviors, normative aspects of evolutionary economics, sustainability issues, and conceptual-methodological problems of evolutionary ideas imported to economics.
Seminar: every year
ECTS: 6
Language: english
Learning outcomes:
This lecture will dwell on the determinants of human behavior in organizational contexts. To do so, it takes an interdisciplinary perspective on human cognition and motivation. The students will be able to criticize the behavioral assumptions of standard approaches in economics. Moreover, they will be capable of enhancing these concepts by drawing on insights from other disciplines, such as cognitive psychology, evolutionary biology, or anthropology. Finally, a behaviorally more encompassing description of human behavior including prosocial inclinations is provided.
IERP-Seminar
ECTS: 3
Language: english
In this seminar you will find a series of presentations given by PhD students and other researchers (e.g., Post-docs and “Habilitanden”) in business studies and economics from Bremen University.
In addition, it provides a stage to discuss key research articles from various areas or disciplines.
The seminar is open to anyone interested.
Seminar: every year
ECTS: 6
Language: English
Learning Objectives/Competencies: This module introduces students to foundational concepts in innovation economics within the context of digitalization. It explores the economic frameworks used to understand the emergence and development of transformative digital technologies, exemplified by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students will engage with key principles of digital innovation, including the dynamics of disruptive technologies, the role of data and automation, and the societal implications of digital advancements. AI serves as a primary example, offering insights into specific concepts like machine learning (e.g., supervised and unsupervised learning) and the intersections of AI with other digital technologies. In addition to examining the economic and empirical approaches used to identify and measure digital innovations, students will discuss digital technologies' role in shaping political and social landscapes, including potential risks like surveillance and privacy issues. By the end of the course, students will gain a nuanced understanding of the challenges associated with digitalization-related empirical research, the distinct characteristics of AI as a pivotal digital technology, and essential concepts needed to pursue studies in innovation within the digital economy.