Macroeconomic Analysis

•   National Accounts
•   Institutions of monetary/fiscal and wage policy
•   Social and environmental embeddedness and history of macroeconomics
•   Historical and current economic policy controversies and challenges
•   Macroeconomic and political economy modeling
•   International macroeconomics
•   Varieties of capitalism and growth model

Economics - History - Philosophy

•   Fundamentals of European intellectual history and current discourses on economic policy
•   History of economic thought
•   Paradigms of economics
•   Comparative examination of economic and philosophical theories and approaches
•   Multi-perspective consideration of social challenges
•   Highlights of modern economic history

Comparison of Economic and Social Systems

• Comparison of different varieties of capitalism (Varieties of Capitalism, Growth Models)
• Comparative analysis of welfare states, labor market regimes, industrial relations and education systems
• Socio-economic change processes (inequality, technological change, deindustrialization, financialization, globalization) and their political causes and consequences
• Socio-economic dimension of political conflicts

Methods of Socio-Economic Research

• Philosophy of science of economics
•  social ontology
•  Methodological foundations of social sciences
•  Fundamentals of data processing in the social sciences
•  Basics of Econometrics
•  Applied Econometrics

Government and Economy

• Basic objectives and issues of government activity and government finance
• Methods of financial/governmental analysis
• Institutional studies: government revenues and expenditures in the federal system of the Federal Republic of Germany and in Europe
• Multi-paradigmatic impact analysis of government activity and public finances, in particular their implications for distribution policy
• International tax competition, tax evasion and tax avoidance

Inequality - Growth - Ecology

•  Inequality of income and wealth: measurement, causes, consequences and distributional policies
•  Distribution and growth theories
•  Relationship between distribution and growth
•  Ecological economics
•  Methods of inequality research

More detailed information...

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​.…about the basic modules (descriptions of the events and literature references) can be found here.

The current examination regulations for the MA Socio-Economics can be downloaded here (PDF) and the module handbook for the program here (PDF).

Advanced courses for research and/or practice-oriented emphases, e.g., in:

• Labor market and employment
• Advanced macroeconomics and political economy
• Advanced Methods in the Social Sciences
• Globalization and Development
• Econometrics
• Theory and Practice of Public Finance
• Environmental policy and ecological economics
• Inequality research
• Business and management
• Behavioral theory

The Institutes Teaching Collaborations

The Institute for Socio-Economics has agreed on comprehensive teaching cooperations within the Faculty of Social Sciences and with the economics faculties of the University of Duisburg-Essen. This allows students of the MA Socio-Economics to specialize in individual disciplines (Political Science, Sociology, Economics) as well as topic-related specializations across different disciplines in the specialization modules. In addition to the specialization courses offered by the Institute for Socio-Economics, students can optionally take courses from the following Master's programs (some with limited space available):

• M.Sc. Business Administration (MSM): Advanced Macroeconomics, International Financial Markets, Monetary Theory, Monetary Policy, Topics in International Economics, International Economic Organization, Applied Microeconomics, Topics in Labor Economics, Game Theory and its Applications, Behavioral Economics
• M.Sc. in Economics (especially M.Sc. Economics and M.Sc. Markets and Business): Dynamic Macroeconomics, Decision Theory, Empirics of International Money and Financial Markets, Monetary Theory and Policy, (Recent Developments in European Macroeconomics), Tax Law as Part of the Market System, Economic Effects of Taxation in a National Context and others
• M.A. Theory and Comparison: Comparative Politics - 'Political Systems in Changing Modernity' and others
• M.A. Political Management: relevant courses from the orientation module e.g. the seminar Economic Crisis in the Euro Area as well as courses from other modules of the core curriculum
• M.A. IBEP: Global Governance and Development" and "Causes and Dynamics of Violent Conflicts" and others
• M.A. Sociology: seminars in the Work, Occupation, and Organization concentration as well as 'The Sociology of Labor Markets,' 'Transnational Governance,' 'From the Local to the Global Economy: Approaches to Economic Sociology,' and others
• M.A. CEAS/MEAS: Contemporary Challenges of the Economies in East Asia, International Economic Organization, Advanced Industrial Organization, and others.
• M.A. Social Sciences: Module Thematic Fields of Social Science on an economic thematic field
• RUB/UAR: Complexity economics and agent-based modeling, Macroeconomics and sustainability and others

Please note that registration for these courses is done through the Institute for Socio-Economics.

Graduates of the MA Socio-Economics have a wide range of career options open to them. On the one hand, they can already focus on research-oriented courses in the master’s program and prepare for a further academic career. At the same time, the strong application focus of the program opens up numerous options in the fields of politics and administration, political consulting, journalism and media, as well as civil society, associations and NGOs. Valuable contacts can be made in the respective fields during the course of study. Cooperations with universities abroad allow for an additional broadening of horizons and contacts with academics and students abroad.