Prof. Dr. Uwe Cantner

Final exam (ca. 60 %), presentation or take-homes or mid term exams (ca. 40 %). The decision on the chosen form of examination is made at the beginning of the course in consultation with the students, considering the organizational framework conditions. The exact weighting of the individual assessments will be announced at the beginning of the course.

Both parts need to be passed individually and the final grade is the weighted sum of individual grades. If students need to repeat the exam, a passed part need not to be retaken.

English

Basic knowledge in microeconomics

684 M.Sc. Economics: Pflichtmodul / Wahlpflichtmodul

149 M.A. Soziologie, 050 M.Sc. Geographie, 276 M.Sc. Wirtschaftsmathematik: Wahlpflichtmodul

Lecture (2h per week), Exercise (2h per week)

After a short discussion on the basic concepts of Economics of Innovation, the course introduces and discusses the Incentive-based Innovation Theory on the one hand and the Knowledge-based Economics of Innovation on the other. By means of the incentive-based approach it can be shown up to which point the innovation phenomena can be incorporated into the neoclassical framework. Within the knowledge-based approach innovative activities are considered as trial and error behavior which explicitly takes into account problem solving behavior under strong uncertainty innovative activities face as well as the resulting characteristic development arising out of this. Both theoretical conceptions allow discussing the intensity as well as the direction of technological change and innovative activities.

Students have knowledge of abstract models of the innovation process and know the basic factors that influence the decision to innovate. They are able to understand, explain and interpret fundamental microeconomic models of innovation. They are able to explain the differences between the incentive-based and the knowledge-based approach and to discuss the advantages and shortcomings of each, depending on the research question.