In the first lecture dealing with game theory, students learn fundamental mechanisms to explain decision making, attaining a deeper understanding of those economic processes underlying social, political and economic affairs. By the end of the lecture on game theory, students should be able to cope with fundamental advanced microeconomic methods of decision making, analyze complex decision situations by game theoretic approaches, to critically assess microeconomic instruments and methods regarding their appropriateness and outcomes in relation to alternative approaches.

In the second lecture dealing with experimental economics, students get familiarized with experimental methods across different research streams in a reflective way. The students learn the principles of economic experiments and are introduced to different types of experiments and experimental designs. Issues of internal and external validity, the basic steps of conducting economic experiments as well as the analysis of experimental data and reporting of results are core topics of this lecture. By the end of the lecture students will be enabled to develop the skills necessary to critically evaluate experimental research and to understand the opportunities and limits of the experimental research methods.