Economics and Economic Ethics

Faculty of Business Management and Social Sciences

Version 19.0 of 11/26/2021

22B1513

Economics and Economic Ethics

Wirtschaftspsychologie (B.Sc.)

3

This course equips students with the competencies to reflect on the central question of what it means for a business to pursue success in a way that can be ethically justified. Students will learn about basic economic and ethical theories that enable them to critically assess the role and responsibilities of profit-oriented businesses within a modern market economy.

• Homo oeconomicus, competition and the invisible hand theorem
• Welfare and market failure in neoclassical economics
• GDP and the business cycle
• economic growth and distribution
• climate change and sustainable development
• justice and efficiency
• business ethical points of view
• business ethics applied

Knowledge Broadening
Students are familiar with the ethical point of view and with the dominant interpretation of the workings of a market economy.
Knowledge Deepening
Students are aware of the inherently controversial nature of ethical judgments and understand the most important lines of ethical reasoning. They understand the welfare-conducive nature of competitive markets without overlooking their ethical shortcomings. They have a differentiated understanding of the value of the homo oeconomicus axiom in the light of its mixed empirical merits.
Instrumental Skills and Competences
Students can employ their differentiated knowledge of ethical and economic theories in order to systematically analyze conflicts of competing demands that businesses are typically faced with. They are able to provide reasoned strategies to deal with such dilemmas in a responsible way.
Communicative Skills and Competences
Students can provide differentiated explanations of what is at stake in specific cases of competing ethical demands on businesses. They are able to justify or adjust their point of view against objections.
Systemic Skills and Competences
Students are able to analyze and assess business and societal challenges with respect to criteria of business success and of ethical legitimacy simultaneously.

Literature study, group discussions, lectures, exercises

none

Hirata, Johannes

• Hirata, Johannes
• Mayer, Peter

5

Ariely, Dan (2008): Predictably irrational. The hidden forces that shape our decisions. New York: HarperCollins. Bowles, Samuel (2016): The Moral Economy. Why good incentives are no substitute for good citizens. New Haven: Yale University Press.Chang, Ha-Joon (2015): Economics. The User's Guide. New York: Bloomsbury Press.Garriga, Elisabet; Melé, Domènec (2004): Corporate Social Responsibility Theories. Mapping the Territory. In: Journal of Business Ethics 53 (1/2), pp. 51–71.Krugman, Paul R.; Wells, Robin (most recent edition): Economics. Fifth edition. New York: Worth Publishers Macmillan Learning.Sen, Amartya K. (1999): Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Smith, N. Craig; Rönnegard, David (2016): Shareholder Primacy, Corporate Social Responsibility, and the Role of Business Schools. In: J Bus Ethics 134, pp. 463–478. The Core Team (most recent edition): The Economy. Economics for a Changing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Ulrich, Peter (2008): Integrative Economic Ethics: foundations of a civilized market economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Ulrich, Peter; Maak, Thomas (2000): Business Ethics: The Founding Principles. In: European Business Forum 1 (3), pp. 19–23.

• Two-Hour Written Examination
• Portfolio exam

Portfolio examination with a total of 100 points, consisting of two written exams of one hour each with 50 points each.

1 Term

Winter and Summer Term

English