Political Violence and Conflict - Detailseite

Course Content: The course explores the modern empirical study of political violence, coupling in-depth readings with a weekly replication of empirical findings in R. Our substantive focus is on the definition, causes, mitigants and consequences of violent political action. We will focus on the more recent academic literature, covering a variety of empirical methods including observational statistical analyses, quasi-experiments and field experiments. The class has a slight focus on violence in low-income countries, though other cases will also be discussed. The course material will assess some of the most pressing questions in the study of political violence: What types of violence do we observe and when do we call them “political?” Why is violence motivated on ethnic or religious grounds? How do violent groups ensure loyalty within their ranks? What are the human consequences of violence, specifically with regard to sexual assault? How can violence be mitigated? To tackle these questions, each week we consult influential academic papers drawing on works primarily in political science and economics. The course will be accompanied with an R tutorial where we replicate one paper per week, giving students hands-on experience in coding and replication. Students should have a good working knowledge of statistics and be willing to learn R. This course is co-taught with Prof. Anselm Hager. #BIM Berliner Institut für empirische Integrations- und Migrationsforschung

Learning objective: Students gain knowledge of recent advances in migration economics, particularly applied empirical analyses in the intersection of migration, economic development, political economy and labor economics with a focus on migration based changes in preferences, norms, and values in host and home communities. They are able to critically evaluate research on these topics and assess strengths and weaknesses of causal claims in economics papers. Students are equipped to present papers in an academic setting and replicate seminal papers. The students are able to identify gaps in the literature and develop research proposals that are empirically sound and add to the body of work in migration economics and political economy in a meaningful way.

Preconditions: The module “Econometric Methods” and a working knowledge of standard statistical methods or equivalent is strongly recommended. Students should have a working knowledge of statistics and be prepared to engage with R programming.

Ungraded work performance: Preparation of referee reports and problem sets.

StO/PO MA 2016: 6 LP, Modul: "Political Violence and Conflict"

StO/PO MEMS 2016: 6 LP, Modul: "Political Violence and Conflict", Major: Macroeconomics

Portfolio exam: The first assignment is to draft referee reports for several research papers (each about 500 words). The second assignment is to give one or several presentations on one research paper, a paper critique, as well as an empirical replication of a seminal paper. The third assignment is to draft an original research proposal (about 2,500 words). The final grade will be given/will be awarded for the portfolio of all three assignments.

SoSe 2025: Note! Binding exam registration via AGNES already until April 25th 2025.

adv. MA/Ph.D.