Seminar "Social Contract Lab SS 2017"
Seminar “Basic Income and Social Justice”
(Summer Term 2017)
Prof. Dr. K.J. Bernhard Neumärker
SoCoLab seminar, winner of a University teaching award 2012, deviates from a usual seminar setting. The students after reading the necessary papers and finish the required assignments will be welcomed during class to participate and discuss the elements of the theories and their ideas with Prof. Neumärker and his co-workers. The seminar consists of an introduction, 2 blocked meetings, a day of experiments with the participants, a session for the team experiments, and a concluding session. In the first sessions (Part I), the theoretical foundations are laid, and after the experiment sessions (Part II) follows one session with critical discussion (Part III). The participation in all the classes is obligatory in order to achieve maximum participation and understanding of the subjects. After the classes and the experiments for seminar participants are over, teams are given a sufficient amount of time to develop an experiment on the topic. In the team experiments, the participants are expected to critically reflect on one of the issues/aspects tackled in the seminar. The experiment design formalities and more specific information on the content will be provided to all participants.
The overall grade is the weighted as a sum of all three elements of the seminar with the following weights: Team Experiment and Paper/Report on a Basic Income Experiment: 60%, Assignments: 20%, Class Participation: 20%. The teams will be built, at the latest, after the “Experimental Sessions for Participants”.
Students will receive 6 ECTS credit points upon successful completion of the seminar. The Seminar can be recognized as “Topics in the Economics of Social Justice” for students enrolled in the “M.Sc. Economics” or “M.Sc. VWL” program.
Current Topics and Groups:
Title : Voting and Collective Decision-making under Negative Income Tax (NIT)
Group (3)
Title : How does social mobility influence the public attitude towards an unconditional basic income?
Group (4)
Topic Supervisor: Bianca Blum
Group (5)
Topic Supervisor: Ana Palermo Kuss
Time schedule:
Date | Topic |
25.4.2017 10-12h | Introductory Session |
05.05.2017 9-16h HS 2330 | 3 Two Hour Sessions on Basic Income Theories and Social Contracting |
08.05.2017 9-16h R4 Bismarckalle 22 | 3 Two Hour Sessions on Experimental Logic and Design, and its Application to Social Contracting on Basic Income |
12.05.2017 9-16h HS 2114a | 2 Three Hour Experimental Sessions for Participants |
30.06.2017 8-16h HS 2114a | 1 Two Our Session for the Team Experiments |
11.07.2017 10-12h HS 2330 | 1 Two Hour Feedback Session on Critical Discussion of the Theoretical Underpinnings and Experimental Outcomes |
For registration, the registration period begins on 03.02.2017 and students are requested to send an e-mail to “matthew.bonick@vwl.uni-freiburg.de” before 25.04.2016. The latest date for registration is the “Introductory Session”. The seminar is on a first come first serve basis. In the email please send: surname, name, matriculation code, course of study and semester.