Business Ethics

Trust is good, lawyer is better - is the motto of a law office in Augsburg. The year 2022 shows me that this is not true. Our business world experiences fundamental changes. Contracts, hard facts and scientific prognoses, precise calculations, theories and methods of ecomomics became often unreliable. What we need is not more science but more ethics, i.e. more reflection about what is good and just, what is a good life. In times of disruption and instability we have to ask fundametal questions.
In this course we want to focus on fundamental questions, the ethical principles of business and discuss what could be the basis of business in future.

M1 Financial Market Decisions

"Financial Market Decisions" is a 6 ECTS/4 contact hours mandatory module in the first semester of our International Business and Finance master programme. Students understand the essentials of mathematical decision theory as well as the psychological aspects of market participant behavior. They critically reflect the concepts for performance and risk measurement which are used to support decision taking in financial markets. They understand how to implement the concepts with real market data in the programming language R.

We will have face-2-face classroom sessions on Mondays in the afternoon (2 to 5 pm) and virtual meetings in Zoom on Wednesday mornings from 8 to 9.30 am. For details please refer to the syllabus.

Your grade will be determined by a final exam before Christmas. Bonus points (in total up to 50%) towards the final exam may be earned via

  • DataCamp certificates for online self-study (20%) - each 4- to 5-hour certificate contribute 2 percentage points, the three introductory courses contribute 1 percentage point,
  • a research paper on a historical case of market failure (20%) and
  • the presentation of your paper (10%) in December.
Datacamp certificates are due on January 15th. Due date for the seminar paper ist December 23rd, for the presentation slides December 18th (prior to the presentation).


M2 Business Ethics and Corporate Governance - Part: Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance is the legal and factual framework for the management and supervision of a company. Incomplete contracts and differing interests principally provide opportunities for stakeholders as well as motives for opportunistic behavior. In this course we will discuss principles on corporate governance that have the task of restricting the leeway and motivations of the actors for opportunistic behavior through appropriate  arrangements.


M4 Financial Economics, Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy / WS 2022/2023

Topics: In this class, we will look at financial economics from a microeconomic as well as a macroeconomic perspective. Furthermore, we will discuss policies related to financial economics issues. Regarding the microeconomic aspects of financial economics, we will address questions such as: What are the functions of financial systems? Which problems could arise and how can those be addressed? How do firms, institutions and regulatory agencies try to ensure that the financial system works? Why is the regulation of financial systems so important? With respect to the macroeconomic aspects of financial economics, we will address questions such as: How does monetary policy work and how does monetary policy impact financial markets and the economy? What are the effects of monetary policy tools such as quantitative easing? What kind of exchange rate system should a country chose and what are the consequences for monetary policy? In terms of policies related to financial markets, we will address questions such as: What are important institutions in the international financial system? Why can a financial crisis occur and what could be measures to deal with a financial crisis? Should central banks pursue green monetary policy? What are current pressing issues regarding global financial stability and by which policies can such problems be addressed?

Date: Wednesdays, 09:50-13:00

Room: W 3.05

Assessment and contribution to module mark: written exam

Credits: 4 SWS / 6 CPs

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Maria Lehner


Presentation Semester Abroad