"Structural change" describes the lasting change in the importance of individual economic sectors for economic performance. Structural change results from the different growth rates of individual sectors and can be attributed, for example, to globalisation, technological progress or a changed demand structure. The consequences of structural change affect not only economic performance, but all economic variables, such as the distribution of the labour force across individual economic sectors and the regional distribution of economic activity.
A special focus of the seminar is on the decline and transformation of industrial regions. We will analyse both historical and modern developments in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of structural change. We will mainly rely on empirical studies dealing with the long-term effects of early industrialisation and the decline of industrial employment. In addition, more recent developments, such as the effects of automation technologies, will also be a topic of the seminar.
 

Participants will familiarise themselves with current literature on the subject area of the seminar. In the accompanying exercise "Scientific work", the formal and conceptual basics for writing a scientific paper are dealt with. The course thus prepares students for writing their Bachelor's thesis in terms of content and methodology.