Seminar in Business Economics - 10 ECTS

A seminar in Business Economics has several objectives. First and foremost it provides an opportunity for the student under guidance of a supervisor to practice how to design and provide analytical work on specific well delineated scientific problems. The main focus in a seminar must originate from one or more areas of business economics presented in the compulsory courses of the profile. The selected areas of business economics needed to maintain this focus must be further elaborated by the inclusion of related and supplementary scientific literature compared to the syllabus for these compulsory courses. The selected problems can be both theoretical investigations and managerial problems and cases. If the chosen focus relates to a specific empirical contexts then the student may base the analysis using either first hand (own data collection) or second hand data (e.g. supplied from databases or companies).

The student must independently, with counselling from a supervisor, study, analyze and disseminate a well-delineated scientific problem that lies within the focus area of the particular MSc in Economics and Business Administration profile. The study/project may be in the form of an analysis of a specific topic, a literature review of related topics or an empirical study.

The student should:

• Search for, read, and apply scientifically based knowledge relevant for the selected problem. 
• Independently identify and select a theoretical basis, which either expands or elaborates upon the knowledge that has been attained in the compulsory courses of the profile. 
• Describe, explain and analyze important elements contained in the selected theory and relate these to each other and to the concrete problem. 

• Select, analyze and structure a problem that is relevant for the competence profile. 
• Account for the relevance of the problem and identify research questions. 
• Undertake a reasoned choice of methods for solving the problem (in the case of a literature review, describe and motivate the method used to select and synthesize the literature included). 

• Reflect on the implications of the choices taken. 
• Present the result of the analysis in a report adhering to academic standards. 

Chosen by the student and approved by the supervisor.