Department of Economics

The Department of Economis belongs to the Faculty of Economics and Social Science and offers three priorities in research and teaching: Macro Economics, Micro Economics and Public Economics. Furthermore, there is an affiliated Center for Regional Economic Development as well as a Centre for Research in Economics of Education.

Short History

In the initial years of the University of Bern (founded in 1834) economics were part of the formation of lawyers. Over time economics increasingly gained weight, and from 1912 an specialized degree in economics could be gained (Dr. rer. pol. and lic. rer. pol.). With the University law of 1954 the importance of economics was acknowledged by renaming the faculty into Faculty of Law and Economics. In 1963 an independent Institute of Economics was founded.
The ways of law and economics have definitely been separated when today's Faculty of Economics and Social Science was founded in 2001.