how to write a master thesis economics

134 Economics Thesis Topics: Ideas for Outstanding Writing

Writing a thesis is not an easy task. For most of the students, it can be even intimidating, especially when you do not know where to start your research.

Here, we have provided an economics thesis topics list. After all, everyone knows that choosing the right idea is crucial when writing an academic paper. In economics, it can combine history, math, social studies, politics, and numerous other subjects. You should also have solid foundations and a sound factual basis for a thesis. Without these elements, you won’t be able to master your research paper.

The issue is:

It is not always clear what could be seen as an excellent economics thesis topic. Our experts can assist you with this challenge. This list contains some outstanding examples to get you started.

• ⭐ Thesis in Economics
• 🔥 Supreme Thesis Topics
• 👍 Bachelor’s Thesis
• 😲 Master’s Thesis

📊 Microeconomics

📈 macroeconomics.

• 🤔 Developmental
• 👨‍💼 Behavioral
• 💼 Financial
• 🌱 Agricultural
• 🤝‍ Sociology
• 📚 Ph.D. Topics
• 📝 How to Pick a Topic

⭐ What Does a Thesis in Economics Look Like?

A good thesis in economics is a blend between an empirical paper and a theoretical one. One of the essential steps in choosing a topic in economics is to decide which one you will write.

You may write, research, analyze statistical data and other information. Or build and study a specific economic model.

Or why not both!

Here are some questions you can ask when deciding what topic to choose:

• What has already been written on this topic?
• What economic variables will my paper study?
• Where should I look for the data?
• What econometrics techniques should I use?
• What type of model will I study?

The best way to understand what type of research you have to do is to write a thesis proposal. You will most probably be required to submit it anyway. Your thesis supervisor will examine your ideas, methods, list of secondary and primary sources. At some universities, the proposal will be graded.

After you get the initial feedback, you will have a clear idea of what to adjust before writing your thesis. Only then, you’ll be able to start.

🔥 Supreme Economics Thesis Topics List

• Fast fashion in India.
• The UK housing prices.
• Brexit and European trade.
• Behavioral economics.
• Healthcare macroeconomics.
• COVID-19’s economic impact.
• Global gender wage gap.
• Commodity dependence in Africa.
• International trade – developing countries.
• Climate change and business development.

👍 Economics Bachelor’s Thesis Topics

At the U.S. Universities, an undergraduate thesis is very uncommon. However, it depends on the Department Policy.

The biggest challenge with the Bachelor’s Thesis in economics concerns its originality. Even though you are not required to conduct entirely unique research, you have to lack redundant ideas.

You can easily avoid making this mistake by simply choosing one of these topics. Also, consider visiting IvyPanda essays database. It’s a perfect palce to conduct a brainstorming session and come up with fresh ideas for a paper, as well as get tons of inspiration.

• The impact of the oil industry on the economic development of Nigeria. The oil industry is vital for the economic development of Nigeria. In this thesis, students can discuss the notion of the resource curse. Analyze the reasons why general people are not benefiting from the oil industry. Why did it produce very little change in the social and economic growth of the country?
• Sports Marketing and Advertising: the impact it has on the consumers.
• Economic opportunities and challenges of investing in Kenya .
• Economic Development in the Tourism Industry in Africa. Since the early 1990s, tourism significantly contributed to the economic growth of African countries. In this thesis, students can talk about the characteristics of the tourist sector in Africa. Or elaborate on specific countries and how their national development plans look like.
• Globalization and its significance to business worldwide .
• Economic risks connected to investing in Turkey .
• The decline in employment rates as the biggest American economy challenge .
• The economics of alcohol abuse problems. In this thesis, students can develop several essential issues. First, they can examine how poverty is connected to alcohol abuse. Second, they can see the link between alcohol consumption and productivity. To sum up, students can elaborate on the economic costs of alcohol abuse.
• Causes and solutions for unemployment in Great Britain.
• Parallel perspective on Global Economic Order: China and America. This thesis can bring a comparative analysis of the economies to a new level. China and The US are the world’s two largest economies. These two countries have a significant impact on the global economic order. So, looking at the set of institutions, policies, rules can be constructive.
• The new international economic order after COVID-19
• Financial stability of the banking sector in China.
• New Electronic Payment Services in Russia.
• The influence of culture on different entrepreneurial behaviors.
• The impact of natural cultural practices on entrepreneurial activity.
• The relationships between national culture and individual behavior.
• The main reasons for salary inequalities in different parts of the U.S.

😲 Economics Master’s Thesis Topics

Student life can be fascinating, but it comes with its challenges. One of which is selecting your Master’s thesis topic.

Here is a list of topics for a Master’s thesis in economics. Are you pursuing MPhil in Economics and writing a thesis? Use the following ideas as an inspiration for that. They can also be helpful if you are working on a Master’s thesis in financial economics.

• The impact of visual aid in teaching home economics.
• The effect of income changes in consumer behaviors in America.
• Forces behind socio-economic inequalities in the United States. This thesis can explore three critical factors for socio-economic differences in the United States. In the past 30 years, social disparities increased in the United States. Some of the main reasons are technology, trade, and institutions.
• The relationships between economic growth and international development.
• Technological innovations and their influence on green and environmental products.
• The economics of non-solar renewable energy .

• The economic consequences of terrorism . Terrorism not only takes away lives and destroys property but also widely affects the economy. It creates uncertainty in the market, increases insurance claims, slows down investment projects, and tourism. This thesis can address all of the ways in which terrorism can affect economies.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) implementation in the Oil and Gas Industry in Africa.
• Use of incentives in behavioral economics.
• Economic opportunities and challenges of sustainable communities .
• Economics of nuclear power plants.
• Aid and financial help for emerging markets. This topic is very versatile. Students can look at both the positive and the adverse effects that funding has on the development. There are plenty of excellent examples. Besides, some theories call international help a form of neocolonialism.
• Multinational firms impact on economic growth in America .
• The effect of natural disasters on economic development in Asia.
• The influence of globalization on emerging markets and economic development.

📑 More Economics Thesis Topics: Theme

For some students, it makes more sense to center their search around a certain subject. Sometimes you have an econ area that interests you. You may have an idea about what you want to write, but you did not decide what it will be.

If that’s the case with you, then these economics thesis topics ideas are for you.

• An analysis of the energy market in Russia.
• The impact of game theory on economic development.
• The connection between minimum wage and market equilibrium.
• Gender differences in the labor market in the United States. This topic can shed light on gender differences in the labor market in the United States. In the past years, the overall inequality in labor in the markets decreased. However, there is still a lot of work that can be done.
• Economic reasons that influence the prices of oil .
• Relationship between the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient.
• Challenges of small businesses in the market economy.
• The changes in oil prices: causes and solutions . Universal economic principles do not always apply to the sale and purchase of the oil. The same happens with its cost. In the thesis, talk about what affects the prices. What are the solutions that can be implemented?
• The economic analysis of the impact of immigration on the American economy.

• Economic inequality as a result of globalization . Economic inequality becomes even more apparent on the global level. There is a common belief that globalization is the cause of that. Discuss what can be the solutions to these problems. This topic is vital to minimize the gap between the rich and the poor.
• The economic explanation of political dishonesty .
• Effect of Increasing Interest rates costs in Africa .
• The connection between game theory and microeconomics.
• Marketing uses in microeconomics.
• Financial liability in human-made environmental disasters.
• Banks and their role in the economy. Banks are crucial elements of any economy, and this topic covers why. You can explain how banks allow the goods and services to be exchanged. Talk about why banks are so essential for economic growth and stability.
• Inflation in the US and ways to reduce its impact.
• The connection between politics and economics.
• Income Dynamics and demographic economics.
• US Market Liquidity and macroeconomics.
• Macroeconomics and self-correction of the economy .
• The American economy, monetary policy, and monopolies .
• The importance of control in macroeconomics. One of the central topics in macroeconomics is grouped around the issue of control. It is quite reasonable that control over money and resources should become a topic of discussion.
• Analysis of Africa’s macroeconomics and its performance.
• Economics of education in developing markets.
• Problems and possible solutions for Japan macroeconomics .
• Comparative analysis of British macroeconomics concerning the US .
• Public policies and socio-economic disparities.
• The world problems through macroeconomic analysis. Indeed, macroeconomics is very complicated. There are many influences, details, and intricacies in it. However, it allows economists to use this complex set of tools to examine the world’s leading problems today.

• The connection between employment interest and money.

🤔 Development Economics

• Economics of development . This topic is very rich in content. First, explain what it is. Then pay particular attention to domestic and international policies that affect development, income distribution, and economic growth.
• The relation between development and incentive for migration.
• The impact of natural disasters on the economy and political stability of emerging markets.
• The economic consequences of population growth in developing countries.
• The role of industrialization in developing countries . The industrialization has been connected with the development. It promotes capital formation and catalyzes economic growth in emerging markets. In this thesis, you can talk about this correlation.
• Latin American economic development.
• Gender inequality and socio-economic development .
• Problems of tax and taxation in connection with economic growth.
• The economic impact of terrorism on developing markets.
• Religious decline as a key to economic development. Not everyone knows, but a lot of research has been done in the past years on the topic. It argues that decreased religious activity is connected with increased economic growth. This topic is quite controversial. Students who decide to write about it should be extra careful and polite.

👨‍💼 Behavioral Economics

• Risk Preferences in Rural South Africa.
• Behavioral Economics and Finance .
• Applied behavioral economics in marketing strategies. If you want to focus your attention on marketing, this topic is for you. Behavioral economics provides a peculiar lens to look at marketing strategies. It allows marketers to identify common behaviors and adapt their marketing strategies.
• The impact of behavioral finance on investment decisions.
• Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs in North Texas.
• Guidelines for Behavioral Economics in Healthcare Sector.
• Cognitive and behavioral theories in economics .
• Cross-cultural consumer behavior and marketing communication. Consumers are not only affected by personal characteristics, but also by the culture they are living in. This topic focuses on the extent it should determine marketing strategy and communication.
• Behavior implications of wealth and inequality.

• Optimism and pessimism for future behavior.

💼 Financial Economics

• Financial Economics for Infrastructure and Fiscal Policy .
• The use of the economic concept of human capital. Students can focus on the dichotomy between human and nonhuman capital. Many economists believe that human capital is the most crucial of all. Some approach this issue differently. Therefore, students should do their research and find where they stand on this issue.
• The analysis of the global financial crisis of 2020s. Share your thoughts, predictions, ideas. Analyze the economic situation that affects almost everyone in the world. This thesis topic will be fresh and original. It can help to start a good and fruitful conversation.
• The big data economic challenges for Volvo car.
• The connection between finance, economics, and accounting.
• Financial economics: Banks competition in the UK .
• Risk-Taking by mutual funds as a response to incentives.
• Managerial economics and financial accounting as a basis for business decisions.
• Stock market overreaction.

🌱 Agricultural Economics

• Agricultural economics and agribusiness.
• The vulnerability of agricultural business in African countries.
• Agricultural economics and environmental considerations of biofuels .
• Farmer’s contribution to agricultural social capital.
• Agricultural and resource economics. Agricultural and resource economics plays a huge role in development. They are subdivided into four main characteristics which in this topic, students can talk about: – mineral and energy resources; – soil resources, water resources; – biological resources. One or even all of them can be a focus of the thesis.
• Water as an economic good in irrigated agriculture.
• Agriculture in the economic development of Iran.
• The US Agricultural Food Policy and Production .
• Pesticides usage on agricultural products in California.

• An analysis of economic efficiency in agriculture. A lot of research has been done on the question of economic efficiency in agriculture. However, it does not mean there is no place for your study. You have to read a lot of secondary sources to see where your arguments can fit.

🤝‍Economic Sociology

• Theory, approach, and method in economics sociology.
• Economic sociology of capitalism. While economists believe in the positive effect capitalism has on the economy, the social effect is quite different. The “economic” part of the issue has been studied a lot. However, the sociology of it has been not. This thesis can be very intriguing to read.
• Political Economy and Economic Sociology.
• Gender and economic sociology .
• Progress, sociology, and economics.
• Data analysis in economics, sociology, environment .
• Economic sociology as a way to understand the human mind.
• Economic sociology of money.
• Economics, sociology, and psychology of security.
• Major principles of economic sociology. In the past decade, economic sociology became an increasingly popular field. Mainly due to it giving a new view on economics, human mind, and behavior. Besides, it explores relationships between politics, law, culture, and gender.

📚 The List of Ph.D. Topics in Economics

If you decide to go to grad school to do your Masters, you will likely end up getting a Ph.D. as well. So, with this plan in mind, think about a field that interests you enough during your Masters. Working with the same topic for both graduate degrees is easier and more effective.

This list of Ph.D. Topics in Economics can help you identify the areas you can work on.

• Occupational injuries in Pakistan and its effect on the economy. Injuries are the leading cause of the global burden of disability. Globally, Pakistan was ranked 9th populated country with a large number of unskilled workers. In this dissertation, consider the link between occupational injuries and their effects on the economy.
• The study of the Philippines’ economic development.

• Financial derivatives and climate change .
• Econometric Analysis of Financial Markets.
• Islamic Banking and Financial Markets .
• Health economics and policy in the UK.
• Health insurance: rationale and economic justification. In this dissertation, students can find different ways to explain and justify health insurance. Starting to philosophical to purely economic grounds. In the past years, there was a lot of discussion regarding the healthcare system for all. What are some of the economic benefits of that?
• Colombian economy, economic growth, and inequality.
• Benefits of mergers and acquisitions in agribusiness.
• Methods to measure financial risks when investing in Africa.
• The significance of financial economics in understanding the relationship between a country’s GDP and NDP.
• Network effects in cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are not new anymore. However, it is still an original subject for a dissertation. Students can decide to choose several crypto coins and evaluate the importance of the network effect. This effect is particularly significant for Bitcoin. Explain why.
• The comparison of the Chinese growth model with the American growth model.
• An economic justification versus political expediency.
• Pollution Externalities Role in Management Economics .

📝 How to Select an Economics Thesis Topic

As your academic journey is coming to an end, it’s time to pick the right topic for your thesis. The whole academic life you were preparing to undertake this challenge.

Here is the list of six points that will help you to select an economics thesis topic:

• Make sure it is something you are genuinely interested in. It is incredibly challenging to write something engaging if you are not interested in the topic. So, choose wisely and chose what excites you.
• Draw inspiration from the previous student’s projects. A great place to start is by looking at what the previous students wrote. You can find some fresh ideas and a general direction.
• Ask your thesis advisor for his feedback. Most probably, your thesis advisor supervised many students before. They can be a great help too because they know how to assess papers. Before meeting with your professor, do some basic research, and understand what topic is about.
• Be original, but not too much. You do not want to spend your time writing about a project that many people wrote about. Your readers will not be interested in reading it, but your professors as well. However, make sure you do not pick anything too obscure. It will leave you with no secondary sources.
• Choose a narrow and specific topic. Not only will it allow you to be more original, but also to master a topic. When the issue is too broad, there is just too much information to cover in one thesis.
• Go interdisciplinary. If you find yourself interested in history, philosophy, or any other related topic, it can help you write an exceptional thesis in economics. Most of your peers may work on pure economics. Then, the interdisciplinary approach can help you to stand out among them.

Thank you for reading the article to the end! We hope this list of economics thesis topics ideas could help you to gather your thoughts and get inspired. Share it with those who may find it useful. Let us know what you think about it in the comment section below.

🔗 References

• Economics Thesis Topics List: Seminars Only
• How To Pick A Topic For Your Economics Research Project Or Master’s Thesis: INOMICS, The Site for Economists
• What Do Theses and Dissertations Look Like: KU Writing Center, the University of Kansas
• Writing Economics: Robert Neugeboren with Mireille Jacobson, University of Harvard
• Economics Ph.D. Theses: Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School, IDEAS_RePEc
• World Economic Situation and Prospects 2018: United Nations
• Undergraduate Honors Theses: Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
• Economics Department Dissertations Collection: Economics Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Topics for Master Theses: Department of Economics, NHH, Norwegian School of Economics
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The dilemma I faced in getting Thesis proposal for my M Phil programme is taken away. Your article would be a useful guide to many more students.Thank you for your guidance.

Thanks for the feedback, John! Your opinion is very important for us!

I wants it for msc thesis

These are very helpful and concise research topics which I have spent days surfing the internet to get all this while. Thanks for making research life experience easier for me. Keep this good work up.

Thank you, Idris!

Glad to hear that! Thank you for your feedback, Idris!

Excellent research

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A very well written, clear and easy-to-read article. It was highly helpful. Thank you!

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How to write a masters dissertation or thesis: top tips.

It is completely normal to find the idea of writing a masters thesis or dissertation slightly daunting, even for students who have written one before at undergraduate level. Though, don’t feel put off by the idea. You’ll have plenty of time to complete it, and plenty of support from your supervisor and peers.

One of the main challenges that students face is putting their ideas and findings into words. Writing is a skill in itself, but with the right advice, you’ll find it much easier to get into the flow of writing your masters thesis or dissertation.

We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on how to write a dissertation or thesis for your masters degree, with top tips to consider at each stage in the process.

1. Understand your dissertation (or thesis) topic

There are slight differences between theses and dissertations , although both require a high standard of writing skill and knowledge in your topic. They are also formatted very similarly.

At first, writing a masters thesis can feel like running a 100m race – the course feels very quick and like there is not as much time for thinking! However, you’ll usually have a summer semester dedicated to completing your dissertation – giving plenty of time and space to write a strong academic piece.

By comparison, writing a PhD thesis can feel like running a marathon, working on the same topic for 3-4 years can be laborious. But in many ways, the approach to both of these tasks is quite similar.

Before writing your masters dissertation, get to know your research topic inside out. Not only will understanding your topic help you conduct better research, it will also help you write better dissertation content.

Also consider the main purpose of your dissertation. You are writing to put forward a theory or unique research angle – so make your purpose clear in your writing.

Top writing tip: when researching your topic, look out for specific terms and writing patterns used by other academics. It is likely that there will be a lot of jargon and important themes across research papers in your chosen dissertation topic. 

2. Structure your dissertation or thesis

Writing a thesis is a unique experience and there is no general consensus on what the best way to structure it is. 

As a postgraduate student , you’ll probably decide what kind of structure suits your research project best after consultation with your supervisor. You’ll also have a chance to look at previous masters students’ theses in your university library.

To some extent, all postgraduate dissertations are unique. Though they almost always consist of chapters. The number of chapters you cover will vary depending on the research. 

A masters dissertation or thesis organised into chapters would typically look like this: 

Write down your structure and use these as headings that you’ll write for later on.

Top writing tip : ease each chapter together with a paragraph that links the end of a chapter to the start of a new chapter. For example, you could say something along the lines of “in the next section, these findings are evaluated in more detail”. This makes it easier for the reader to understand each chapter and helps your writing flow better.

3. Write up your literature review

One of the best places to start when writing your masters dissertation is with the literature review. This involves researching and evaluating existing academic literature in order to identify any gaps for your own research.

Many students prefer to write the literature review chapter first, as this is where several of the underpinning theories and concepts exist. This section helps set the stage for the rest of your dissertation, and will help inform the writing of your other dissertation chapters.

What to include in your literature review

The literature review chapter is more than just a summary of existing research, it is an evaluation of how this research has informed your own unique research.

Demonstrate how the different pieces of research fit together. Are there overlapping theories? Are there disagreements between researchers?

Highlight the gap in the research. This is key, as a dissertation is mostly about developing your own unique research. Is there an unexplored avenue of research? Has existing research failed to disprove a particular theory?

Back up your methodology. Demonstrate why your methodology is appropriate by discussing where it has been used successfully in other research.

4. Write up your research

Your research is the heart and soul of your dissertation. Conducting your actual research is a whole other topic in itself, but it’s important to consider that your research design will heavily influence the way you write your final dissertation.

For instance, a more theoretical-based research topic might encompass more writing from a philosophical perspective. Qualitative data might require a lot more evaluation and discussion than quantitative research. 

Methodology chapter

The methodology chapter is all about how you carried out your research and which specific techniques you used to gather data. You should write about broader methodological approaches (e.g. qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), and then go into more detail about your chosen data collection strategy. 

Data collection strategies include things like interviews, questionnaires, surveys, content analyses, discourse analyses and many more.

Data analysis and findings chapters

The data analysis or findings chapter should cover what you actually discovered during your research project. It should be detailed, specific and objective (don’t worry, you’ll have time for evaluation later on in your dissertation)

Write up your findings in a way that is easy to understand. For example, if you have a lot of numerical data, this could be easier to digest in tables.

This will make it easier for you to dive into some deeper analysis in later chapters. Remember, the reader will refer back to your data analysis section to cross-reference your later evaluations against your actual findings – so presenting your data in a simple manner is beneficial.

Think about how you can segment your data into categories. For instance, it can be useful to segment interview transcripts by interviewee. 

Top writing tip : write up notes on how you might phrase a certain part of the research. This will help bring the best out of your writing. There is nothing worse than when you think of the perfect way to phrase something and then you completely forget it.

5. Discuss and evaluate

Once you’ve presented your findings, it’s time to evaluate and discuss them.

It might feel difficult to differentiate between your findings and discussion sections, because you are essentially talking about the same data. The easiest way to remember the difference is that your findings simply present the data, whereas your discussion tells the story of this data.

Your evaluation breaks the story down, explaining the key findings, what went well and what didn’t go so well.

In your discussion chapter, you’ll have chance to expand on the results from your findings section. For example, explain what certain numbers mean and draw relationships between different pieces of data.

Top writing tip: don’t be afraid to point out the shortcomings of your research. You will receive higher marks for writing objectively. For example, if you didn’t receive as many interview responses as expected, evaluate how this has impacted your research and findings. Don’t let your ego get in the way!

6. Write your introduction

Your introduction sets the scene for the rest of your masters dissertation. You might be wondering why writing an introduction isn't at the start of our step-by-step list, and that’s because many students write this chapter last.

Here’s what your introduction chapter should cover:

Problem statement

Research question

Significance of your research

This tells the reader what you’ll be researching as well as its importance. You’ll have a good idea of what to include here from your original dissertation proposal , though it’s fairly common for research to change once it gets started.

Writing or at least revisiting this section last can be really helpful, since you’ll have a more well-rounded view of what your research actually covers once it has been completed and written up.

Masters dissertation writing tips

When to start writing your thesis or dissertation.

When you should start writing your masters thesis or dissertation depends on the scope of the research project and the duration of your course. In some cases, your research project may be relatively short and you may not be able to write much of your thesis before completing the project. 

But regardless of the nature of your research project and of the scope of your course, you should start writing your thesis or at least some of its sections as early as possible, and there are a number of good reasons for this:

Academic writing is about practice, not talent. The first steps of writing your dissertation will help you get into the swing of your project. Write early to help you prepare in good time.

Write things as you do them. This is a good way to keep your dissertation full of fresh ideas and ensure that you don’t forget valuable information.

The first draft is never perfect. Give yourself time to edit and improve your dissertation. It’s likely that you’ll need to make at least one or two more drafts before your final submission.

Writing early on will help you stay motivated when writing all subsequent drafts.

Thinking and writing are very connected. As you write, new ideas and concepts will come to mind. So writing early on is a great way to generate new ideas.

How to improve your writing skills

The best way of improving your dissertation or thesis writing skills is to:

 Finish the first draft of your masters thesis as early as possible and send it to your supervisor for revision. Your supervisor will correct your draft and point out any writing errors. This process will be repeated a few times which will help you recognise and correct writing mistakes yourself as time progresses.

If you are not a native English speaker, it may be useful to ask your English friends to read a part of your thesis and warn you about any recurring writing mistakes. Read our section on English language support for more advice. 

Most universities have writing centres that offer writing courses and other kinds of support for postgraduate students. Attending these courses may help you improve your writing and meet other postgraduate students with whom you will be able to discuss what constitutes a well-written thesis.

Read academic articles and search for writing resources on the internet. This will help you adopt an academic writing style, which will eventually become effortless with practice.

Keep track of your bibliography 

When studying for your masters dissertation, you will need to develop an efficient way of organising your bibliography – this will prevent you from getting lost in large piles of data that you’ll need to write your dissertation. 

The easiest way to keep the track of all the articles you have read for your research is to create a database where you can summarise each article/chapter into a few most important bullet points to help you remember their content. 

Another useful tool for doing this effectively is to learn how to use specific reference management software (RMS) such as EndNote. RMS is relatively simple to use and saves a lot of time when it comes to organising your bibliography. This may come in very handy, especially if your reference section is suspiciously missing two hours before you need to submit your dissertation! 

Avoid accidental plagiarism

Plagiarism may cost you your postgraduate degree and it is important that you consciously avoid it when writing your thesis or dissertation. 

Occasionally, postgraduate students commit plagiarism unintentionally. This can happen when sections are copy and pasted from journal articles they are citing instead of simply rephrasing them. Whenever you are presenting information from another academic source, make sure you reference the source and avoid writing the statement exactly as it is written in the original paper.

What kind of format should your thesis have?

Read your university’s guidelines before you actually start writing your thesis so you don’t have to waste time changing the format further down the line. However in general, most universities will require you to use 1.5-2 line spacing, font size 12 for text, and to print your thesis on A4 paper. These formatting guidelines may not necessarily result in the most aesthetically appealing thesis, however beauty is not always practical, and a nice looking thesis can be a more tiring reading experience for your postgrad examiner .

When should I submit my thesis?

The length of time it takes to complete your MSc or MA thesis will vary from student to student. This is because people work at different speeds, projects vary in difficulty, and some projects encounter more problems than others. 

Obviously, you should submit your MSc thesis or MA thesis when it is finished! Every university will say in its regulations that it is the student who must decide when it is ready to submit. 

However, your supervisor will advise you whether your work is ready and you should take their advice on this. If your supervisor says that your work is not ready, then it is probably unwise to submit it. Usually your supervisor will read your final thesis or dissertation draft and will let you know what’s required before submitting your final draft.

Set yourself a target for completion. This will help you stay on track and avoid falling behind. You may also only have funding for the year, so it is important to ensure you submit your dissertation before the deadline – and also ensure you don’t miss out on your graduation ceremony ! 

To set your target date, work backwards from the final completion and submission date, and aim to have your final draft completed at least three months before that final date.

Don’t leave your submission until the last minute – submit your work in good time before the final deadline. Consider what else you’ll have going on around that time. Are you moving back home? Do you have a holiday? Do you have other plans?

If you need to have finished by the end of June to be able to go to a graduation ceremony in July, then you should leave a suitable amount of time for this. You can build this into your dissertation project planning at the start of your research.

It is important to remember that handing in your thesis or dissertation is not the end of your masters program . There will be a period of time of one to three months between the time you submit and your final day. Some courses may even require a viva to discuss your research project, though this is more common at PhD level . 

If you have passed, you will need to make arrangements for the thesis to be properly bound and resubmitted, which will take a week or two. You may also have minor corrections to make to the work, which could take up to a month or so. This means that you need to allow a period of at least three months between submitting your thesis and the time when your program will be completely finished. Of course, it is also possible you may be asked after the viva to do more work on your thesis and resubmit it before the examiners will agree to award the degree – so there may be an even longer time period before you have finished.

How do I submit the MA or MSc dissertation?

Most universities will have a clear procedure for submitting a masters dissertation. Some universities require your ‘intention to submit’. This notifies them that you are ready to submit and allows the university to appoint an external examiner.

This normally has to be completed at least three months before the date on which you think you will be ready to submit.

When your MA or MSc dissertation is ready, you will have to print several copies and have them bound. The number of copies varies between universities, but the university usually requires three – one for each of the examiners and one for your supervisor.

However, you will need one more copy – for yourself! These copies must be softbound, not hardbound. The theses you see on the library shelves will be bound in an impressive hardback cover, but you can only get your work bound like this once you have passed. 

You should submit your dissertation or thesis for examination in soft paper or card covers, and your university will give you detailed guidance on how it should be bound. They will also recommend places where you can get the work done.

The next stage is to hand in your work, in the way and to the place that is indicated in your university’s regulations. All you can do then is sit and wait for the examination – but submitting your thesis is often a time of great relief and celebration!

Some universities only require a digital submission, where you upload your dissertation as a file through their online submission system.

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Economics Department

Writing a thesis.

Introduction Choosing a topic and an advisor Reviewing relevant literature Collecting data Creating results Finishing the thesis Revisions

Introduction

Approaching a senior thesis in any major can be an intimidating prospect. However, like most large tasks, the thesis is much more manageable if you take it one step at a time and rely on your advisors to lead you in productive directions. The Economics Department tries very hard to support thesis students in their research and writing. The mid-year mini-orals and the early deadlines for first chapter and first draft all encourage seniors to make steady progress through the thesis year.

In some ways, economics is a particularly intimidating field in which to contemplate a thesis because much of the research literature that you read as an undergraduate makes use of mathematical tools that you are probably barely familiar with and not comfortable using on your own. Most seniors feel as though they are not capable of undertaking research at this level. But writing a senior thesis is quite a different task than getting a research paper published. Although a few economics theses have used the kind of sophisticated mathematical or econometric tools that are common in the journals, most seniors rely entirely on techniques that are learned in Reed's theory and econometrics courses.

What is a senior thesis? You may want to look at some economics theses in the library to get an idea for the scope of projects that recent seniors have undertaken. There is a lot of variation in Reed senior theses, but successful ones are nearly always based on a central question that the author attempts to answer: the thesis of the thesis. Investigating this question may lead you to review the research of others, to synthesize others' work in new ways, or to conduct theoretical or empirical research on your own. Sometimes the outcome of a thesis can be a detailed proposal for further research that the author thinks would provide a better answer than is available at present. In its most basic form, your thesis should be an argument, using tools, research and reasoning appropriate to the field of economics, in response to the central question you have chosen to investigate.

Producing a thesis can be broken down into a series of stages, as outlined below. Each stage involves a substantial amount of work and, to some degree, must be completed before the following stages can proceed. Steady progress throughout the year is crucial to a successful thesis. Students who achieve the benchmarks for progress set by the department and their advisors are usually able to minimize the amount of stress arising at the second-semester deadlines.

Choosing a topic and a thesis advisor

Selecting a good thesis topic is the first step in a successful thesis project. You will be devoting much of your energy over a nine-month period to studying this topic, so it is important to choose an area in which your interest is likely to be sustained through this lengthy research process.

Once you have selected the general area of your research, the choice of the thesis advisor is often obvious. If there is a member of the faculty with expertise in that area, that person should normally advise your thesis. However, many theses are very general or are specialized in areas outside the interests of the faculty. In cases where there is no obvious choice of advisor based on the subject of the thesis, you should request an advisor with whom you are comfortable working and whose advice you respect. Economics majors are asked to express a preference for a thesis advisor. However, if the advising load is excessively unbalanced in a particular year, some students may be asked to work with an advisor other than their first choice. In such cases, the department's decisions about who should be asked to change advisors will be guided mainly by thesis topics and the ability of alternative faculty to provide good advice.

Within your area of interest, the most crucial issue is doability. A major cause of disappointment and frustration for seniors is choosing a thesis topic on which it is difficult to make progress, either because the question is so large that they cannot manage it or because the question/topic cannot be easily investigating using the tools that they command.

While you are the best authority on your own areas of interest, you will have to rely on the faculty, and especially on your advisor, to help you find a specific thesis topic that you can complete on time with the resources that are available at Reed. Specific, focused topics are almost always better than highly general or vague ones. Questions like "How can we reduce water pollution?" or "What determines the rate of technological progress?" are so broad that an adequate answer could not fit into a senior thesis. However, within those general areas the faculty can help guide you to one of many doable theses.

Reviewing relevant literature

All scholars in economics build on the shoulders of others. The first step of your thesis research is to search broadly and deeply to find out what others have discovered about your question and related questions. There are many resources available at Reed to help you with this search. The first is your thesis advisor and other members of the faculty, who may be able to point you to prominent pieces of research that bear on your thesis.

Each of these papers will contain citations to earlier work on related topics. Other references can be found be searching for appropriate keywords in EconLit, which indexes all economics books and journals, or one of the public-affairs or newspaper indexes. These indexes are available online through the Reed Library website. If you cast your net broadly at the beginning, you are less likely to be surprised at the end to find that someone else has done research that diminishes the impact or credibility of your own work.

As you begin reading for your thesis, you should also begin writing. A thesis is usually a much larger project than a course paper and the strategy that has worked well for you on course papers may not work as well for the thesis. Many students write course papers in two discrete stages: the research (input) stage and the writing (output) stage. In the input stage you cram everything that you learn from your reading and research into your brain, then in the output stage you spew it back out in the form of a paper. Since most course papers are written in a couple of weeks and encompass a relatively small body of input, this strategy is often satisfactory. However, the thesis is written over nine months and many students read hundreds of articles and books in the early stages of research. This is too much information and too long a time for your brain to be able to keep track of all the input and save it up until you get to the end and begin outputting.

A better strategy is to begin writing the thesis the same day you begin reading for it. Keep detailed notes on everything you read, including full bibliographic information in the appropriate format. Reed has software available to help you keep a database of references. (Be very sure that your notes distinguish between the author's words and your own. Plagiarism can arise inadvertently if a student uses in the thesis a passage from his or her notes without realizing that it was a near-exact quotation copied into the notes months earlier.) Photocopy all passages you think you might want to quote and any tables that contain useful data. The notes you make as you read can be the basis of your literature-review chapter, which is the first piece of your thesis.

Collecting data (if needed)

If you are doing a thesis that requires empirical data, one of your biggest obstacles is likely to be assembling your data base. Since you cannot proceed with your econometric work until your data are in place, the prompt completion of your data collection is of critical importance. It is important to recognize that data collection is subject to the "90/10 Rule. Ninety percent of the time you spend obtaining data will be devoted to ten percent of the data series. Much of what you need is likely to be easily available through standard published or electronic sources. But there will be other data series for which you will have to search extensively and some you may not ever find. Do not be fooled by the ease with which you obtain the first series; there are almost always snags.

The first step in data collection is to compile a wish list. You should consider the characteristics of the data that are most desirable for your study: the frequency of observation and whether you are looking for aggregate or disaggregated data. List all of the variables that you think you might need. If you have doubts about the availability of some variables up front, formulate strategies for doing without them in case you cannot obtain them.

Once you have your list, start collecting numbers and entering them into your computer data base. Your advisor and other faculty members can probably guide you to sources of data that are relevant to your topic. For other sources, you may need to rely on the data resources discussed earlier in this chapter. The economics librarian can also be a highly useful source of further information.

Generating results

Once you have reviewed the relevant literature and collected the data you need for any empirical work you plan to do, you are ready to get down to the central task of research: generating results. The way that you achieve these results depends entirely on the research methodology you and your advisor have chosen. It may involve theoretical reasoning using economic models, combining and/or comparing the results of others, interpreting numerical data, estimating coefficients and testing hypotheses using econometric methods, or conducting experiments.

About all that can be said in general about the process of generating results is that some aspects of the results are very likely to surprise you. Solutions of theoretical models, regression results, and experimental outcomes usually do not end up exactly as you envisioned them at the beginning. If these results arrive just a few days before the draft of your thesis is due, you are unlikely to have time to develop a satisfactory explanation for them or to conduct the additional research that would resolve them. At a bare minimum, you should plan to have all of your results generated two weeks before the first draft of your thesis is due. This will give you at least a little time to reflect on and refine them in the completed thesis.

Finishing the thesis

The last stage of preparing your thesis draft is the formulation of your conclusions and the preparation of the thesis draft itself. In the euphoria and exhaustion of having completed their research, many students devote too little time to this important step. At this stage, you turn all the work you did during the year into a coherent argument, starting with your central question, explaining how your work builds of that of others toward an answer, describing and interpreting your results, then summing everything up with your conclusions.

Because much of your thesis will have been written months earlier, it is important to leave a week or so before the first draft is due to reread the entire thesis and make sure that the pieces fit together. The argument should flow naturally from a statement of the question to a discussion of the contribution of others to a description of your own research to your formulation of an answer. Each piece should advance the argument, following from the previous piece and leading to the next one. If a section does not relate to the overall argument of your thesis, it should not be in the thesis.

Finally, you need to deal with issues of formatting. The Reed Senior Handbook will give you the basic guidelines for format and spacing. Make sure that your references and citations are in an acceptable and consistent format. Sequence the numbers of your chapters, sections, figures, and tables appropriately. Then make two copies and turn them in to the faculty secretary in Vollum 112 before the first-draft deadline.

Regardless of how good the first draft of your thesis is, your advisor and first-draft reader will probably have extensive comments and suggestions for revision. Arguments that seem clear to you may not be as readable to someone else. Moreover, there may be flaws in empirical work or theoretical arguments that are not apparent until the entire thesis is read in proper sequence. It is not unusual for advisors to have extensive additional comments on the completed draft, even if they have already seen each chapter before.

At the revision stage, it is important to make sure that you understand exactly what your readers mean by each comment. As soon as your advisor and first-draft reader tell you that they have finished their reading, you should pick up your thesis and read through their comments. You should then meet with each of them (separately or together) to discuss the thesis and clarify what revisions they expect. Remember that these are the individuals who are responsible for assigning the thesis grade. It is to your benefit to understand and fulfill their expectations about revisions.

Master's Thesis

The master's thesis is a major research project that is conducted under the supervision of a member of the department. The completed thesis must be presented and successfully defended in an oral examination administered by a formal thesis committee. Thesis credit is awarded when a final draft is approved by the thesis committee. It is important to note that a master's thesis must contain original work and cannot be submitted as a paper in other courses.

Learn more about the master's thesis

2022-2023 Master's Theses

Yunru Bai: "The Impact of Urbanization on Health Outcomes using Evidence from China" Advisor: Jeff Zabel

Sudarshan Bashyal: "Birth Year Environment and Adult Life Outcomes for Females: Evidence from Nepal" Advisor: Adam Storeygard

Yunning (Kevin) Cao: "Agricultural Adaptations and Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer" Advisor: Ujjayant Chakravorty

Mingsong Chen: "Heterogeneous Impact of Temperature Shocks: Are Urban Areas More Resilient?“ Advisor: Ujjayant Chakravorty

John Luigi Dela Pena*: "Impact of Logging Bans in Deforestation: Evidence from the Vietnam-Laos Boarder“ Advisor: Ujjayant Chakravorty

Fatimah Faisal: "The Impact of a Cash Windfall on Women's Empowerment in India" Advisor: Cynthia Kinnan

Ruodong He: "The 2018 Trade Ware and U.S. Local Labor Markets" Advisor: Federico Esposito

Nan Jiang: “Local Fiscal Multipliers in China" Advisor: ChaeWon Baek

Tiantian Ji: "Heterogeneous Effects of Stay-at-Home (SAH) Orders on Labor Market Outcomes over Different Age Groups" Advisor: ChaeWon Baek

Sanjana Kadyan: "Environmental Policy Uncertainty and Investment Behavior in Sustainable Financial Markets" Advisor: Alan Finkelstein Shapiro

Ibrahim Kilic: "The Effects of Strategic Alliances on Airline On-Time Performance: Evidence from U.S. Domestic Travel" Advisor: Silke Forbes

Taoran Liu: "Political Connection and Regional Development in China" Advisor: Enrico Spolaore

Jiayin Liu: "Role of Public Preference Polarization in Determining Government Delay" Advisor: Enrico Spolaore

Qi Peng: "The Relationship Between Financial Literacy and Households' Savings Rate" Advisor: Marcelo Bianconi

Kwok Wai So: "News Media Consumption and Political Ideology" Advisor: Enrico Spolaore

Shengbin Wei*: "Essays in Political Interactions" Advisor: Yannis Ioannides and Enrico Spolaore

Li (Dereck) Yang: "The Asset-Pricing Implications of Policy Uncertainty" Advisor: Federico Esposito

Yifan Yang: "Does the Chinese Carbon Trading Policy Achieve It's Goals?" Advisor: Ujjayant Chakravorty

Zhizhen Zhao: "The Impact of Mixed Ownership Reform on the Wage Cap in State-Owned Enterprises" Advisor: Silke Forbes

Ziqi Zhou: "The Effect of Household Registration (Hukou) System on Mobility Choices and Housing Demand in China" Advisor: Yannis Ioannides

Jie Zhou*: "Withhold Release Orders, Firm Behavior Regarding Compliance on Forced Labor and Business Outcomes in the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry" Advisor: Drusilla Brown

Yanlin (Sebastian) Zhu: "The Association of Emotions and Public Goods Contribution" Advisor: Laura Gee

* Linda Datcher Loury Award Recipient

Browse Course Material

Course info, instructors.

• Prof. Esther Duflo
• Prof. Benjamin Olken

Departments

As taught in.

• Developmental Economics
• Microeconomics

Learning Resource Types

Development economics, research proposal.

The maximum length of the write-up should be 3 pages single-spaced (but less is fine). The goal of this research proposal is to give you a “jump start” on working on a topic that you could (ideally) work on for your second-year paper (or a future paper for your dissertation). If you are in the second year, it is okay for you to talk about the topic that you will be working on for your second-year paper. It should be development though… (but as you know development is a big tent). 

You can co-author the proposal with any student(s) in the program. However, we would like to  see as many proposals as people in the class. 

Note that the deadline is the last possible date that we are allowed to accept assignments under end  of term regulations, so we will not be able to provide extensions. Please therefore budget your time wisely. 

The proposal should include 

•  A clear statement of your research question       
• Brief motivation of your research question       a. Why is this question important?        b. What is the policy implication?        c. What (if any) economic theory it is testing? 
• (Short) Review of the relevant theoretical and/or empirical literature. 
• Description of your proposed empirical strategy and proposed (realistic) data sources.        a. You can propose an RCT where you’d collect the data, as long as it is realistic for a PhD student (not necessarily in the scope of a second year paper).        b. If you project is empirical, write-out clearly and in detail what are the proposed        regression specifications.  
• Clear discussion of your contribution to the prior literature.       
• Clear discussion of what challenges you expect to encounter. 

Think of this project as the shell of a research paper that contains everything but your findings: you will motivate the question; place it in the literature; and lay out your data sources (if any) and your research design. We do not expect to see any preliminary results (for empirical papers) or fully fledged model (for theory paper).

You are leaving MIT OpenCourseWare

Master thesis in Economics

Wondering how to get started on your thesis? This is your guide from A to Z covering important information and formal requirements. In addition you will find writing resources and information meant to inspire you when choosing a topic. 

Important dates

• See deadlines that apply to you

How do I choose a topic?

• Advice on getting started
• Research subjects at the Department of Economics
• Academic staff and their research areas
• Scholarships at the Department of Economics
• Find a project at the Science Shop
• Osloforskning

How do I find a supervisor and write a project plan?

• How to find a supervisor
• Contract of supervision
• Ethical guidelines for supervisors at UiO
• Project plan

Library resources

• Academic writing centre
• Search & Write
• Subject page for economics
• Book a librarian
• Previously submitted theses (DUO)

Formal requirements

• Data protection

How do I hand in my thesis?

• Submission in DUO
• Submission in Inspera
• Postpone submission

How is my thesis assessed?

• Grading guidelines
• Examination

Do you have questions?

• Undergraduate
• Student information
• Econ info for students
• Economics Department Information

Senior Honors Thesis Information

Students interested in writing a senior honors thesis in economics are invited to attend an information session on Wednesday, April 24th. Bernard Salanie and Susan Elmes will provide general information about the application and selection process. Current thesis writers will share their experiences writing a thesis. This event is open to all students who are considering a thesis including freshmen and undeclared students. This event is in-person only. If you cannot make the information session then you should review the information posted on the Honors and Prizes Page (see Senior Thesis section) at Honors and Prizes | Columbia | Economics

Senior Thesis Information Session Wednesday, April 24th 6:10 PM – 7:10 PM 1027 IAB

Students are also encouraged to submit a preliminary proposal for a senior thesis by May 17 to get feedback on their proposed project before the summer. The preliminary proposal form is posted on the wiki page. The information session will also include guidance on how to complete the preliminary proposal form.

RSVP for the Information Session at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5g588aJJRQRgoTyYp_pxp2dVfnWw0yn6g1GtVxeuLyHqucg/viewform?usp=sf_link

1022 International Affairs Building (IAB)

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420 West 118th Street

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Home > Academics > Master's Programmes > Master in Economics > The Best Master Thesis in Economics

The Best Master Thesis in Economics

Academic year 2022-2023, academic year 2021-2022, academic year 2020-2021, academic year 2019-2020, academic year 2018-2019, academic year 2017-2018.

• Academic Year 2016-2017

Academic Year 2015-2016

Academic year 2014-2015.

Impact of conflicts on the underground drug economy in Aghanistan (PDF, 764 Ko) Antoine POL under the direction of Golvine de Rochambeau , Assistant Professor  of Economics at Sciences Po.

The case of win-win bilateral slot swapping between ECAC area competing airlines (PDF, 951 Ko)  Hugo BARRAS under the direction of   Marleen Marra , Assistant Professor of Economics at Sciences Po.

Do Banks Help Build? Evidence from the 19th century US (PDF, 2,7 Mo) Martin BERNSTEIN under the direction of Moritz Schularick , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po & Clement de Chaisemartin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po, ERC Project REALLYCREDIBLE, NBER Faculty Research Fellow, J-PAL Affiliated Professor.

Heterogeneous firms and Sudden Stops: insights from Chile (PDF, 835 Ko) Natalia CARDENAS FRIAS under the direction of Xavier Ragot , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po et President of the OFCE.

Structural cost and network effects in a decentralized network: The case of Mastodon platform (PDF, 290 Ko) Mathias DACHERT under the direction of Michele Fioretti ,  Assistant Professor of Economics at Sciences Po.

Age-Earnings Profiles in China (PDF, 1,4 Mo) Fangqi DING under the direction of Moshe Buchinsky , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po.

Natural and Financial Crises: Do Natural Disasters Increase The Risk Of Financial Crises? (PDF, 701 Ko) Daniel FICHMANN under the direction of Moritz Schularick , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po.

Intergenerational mobility in Mauritius (PDF, 889 Ko) Jeteesha FOOLLEE under the direction of Roberto Galbiati , Professor (CNRS), CEPR Research Fellow, ANR Project SOSELF.

The merits of boarding (PDF, 2,3 Mo) Alexandre GRELLET under the direction of Clement de Chaisemartin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po, ERC Project REALLYCREDIBLE, NBER Faculty Research Fellow , J-PAL Affiliated Professor.

Causal Effect of Studying Ancient Languages on Overall School Performance: Evidence from French Data (PDF, 2,1 Mo) Anthony KUYU under the direction of Clement de Chaisemartin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po, ERC Project REALLYCREDIBLE, NBER Faculty Research Fellow , J-PAL Affiliated Professor.

Holes in the ceiling! Dividend elasticities and tax avoidance in light of the ceiling mechanism of the French wealth tax (PDF, 1,9 Mo) Elvin LE POUHAËR under the direction of Lucas Chancel , Associate Professor at Sciences Po.

Consequences of Colonial Rule on Health Outcomes in India (PDF, 1,2 Mo) Kunal PANDA under the direction of Emeric Henry , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po, ANR Project SOSELF, CEPR Research Fellow.

A good year to bury bad loans? Uncovering liquidity in the market for non-performing loans (PDF, 1.12 Mo) Nathaniel Butler Blondel under the direction of Guillaume Plantin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po &  Maximilian Fandl of the Macroprudential Division at the European Central Bank

Mobility of French teachers in secondary education: modelisation and estimation of a dynamic centralised matching market (PDF, 1.37 Mo) Antoine Chapel under the direction of Jean-Marc Robin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po & Alfred Galichon , Professor of Economics at New York University

The Drivers of Social and Individual Environmental Behaviour (PDF, 1.82 Mo) Sidonie Commarmond under the direction of Emeric Henry , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po & Roberto Galbiati , CNRS Professor (DR) at Sciences Po

Weighted Dynamic Latent Block Model and its Applications in Sorting Estimation (PDF, 1.55 Mo) Xinyu Dai under the direction of Jean-Marc Robin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po & Junnan He, Assistant Professor of Economics at Sciences Po

Does school choice increase social segregation? Evidence from private schools opening in France between 2005 and 2019 (PDF, 2.95 Mo) Constance Frohly under the direction of Pierre Cahuc , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po & Denis Fougère , Directeur de recherche CNRS-CRIS

Cost and benefit of green R&D: evidence from French firms (PDF, 1.10 Mo) Axel Meunier under the direction of Jean-Marc Robin , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po & Agnès Benassy-Quéré , Professor of Economics at Paris School of Economics

Campaign Finance Quotas and Female Political Representation: Evidence from 2018 Brazilian Reform  (PDF, 2.42 Mo) Olympia Tsoutsoplidi under the direction of Julia Cagé , Associate Professor & Benjamin Marx , Assistant Professor of Economics at Sciences Po

International inequality transmission in a two-country HANK model (PDF, 43 Mo) Naomi Cohen  under the direction of Xavier Ragot , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po

Job seeker's strategic attention allocation : Evidence from a Field Experiment (PDF, 315 ko) Mattis Gilbert  under the direction of Pierre Cahuc , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po

Women Empowerment through Public Employment Programmes: Evidence from Ethiopia (PDF, 2 Mo) Till Kadereit   under the direction of Benjamin Marx , Assistant Professor  of Economics at Sciences Po

Price discrimination with endogenous participation in two-sided platforms (PDF, 536 ko) Aurélien Salas under the direction of Eduardo Perez-Richet , Assistant Professor  of Economics at Sciences Po

The landscapes of transition: Identifying economic geography in the emergence of capitalist markets in Central and Eastern Europe (PDF, 2 Mo) Karolina Wilczyńska under the direction of Thierry Mayer , Professor of Economics at Sciences Po

Inequality and Current Account - Imbalances in a Monetary Union. Heterogeneous heterogeneities in the Eurozone (PDF, 11Mo) Danell Benguigui sous la direction de Xavier Ragot , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

Paris Terrorist Attacks and Hotel Word‐of‐Mouth (PDF, 497 ko) Yulin Hao sous la direction de Michèle Fioretti , Assistant Professor  au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po

Political Trust, Political Participation and Conflict. A case study of the Boko Haram conflict in Nigeria (PDF, 2.71 Mo) Simeon Lauterbach sous la direction de Benjamin Marx , Assistant Professor  au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po

Public debt and safety trap in open economies (PDF, 440 ko) Valentin Marchal sous la direction de  Nicolas Coeurdacier , Associate Professor of Economics at  Sciences Po

Global Migration and the Skill Premium (PDF, 346 ko) Alberto Nasi sous la direction de Thierry Mayer , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

Information design against petty corruption (PDF, 341ko) Grégory Dannay , sous la direction d' Eduardo Perez-Richet , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

What drives the French discontent? (PDF, 453 ko) Eva Davoine , sous la direction de Benjamin Marx , Assistant Professor  au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po

Overtime Hours and Bonuses: A Story of Fiscal Optimization (PDF, 700ko) Nicolas Ghio , sous la direction de Pierre Cahuc , Professeur à Sciences Po &   Denis Fougère , Directeur de recherche CNRS - OSC-LIEPP

Knocking on closed doors? Identifying the determinants of employer call-backs for unskilled youth (PDF, 1.20Mo) Lorenzo Kaaks, sous la direction de Pierre Cahuc , Professeur à Sciences Po

Cracks in the boards: the opportunity cost of homogeneous boards of directors (PDF, 5.37Mo) Hélène Maghin , sous la direction de Ghazala Azmat , Professeur à Sciences Po

Does Dark Trading Alter Liquidity? Evidence from European Regulation (PDF, 504ko) Victor Saint-Jean , sous la direction de Stéphane Guibaud , Assistant Professor  au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po

The Relationship Between Housing Vouchers and Educational Attainment in Atlanta, GA (PDF, 396ko) Rebecca Smith , sous la direction de Ghazala Azmat , Professeur à Sciences Po

Reading about Flood Risk in the News - Evidence from the Housing Market (PDF, 19Mo) Jeanne Sorin , sous la direction de Julia Cagé ,  Assistant Professor  au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po &  Florian Oswald ,  Assistant Professor  au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po 

Gravity in paradise - How do tax havens shape multinational production (PDF) Samuel Delpeuch sous la direction de Zsofia Barany , Assistant Professor au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po et Thomas Chaney , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

Chasing the Flapper Vote Women Enfranchisement and Electoral Outcomes at the 1929 British General Election (PDF) Edgard Dewitte sous la direction de Julia Cagé , Assistant Professor au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po

Savings in a 3 Period-Model with a Behavioral Agent - Rational inattention with a Sparse Dynamic Approach (PDF) Galo Egas G. sous la direction de Xavier Ragot , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

Quality of life in French cities (PDF) Mylène Feuillade sous la direction de Pierre-Philippe Combes , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po et Laurent Gobillon , Professeur d'économie à Paris School of Economics

Non-Cognitive Skills Training and Educational Outcomes: New Evidence from French Middle Schools (PDF) Laura Green sous la direction de GREEN, Yann Algan , Doyen de l’École d’Affaires Publiques (EAP) et Professeur d’économie à Sciences Po & Denis Fougère , Directeur de recherche CNRS - OSC-LIEPP

Dynamics of local employment in Europe: Is the impact of agglomeration economies time inconsistent?  (PDF) Magdalena Kizior sous la direction de Pierre-Henri Bono , Chef de projet au LIEPP & Département d'économie de Sciences Po, Jean Imbs , Directeur de recherche CNRS, Paris School of Economics

Learning under Coarse Thinking (PDF) Daniel M. de A. Barreto sous la direction de Eduardo Perez-Richet , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po et Jeanne Hagenbach, Associate Professor d'économie à Sciences Po

Estimating employment effects of the German minimum wage (PDF) Johannes Seebauer sous la direction de Florian Oswald , Assistant Professor à Sciences Po & Denis Fougère , Directeur de recherche CNRS - OSC-LIEPP

Present-Bias and Salience in Discounting Acros Short Durations: a Proposed Experimental Approach (PDF) Zydney Wong sous la direction de Jeanne Hagenbach, Associate Professor au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po & Emeric Henry, Associate Professor au Département d'Économie, Sciences Po

Academic year 2016-2017

Does training pay? Estimating the wage returns to vocational training in France (PDF)

Olivier Cassagneau-Francis sous la direction de Jean-Marc Robin , Professeur à Sciences Po et  Robert Gary-Bobo , Professeur à l'ENSAE

Competing Information Designers (PDF)

Théo Durandard  sous la direction d' Eduardo Perez-Richet , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

What's new in the new? Media coverage about the ECB and market participants'inflation expectations   (PDF)

Mikael Eskenazi  sous la direction de  Christine Graeff , directrice générale de la communication de la Banque centrale européenne et Benoit Coeuré , Membre du Directoire de la Banque centrale européenne

Impact of Trade on the Characteristics of the Digital Newspaper Market (PDF)

Anaïs Galdin  sous la direction de  Julia Cagé , Associate Professor of Economics à Sciences Po et Thomas Chaney , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

Intergenerational Income Mobility in France : National and Territorial Estimates (PDF)

Gustave Kenedi sous la direction de Pierre-Philippe Combes , Professeur d'économie à Sciences Po

Intergenerational transfert without commitment: a macroeconomic framework (PDF)

Hugo Lhuillier  sous la direction de  Nicolas Coeurdacier , Associate Professor of Economics at Sciences Po

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Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Finance Group

Writing a master thesis in finance.

Students who would like to write a Master thesis in the area of Finance must have completed the Financial Economics concentration, and have attend either the Hauptseminar Corporate Finance or the Hauptseminar Financial Economics. It is recommended that students take as many finance electives as possible prior to registering for a Hauptseminar. The courses "Finance Theory" and "Advanced Corporate Finance" are mandatory. The purpose of the Hauptseminars is to introduce students to academic research and scientific writing, and the requirements for writing a master thesis in Finance.

To complete the master program in four semesters, we recommend the following semester plan.

Most thesis topics will be of an empirical nature. Therefore, good econometric skills are essential. The course Econometric Methods is highly recommended. Familiarity with statistical software, such as Stata, R or SAS, is also important. Since most relevant literature is in English, it is recommended to write the master thesis in English, but this is not a necessity.

Master Thesis in Corporate Finance (Adam / Elendner)

If you are interested in writing a master thesis in the area of Corporate Finance, contact Prof. Adam, Prof. Elendner, or one of their assistants to discuss a suitable thesis topic and expected completion time, after you have completed the Hauptseminar. Currently we offer theses topics in the following areas.

• Corporate Risk Management
• Mutual Funds
• Behavioral Corporate Finance
• Debt Financeing, e.g., Syndicated Loans, Mittelstandsanleihen
• Credit Rating Agencies
• Financial Regulation

You should budget at least six months for completing your thesis. It is also possible and encouraged to write a thesis jointly with another fellow student. This is not only more stimulating than writing by yourself but you can also benefit from economies of scale.

Master Thesis in Financial Economics (Stomper)

If you are interested in writing a master thesis in the area of financial economics, contact Prof. Stomper or one of his assistants to discuss a suitable thesis topic.

Before you can start working on your thesis, you have to attend the "Master Thesis Seminar - Financial Economics" in order to present/develop your ideas and to write a research proposal (i.e. the seminar paper). Students with suitable research proposals will obtain approval to write their theses according to their proposals.

To apply for admission to the seminar, please send your CV and transcript (i.e., your academic record) to [email protected].

In general, master theses in financial economics will be replication exercises. If an empirical or experimental analysis is to be replicated, then the replication must be done in STATA or R. We will specify which of the two software packages ought to be used in any particular case. If the replication concerns a theoretical paper, then the thesis will analyze a particular specification of the model in the paper. Any programs written/datasets used must be submitted with the thesis in electronic form. In replicating an experimental analysis, students will not conduct experiments, but rather work with data from previous experiments.

To pick a thesis topic, consult the following webpage: http://www.aeaweb.org/aer/issues.php Of the papers listed on the above page, any papers with a focus on financial economics (broadly defined) are suitable picks for a replication exercise leading to a HU master thesis in financial economics. Of course, the replication must be doable. For example, a replication of an empirical or experimental paper requires data access. To assess whether a replication is doable, students need to look at the appendices, data sets, etc. linked to a given paper on the AER webpage.

After obtaining a thesis topic the next step is to write and orally present a research proposal (60 min). Proposals take place on Mondays, 14-16 pm, in DOR1-304. During the presentation you should explain why your topic is important, what new insights could potentially be gained from your thesis, and discuss your research methodology. It is important to clearly state the research question and to demonstrate the feasibility of your project. After a successful presentation you can submit the form „Anmeldung zur Masterarbeit“ to the institute's secretary, Mrs. Bulwahn, and begin writing your thesis.

Master theses must be submitted in bound format (2 copies) by the due date to the Prüfungsamt. Each master thesis must include a DVD containing the thesis, all data used, computer programs, and pdf files of all references. Further information about how to write a thesis can be found here .

Exceptional Master theses will be nominated for the David-Kopf Hochschulpreis. See www.david-kopf.com for details.

In addition, you can participate in the following master-thesis competitions:

• International Competition of Master Degree Thesis on Economics and Finance

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