economic history thesis topics

Economic History Research Paper Topics

Navigating through the realm of economic history research paper topics might seem like a daunting task. Economic history merges economics and history, studying the changes in economies over time and the economic phenomena of the past. By scrutinizing historical events through an economic lens, we can decipher the intricacies of economies that have evolved, declined, or transformed across various eras and societies. The key to crafting a profound and impactful research paper in this field is to choose a topic that resonates with your intellectual curiosity, aligns with your academic objectives, and contributes to the broader understanding of economic history. Whether you are interested in the economic implications of major wars, the influence of trade policies, or the economic transformations throughout different civilizations, there are numerous pathways to explore. Let’s embark on this journey together to uncover a wealth of research possibilities in economic history.

100 Economic History Research Paper Topics

Economic history is a fascinating field that explores the relationship between economies and societies throughout different periods of time. Researching economic history allows us to gain valuable insights into the factors that shaped economies, influenced policies, and impacted the lives of individuals and communities. In this section, we present a comprehensive list of economic history research paper topics, organized into 10 categories, with 10 topics in each. These topics cover a wide range of time periods, regions, and themes, offering students a diverse selection to choose from for their research papers. Whether you are interested in studying economic transformations, trade networks, industrial revolutions, or economic ideologies, this list provides a starting point for exploring the captivating world of economic history.

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Economic Transformations

• The impact of the Agricultural Revolution on European economies
• The role of colonialism in shaping economic structures in Latin America
• The Industrial Revolution and its effects on urbanization and labor markets
• The Great Depression: Causes, consequences, and government responses
• Economic reforms and market transitions in post-Soviet Eastern Europe
• The rise of globalization and its influence on national economies
• Economic consequences of World War II and post-war reconstruction efforts
• The digital revolution and its impact on modern economies
• The economic transformation of China: From planned economy to market-oriented reforms
• The Green Revolution and its implications for agricultural productivity and food security

Trade Networks and Global Exchange

• The Silk Road: Trade routes, cultural exchange, and economic impact
• Mercantilism and the establishment of colonial trade systems
• The Atlantic slave trade and its economic repercussions
• The Spice Trade and its role in shaping European economies
• The Silk Route and the transmission of ideas, technologies, and goods
• The Triangular Trade: Slavery, sugar, and the emergence of capitalist economies
• The impact of the Columbian Exchange on global economic systems
• The East India Company: Trade, colonization, and economic dominance
• The Transatlantic Slave Trade and its legacy on African economies
• The impact of the Opium Trade on China’s economy and society

Economic Ideologies and Systems

• Capitalism vs. socialism: A comparative analysis of economic systems
• The role of economic nationalism in shaping domestic policies
• The Keynesian revolution: Economic theories and government intervention
• The impact of neoliberalism on income inequality and economic growth
• The command economy in the Soviet Union: Successes and failures
• Economic theories of Adam Smith and their influence on modern economics
• The economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism
• Feudalism and its economic structures in medieval Europe
• The welfare state: Social policies and economic stability
• Economic planning and development strategies in emerging economies

Financial Systems and Crises

• The Great Financial Crisis of 2008: Causes, consequences, and policy responses
• The role of central banks in managing monetary policy and financial stability
• The emergence and evolution of stock markets: Historical perspectives
• The impact of the gold standard on international trade and monetary systems
• The Tulip Mania: Lessons from the first recorded speculative bubble
• The history of banking: From ancient civilizations to modern institutions
• Financial innovations and their impact on economic growth
• The Bretton Woods system: Its establishment, operation, and collapse
• The Asian Financial Crisis: Causes, contagion, and policy lessons
• The history of credit and debt: From ancient civilizations to consumer societies

Labor and Working Conditions

• The rise of factory labor and the labor movement in the Industrial Revolution
• Slavery and the economic exploitation of labor in the Americas
• Child labor: Historical perspectives, reforms, and contemporary issues
• The impact of the labor movement on workers’ rights and living conditions
• Women in the workforce: Struggles, advancements, and gender disparities
• Immigration and labor markets: Historical experiences and economic effects
• The history of unions and their role in shaping labor policies
• The gig economy: Historical parallels and contemporary challenges
• The impact of technological advancements on employment patterns
• Worker safety and regulations: From industrial accidents to workplace protections

Economic Policies and Government Interventions

• The New Deal: Economic recovery and the role of government intervention
• Protectionism vs. free trade: Historical debates and economic consequences
• Economic sanctions: Historical cases and their effectiveness
• The role of fiscal policy in managing economic cycles
• The impact of war on economic policies and resource allocation
• Price controls and rationing during times of scarcity and crisis
• Economic nationalism and its impact on trade relations
• The history of taxation: From ancient civilizations to modern systems
• Economic deregulation and its effects on market dynamics
• The history of antitrust policies and their role in promoting competition

Economic History of Specific Regions

• The economic history of the United States: From colonial times to the present
• The economic development of East Asia: Lessons from Japan, South Korea, and China
• Economic history of Africa: Challenges, opportunities, and development strategies
• The economic transformation of post-Soviet Eastern Europe
• The economic history of Latin America: Colonial legacies and contemporary issues
• The economic rise of the Middle East: Oil, wealth, and diversification
• The economic history of India: From ancient civilizations to modern challenges
• The economic development of Western Europe: From feudalism to the European Union
• Economic history of Australia: From colonization to a developed economy
• The economic dynamics of Southeast Asia: Trade, colonization, and regional integration

Economic History and Technology

• The impact of the steam engine on industrialization and economic growth
• The role of transportation innovations in shaping economic systems
• The history of telecommunications: From the telegraph to the internet
• The economic effects of the printing press on knowledge dissemination
• The digital revolution and its impact on industries and labor markets
• The history of energy transitions: From wood to fossil fuels and renewables
• Technological innovations and their influence on productivity and economic development
• The impact of the internet on globalization and global supply chains
• The history of agricultural advancements and their effects on food production
• The role of automation and artificial intelligence in shaping future economies

Economic History and Environment

• The economic consequences of natural disasters and environmental degradation
• The history of resource extraction and its impact on economies and ecosystems
• Environmental regulations and their effects on economic activities
• The economic history of renewable energy: From early adoption to mainstream integration
• The economics of climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy
• The history of sustainable development and its influence on economic policies
• The economic impact of deforestation and land degradation
• The role of water resources in shaping economic activities and societal development
• The economics of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services
• Environmental justice and its intersections with economic inequalities

Economic History and Social Change

• The economic consequences of revolutions and political upheavals
• The impact of demographic changes on economic development
• The history of income inequality: Causes, consequences, and policy responses
• The economics of education: Historical perspectives and contemporary challenges
• The economic effects of population migration and urbanization
• The role of social movements in shaping economic policies and practices
• The history of consumerism: From early markets to modern consumer societies
• Economic impacts of cultural shifts and changing societal norms
• The economic consequences of pandemics and public health crises
• The role of entrepreneurship in driving economic innovation and social change

This comprehensive list of economic history research paper topics showcases the diversity and richness of this field of study. From exploring economic transformations and trade networks to analyzing economic ideologies and social change, students have a wide range of options to delve into the fascinating world of economic history. These topics offer opportunities to examine historical events, theories, policies, and their lasting impacts on societies and economies. Whether you are interested in macroeconomic trends, labor history, technological advancements, or environmental factors, this list provides a solid foundation for selecting a research paper topic that aligns with your interests and academic goals. Remember to choose a topic that sparks your curiosity and allows for in-depth exploration.

Economic History: Exploring the Range of Research Paper Topics

Economic history is a fascinating field of study that delves into the intricate relationship between economies, societies, and historical contexts. It allows us to understand how economic systems have evolved, how they have shaped the course of nations, and how they have influenced the lives of individuals throughout history. By examining the economic forces, policies, and transformations that have shaped the past, we gain valuable insights into the present and can make informed predictions about the future. In this section, we explore the vast range of economic history research paper topics, highlighting key themes, periods, and regions that offer rich opportunities for investigation and analysis.

• Economic Transformations : One captivating area of economic history is the study of economic transformations. This includes examining the factors that led to significant shifts in economies, such as the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, or the rise of globalization. Economic history research paper topics in this category may explore the causes and consequences of these transformations, the impact on social structures and labor markets, or the long-term effects on economic development and inequality.
• Trade Networks and Global Exchange : Trade networks and global exchange have played a crucial role in shaping economic history. Topics in this category could focus on significant trade routes throughout history, such as the Silk Road or the Atlantic slave trade, and their impact on economic systems, cultural exchange, and geopolitical dynamics. Researchers may also explore the economic consequences of colonization, the role of mercantilism, or the effects of international trade agreements on national economies.
• Economic Ideologies and Systems : The study of economic ideologies and systems allows researchers to examine the different approaches societies have taken in organizing their economies. Economic history research paper topics in this category may explore the historical development of economic systems such as capitalism, socialism, or feudalism and their impact on wealth distribution, market dynamics, and government intervention. Comparisons between different economic ideologies or case studies of specific countries or time periods can provide valuable insights into the successes, failures, and complexities of various economic systems.
• Financial Systems and Crises : The history of financial systems and crises offers a wealth of research opportunities. Topics in this area may include the examination of historical financial crises, such as the Great Depression or the 2008 financial crisis, their causes, and the policy responses that followed. Researchers may also explore the emergence and evolution of financial institutions, the impact of monetary policies on economic stability, or the role of financial innovations in driving economic growth and instability.
• Labor and Working Conditions : The history of labor and working conditions is an important aspect of economic history. Topics in this category may focus on the evolution of labor markets, the impact of industrialization on working conditions, or the role of labor movements in advocating for workers’ rights and improved standards of living. Other research areas could explore the economic consequences of slavery, child labor, gender disparities in the workforce, or the effects of technological advancements on employment patterns.
• Economic Policies and Government Interventions : Government interventions and economic policies have shaped economies throughout history. Economic history research paper topics in this category may examine the role of fiscal and monetary policies in managing economic cycles, the impact of protectionist or free trade policies on national economies, or the consequences of economic nationalism on international relations. Additionally, researchers may analyze the historical development of welfare systems, taxation policies, or the influence of economic ideologies on government interventions.
• Economic History of Specific Regions : The economic history of specific regions provides an opportunity to explore the unique factors that have influenced their economic development. Topics in this category may focus on the economic history of particular countries, continents, or regions, such as the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, or Latin America. Researchers may delve into the colonial legacies, post-colonial challenges, economic transformations, or regional integration efforts that have shaped the economic landscapes of these regions.
• Economic History and Technology : Technological advancements have played a significant role in shaping economic history. Research topics in this category may examine the impact of specific technological innovations, such as the steam engine, the printing press, or the internet, on economic systems, productivity, and labor markets. Additionally, researchers may explore the relationship between energy transitions and economic development, the role of transportation advancements in facilitating trade and economic growth, or the implications of automation and artificial intelligence on future economies.
• Economic History and Environment : The interaction between economic activities and the environment is a crucial area of research within economic history. Topics in this category may explore the economic consequences of natural disasters, environmental regulations, resource extraction, or the economics of renewable energy. Researchers may also examine the historical impact of population growth, deforestation, or climate change on economic systems, resource allocation, and sustainable development.
• Economic History and Social Change : Economic history is intertwined with social change, and studying this intersection provides valuable insights into the dynamics between economies and societies. Economic history research paper topics in this category may examine the economic consequences of revolutions, demographic changes, income inequality, or the role of social movements in influencing economic policies. Additionally, researchers may explore the economic effects of cultural shifts, changing societal norms, pandemics, or the role of entrepreneurship in driving innovation and social progress.

The field of economic history offers a vast array of research opportunities for students studying history and seeking to explore the complex interplay between economies, societies, and historical contexts. From examining economic transformations and trade networks to analyzing economic ideologies, labor dynamics, and environmental factors, economic history research paper topics are both diverse and intellectually stimulating. By selecting a research paper topic within this field, students have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of historical events, economic systems, and the forces that have shaped the world we live in today.

Choosing Economic History Research Paper Topics

Selecting the right research paper topic is crucial for a successful study in economic history. With the vast array of possibilities within this field, it can sometimes be challenging to narrow down your focus and choose a topic that is both engaging and manageable. In this section, we provide expert advice on how to choose economic history research paper topics that align with your interests, meet academic requirements, and offer valuable insights into the subject matter.

• Identify your Interests : Start by reflecting on your personal interests within economic history. Consider the topics or themes that intrigue you the most. Are you drawn to the economic transformations of specific time periods, the study of financial systems, or the economic impact of technological advancements? Identifying your interests will help you choose a topic that you are passionate about and motivated to explore further.
• Review Course Material : Consult your course materials, textbooks, and lecture notes to identify key themes and topics covered in your economic history course. This will give you a solid foundation and help you build upon the concepts you have already learned. Pay attention to any topics that sparked your curiosity during the course and consider further exploring those areas in your research paper.
• Read Widely : Expand your knowledge by reading widely on economic history. Engage with scholarly articles, books, and reputable online sources that delve into different aspects of economic history. This will expose you to various research topics and enable you to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter. As you read, take note of any topics that resonate with you or inspire further investigation.
• Consult with Your Professor : Seek guidance from your professor or academic advisor. They can provide valuable insights and suggestions based on their expertise in the field. Share your research interests and discuss potential research paper topics with them. They may offer recommendations, point you towards relevant literature, or help you refine your ideas.
• Consider Historical Significance : Choose a topic that has historical significance and relevance. Look for research opportunities that shed light on important economic events, policies, or transformations that have shaped societies and economies. By selecting a topic with historical significance, you can contribute to the existing body of knowledge and offer new insights into the subject matter.
• Scope and Manageability : Ensure that the chosen topic is manageable within the scope of your research paper. Consider the length and time constraints of the assignment. Narrow down your topic to a specific research question or aspect that you can adequately explore within the given parameters. It is better to focus on a specific aspect and delve deep into the analysis rather than attempting to cover a broad topic superficially.
• Consider Available Resources : Evaluate the availability of primary and secondary sources related to your chosen topic. Access to relevant historical documents, data, and scholarly literature is crucial for conducting a comprehensive and evidence-based research paper. Consider whether the necessary resources are accessible and whether you can obtain the data required to support your arguments.
• Analyze Gaps in Existing Literature : Examine the existing literature in economic history and identify any gaps or areas where further research is needed. Look for topics that have not been extensively explored or where contrasting viewpoints exist. By addressing these gaps, you can make a unique contribution to the field and provide fresh insights into economic history.
• Balance Complexity and Manageability : Strike a balance between choosing a topic that is intellectually stimulating and one that is manageable within the given scope and time constraints. Avoid topics that are too broad or complex to address adequately in the context of a research paper. Instead, focus on specific research questions or aspects that allow for in-depth analysis and critical evaluation.
• Stay Updated : Keep abreast of current events, debates, and emerging trends within the field of economic history. This will help you identify contemporary issues that can be explored through a historical lens. Staying updated will also allow you to incorporate recent research findings and scholarly discussions into your research paper, making it relevant and engaging.

Choosing an economic history research paper topic requires careful consideration of your interests, available resources, and the academic requirements of your course. By identifying your interests, consulting with experts, reading widely, and considering historical significance, you can select a topic that is both engaging and feasible to explore. Remember to strike a balance between complexity and manageability, and always stay updated with the latest developments in the field. With these expert tips in mind, you are well-equipped to embark on your research journey and contribute to the fascinating field of economic history.

How to Write an Economic History Research Paper

Writing an economic history research paper requires careful planning, organization, and critical analysis. In this section, we provide a comprehensive guide on how to effectively structure and write your research paper. By following these steps and incorporating best practices, you can produce a well-researched and compelling paper that contributes to the field of economic history.

• Define Your Research Question : Start by defining a clear and focused research question. The research question should be specific, concise, and aligned with your research objectives. It should reflect the main theme or issue you intend to explore in your paper. Consider the historical context, economic factors, and relevant theoretical frameworks that are central to your research question.
• Conduct In-Depth Research : Gather relevant sources and conduct comprehensive research to support your research question and arguments. Consult scholarly books, academic journals, primary sources, and reputable online databases. Take detailed notes and organize your sources to ensure easy reference during the writing process. Evaluate the credibility and relevance of each source to ensure the quality of your research.
• Develop a Strong Thesis Statement : Craft a clear and compelling thesis statement that encapsulates the main argument or hypothesis of your research paper. The thesis statement should be concise, specific, and supported by evidence from your research. It sets the tone for your paper and guides the reader’s understanding of your main objective.
• Outline Your Paper : Create a well-structured outline to organize your thoughts and ideas. An outline provides a roadmap for your research paper, ensuring a logical flow of information and coherence. Divide your paper into sections, including an introduction, literature review, methodology, analysis, findings, and conclusion. Each section should have a clear purpose and contribute to the overall argument of your paper.
• Write a Compelling Introduction : Begin your research paper with an engaging introduction that provides necessary background information, contextualizes the research question, and presents the significance of your study. Capture the reader’s attention and clearly state your thesis statement. Provide an overview of the key arguments and approaches you will use to explore your research question.
• Conduct a Thorough Literature Review : Review the existing literature and scholarly works relevant to your research topic. Identify the key debates, theories, and findings that have shaped the field of economic history. Critically analyze and synthesize the literature to identify gaps, contradictions, or areas that require further investigation. Use the literature review to situate your research within the broader scholarly discourse.
• Choose an Appropriate Methodology : Select an appropriate research methodology to gather and analyze data that supports your research question. Depending on the nature of your research, you may utilize quantitative methods, qualitative approaches, or a combination of both. Clearly explain your chosen methodology, including the data collection methods, sample size, and any ethical considerations.
• Analyze and Interpret Data : If applicable, analyze the collected data using appropriate statistical or qualitative analysis techniques. Interpret the findings within the context of your research question and theoretical framework. Present the results in a clear and concise manner, using tables, charts, or graphs as necessary. Ensure that your analysis aligns with your research objectives and supports your main arguments.
• Provide Critical Analysis : Engage in critical analysis and interpretation of the data, drawing connections between your findings and the existing literature. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of your research, addressing any potential biases or limitations. Consider alternative viewpoints and interpretations, acknowledging the complexities and nuances of the economic history topic you are studying.
• Write a Coherent Conclusion : Summarize your main findings, restate your thesis statement, and provide a concise conclusion that addresses your research question. Highlight the significance of your research and its contribution to the field of economic history. Discuss any implications, recommendations, or areas for further research. Ensure that your conclusion is well-supported by the evidence presented throughout your paper.

Writing an economic history research paper requires careful planning, extensive research, and critical analysis. By defining a clear research question, conducting in-depth research, and organizing your paper with a strong thesis statement and outline, you can effectively present your arguments and findings. Remember to critically analyze the literature, choose an appropriate methodology, and provide a coherent and insightful conclusion. By following these steps and incorporating best practices, you can produce a high-quality research paper that advances our understanding of economic history.

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Economics Dissertation Topics

Economics is about making choices in the face of scarcity and uncertainty and ensuring that resource allocation is effectively and efficiently done. What was popularised by writers, researchers and philosophers such as Adam Smith in the 1770s, has become a field with significant relevance and importance in today’s society that is highly financialised and globalised. Dating back to medieval scholastics as well as literature published back in the 15th and 18th century, through the 19th century, the concerns of economics have largely focused on aspects such as choices of individuals, borrowing, money, consumption and production, occupations and employment, markets, trade, pricing of assets, taxes, and most recently human behaviour in relation to economic decisions.

There are multitudes of research studies, within the existing literature, that have been conducted in relation to the above concerns and many of these have resulted in a number of models that attempt to provide possible explanations to real world problems. As the world continues to evolve with the advent of technological advancements that have increased the pace of transformation and globalisation, new areas in economics have emerged as worthwhile research targets. The following are possible economics dissertation topics to choose from for your academic research project in economics:

Economic Geography Dissertation Topics

Economic sociology dissertation topics, institutional economics dissertation topics, microeconomics dissertation topics, macroeconomics dissertation topics, regional development dissertation topics.

• Employment Economics Dissertation Topics

Financial Economics Dissertation Topics

This is the area in economics academic literature that is concerned with the role of geographic location and place with the economical outcomes. It focuses on describing and analyzing patterns and trends in human behavior and activity to gain understanding of the processes and drivers that shape and affect the economic and cultural landscapes. Within regions and localities, there are great dynamics that shape the nature and extent of economic activity. Below are some suggestions for economics dissertation topics on economic geography:

• The impact of local and regional cultures on shaping entrepreneurial economic development.
• Can entrepreneurial attitude be exported? The role of emigrants in introducing new entrepreneurial attitudes.
• Differences of entrepreneurial behaviour in rural and urban areas.
• Is there any relationship between mature industries dominating small towns and their local cultural factors?
• The role of local culture in promoting regional innovation networks.
• National, regional and local policies to support local clusters: opportunities.
• How can policy support the creation of a local cluster?
• Are networks affected by local proximity? Differences between co-localised and dispersed networks.
• The likelihood impact of Brexit on policy outcomes that shape the local economy in UK cities.
• A model for the development of information and communication technology incubators in the UK. Analysis of the concentration of Top 50 IT companies.
• What is causing regional divergence? An analysis of the richest and poorest regions in the UK.
• The economic geography of recession. Difference between regional and city economics in the UK.
• Why are housing built in flood-prone coastal areas?
• Understanding educational progression at the local level: A comparison of the North and South cities in the UK.
• How COVID has contributed to house price volatility in various cities in the UK.
• How the COVID lockdown has affected social life of big cities.
• Will coronavirus cause a big city exodus?

Economic sociology refers to sociological aspects influencing the economic indicators and their relationship with social outcomes. It is the study of how the material conditions of life are produced and reproduced through social processes and broadly covers the sociology of markets and the sociology of consumptions. Possible economics dissertation topics in this area include:

• The role of social networks in supporting innovation activities in mature industries.
• The financial and non-financial support of family in the development of successful entrepreneurship.
• The private network as the facilitator of the firm start-up.
• Exploring the differences between trust and power in local productive systems.
• Social contracts and peer-pressure as the source of traditional industry development in the UK.
• Can cultural mix increase productivity in creative industries? Evidence from the UK.
• The role of social and intellectual capital in rural places in the UK.
• Is social capital a critical factor in the British creative industries?
• How can universities take advantage of social networks to induce entrepreneurial action among their students?
• The role and contribution of social entrepreneurship in the UK.
• The economic impact of migration from different regions of the world to the UK. Comparative analysis between the EU and the non-EU migration.
• Is the relationship between economic and social development linear?
• The convergence of economic systems in the wake of globalisation and their implications on the social development across developed, emerging and developing national economies.

Institutional Economics relates to a variety of economics traditions that are concerned with social institutions which are linked to consumption, distribution and production of goods and services as well as the underlying corresponding social relations. In essence, Institutional Economics has a relatively broad inquiry scope and is considered to have relatively close ties with other disciplines such as anthropology, economic sociology, psychology, economic history, behavioural economics, behavioural finance, physical science, management and business studies, and nowadays neuro, cognitive and brain science. This implies that there are various dissertation topics that can fall under the Institutional Economics bracket; some of these include the following.

• An assessment of the implications of Institutional Economics methodologies for the analysis of the property market.
• A study of how the theoretical assumptions of the New Institutional Economics’ (NIE) micro analytical level influence a firm’s choice of governance structures.
• How do habits and routines affect productivity? The case of (an industry).
• How does the culture mix impact on the organisation of firms in the UK?
• Resilience to economic shrinking in an emerging economy: the role of social capabilities.
• Financial constraint, trust, and export performances: The case of UK SMEs.
• Efficiency in the property market in the UK: An institutional perspective.
• Transaction costs and economic development.
• A resource-based theory analysis to firm co-operation.
• How can transaction costs economics account for inter-firm collaboration?
• Ownership and control in the UK: An institutional analysis.
• Institutions and policies of economic freedom: different effects on income and growth.
• How does job experience relate to entrepreneurship? Evidence from the UK.
• Educational aspects of entrepreneurship. The role of formal school in promoting entrepreneurial capacities in the UK.
• Latent entrepreneurship: the UK vs Europe.

Microeconomics has to do with supply and demand, and with the way they interact in various markets. It is andconcerned with how economic agents, that is, individual decision-makers (both consumers and producers) behave in different economic settings. The overarching goal of microeconomic research is to identify the incentives of various agents and trade-offs that they may face. To understand behaviour of individuals in terms of their economic decision-making, researchers build various models, use data and conduct experiments.

The following are the examples of dissertation topics on ‘Microeconomics’:

• The evolution of household consumption in the UK over the last 10 years: Trends in consumer behaviour.
• Are mergers and acquisitions related to productivity in UK firms?
• Is the minimum wage still relevant in the UK economy?
• Is the British retail sector becoming less oligopolistic? An analysis of the impact of new supermarkets.
• Are British oligopolistic markets really oligopolistic?
• Conditions for the existence of a knowledge firm.
• Characteristics of the innovative organisation in the UK.
• Are UK firms more innovative than their European counterparts?
• The impact of the European regional policy on British small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
• The energy market in the UK: A microeconomic approach.
• The impact of regulation on British industries: The case study of Uk energy sector.
• Does firm size affect firm profits? Evidence from telecommunication firms in the UK.
• Game theory and decision theory.

Macroeconomics is concerned with how the overall economy works and how all markets interact to generate big phenomena that economists call aggregate variables. It studies such things as employment, gross domestic product, inflation, national income, employment and the interaction between the global economy and financial markets.

The following are the examples of dissertation topics on ‘Macroeconomics’:

• How do interest rates affect consumption in the UK?
• What is the role of the dollar evolution in UK spending?
• The magnitude of the impact of oil price changes on UK consumption.
• The impact of Brexit on consumer spending in the UK.
• The impact of Brexit on employment and labour in the UK.
• What factors influence the salary inequality across the UK?
• The evolution of the exchange rates in the UK: Causes and consequences.
• Negative interest household savings in the UK.
• The impact of the common agriculture policy (CAP) on British agriculture.
• Economic growth and productivity. The UK in the century transition.
• Interest rates and foreign direct investment in the UK.
• Brexit and foreign direct investment in the UK.
• Monetary policy pass-through for the UK after Brexit.
• Development of UK monetary policy overtime.
• Does inflation affect firms’ profits in the UK?
• Macroeconomic determinant of house prices in the UK.
• Unemployment and regional mobility of labour in the UK.
• The impact of finance on growth: The case of UK.
• Economic growth and unemployment: Is there a relationship in the UK?
• The macroeconomics of SMEs entrepreneurship in the UK.
• Global economic recession and factors that contribute to it.
• Is the UK insurance system economically viable?
• How does the Greek financial crisis impact the EU economy overtime?
• The impact of COVID income inequality in the UK.
• Coronavirus and wage inequality: The case of UK manufacturing sector.
• COVID and economic recession: Will the impact be more pronounced than the 2007 financial recession?
• Role of information technology in economic development.
• Social inequality: the difference between wealth and income.
• Why is insurance necessary for the economic development of a country?
• How is the tax burden shared between buyers and sellers in the UK?
• Asymmetric information and adverse market selection: A case study of UK insurance market.
• Economic rent and transfer earnings in the UK.

This discipline is focused on understanding the dynamics of regions as smaller economies with their own circumstances and outcomes. The focus is on the internal working of the regional economies as well as on their interaction with other regions. There is a component of economic growth and development at a regional level. The suggestions below will give you further ideas for your economics dissertation topics:

• Regional development and profitability of the businesses. What are the factors underpinning this relationship?
• The contribution of entrepreneurial networks for regional development.
• Implications and development of regional development policy in the UK.
• Infrastructures and regional development. How can the rail and road network explain the differences in the development of regions in the UK.
• Regional comparative advantage in natural resources and regional development.
• Effect of regional policy surrounding start-ups on regional development: more new firms or better old ones?
• The role of broadband internet technology in regional development: co-relation between internet speeds and regional development?
• Public investment and regional output: Evidence from the UK regions.
• Robustness of regional institutions and development: How to search for a link?
• Regional aspects of entrepreneurship in the UK.
• Differences between types and extent of entrepreneurship and unemployment across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• Convergence and endogenous growth differences between South East England and the rest of the UK.

Employment/Labour Economics Dissertation Topics

Employment is considered to be a key concept in economics and its significance is reflected in the perception that people at work are seen as individuals/groups of individuals involved in the production of services and goods. Such production requires human capital and time; thus, organisations of different types pay people that are involved in the production process providing them with income that is later used to boost economic activity. In macroeconomics, low rates of national employment may signal underdevelopment or long-lasting depression while high rates of national employment may signal economic growth and development. Below is a list of dissertation topics that cover the area of employment economics.

• Work from home or office and employee wellbeing: The case of the COVID pandemic.
• A study of how flexible employment affects political support for social policy protection.
• The impact of gender inequality in employment on economic growth and workforce productivity.
• The influence of economic cycles on employment, workforce productivity and innovation: a study of manufacturing industries.
• Local pools on unemployment in the UK: Looking for similarities.
• Factors determining self-employment in the UK.
• The effects of minimum wages on British employment.
• How does technological innovation affect British unemployment? Evidence from the manufacturing industries.
• A comparison of self-employment across Europe: Where does the UK stand?
• Government policies in support of self-employment: Evidence from the UK.
• The effects of immigration on British employment and productivity.

Financial economics concentrates on exchanges in which money of one type or another is likely to appear on both sides of a trade. Financial markets are crucial in facilitating these exchanges at a relatively reduced transaction cost. In many such cases, the amount of money to be transferred in the future is uncertain. Financial economists thus deal with both time and uncertainty. Often the latter is called risk. Financial economics is thus a branch of economics that examines the utilisation and distribution of economic resources in financial markets in which decisions must be made under uncertainty.

The following are examples of dissertation topics on ‘Financial Economics’:

• How has the coronavirus pandemic affected the UK stock market?
• How is the FTSE affected by interest rates?
• Does CAPM measure the risk of stocks listed on the FTSE 100?
• How does the behaviour of the FSTE 100 affect economic growth?
• Behavioural finance: A study on the motivation of British investors.
• The determinants of corporate debt in the UK.
• The role of private equity and debt market in the finances of SMEs in the UK.
• Do SMEs achieve higher profitability rates than large corporations in the UK?
• The financial structure of British firms: A comparison with the European Union.
• Financial markets and financial intermediation in the UK.
• Temporary and permanent components of asset prices in the UK.
• Capital and financial structure of UK companies.
• Investor protection and corporate governance: Comparison between EU and US financial market.
• Political uncertainty on asset prices.

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Economics Department Dissertations Collection

Current students, please follow this link to submit your dissertation.

Dissertations from 2023 2023

Essays on International Trade and Economic Growth , Mateo Hoyos, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON MACROECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT , Guilherme Klein Martins, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON ALLOCATION OF COSTS AND BENEFITS, CREDIT, AND TIME , Anamika Sen, Economics

Dissertations from 2022 2022

THREE ESSAYS on GROWTH and DISTRIBUTION in DUAL ECONOMIES , Adam Aboobaker, Economics

WORK, WORKERS, AND REPRODUCING SOCIAL CONTROL: RACIAL POST-FORDISM AND ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS , Hannah Rebecca Archambault, Economics

Employer Power: Consequences for Wages, Inequality and Spillovers , Ihsaan Bassier, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES: HEALTH, GENDER, AND POLICING , Travis B. Campbell, Economics

CREATION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND COMPETITION THROUGH GREEN-INDUSTRIAL POLICIES , Camilo A. Gallego, Economics

Essays on Unpaid Care and Gender Inequality in India , Leila Gautham, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, THE STATE, AND EMPLOYMENT , Baris Guven, Economics

CONSTRAINTS AND ACCOMMODATED PREFERENCE: ESSAYS ON GENDER AND SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN PAKISTAN , Sana Khalil, Economics

Essays on Anti-Discrimination Legislation Enforcement and Sex-Based Discrimination in U.S. Labor Markets , Carly McCann, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE CFA FRANC , Francis Perez, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CULTURAL PRODUCTION AND CREATIVE LABOR , Luke Pretz, Economics

FOUR ESSAYS ON PEACE CONSOLIDATION AND ETHNIC RECONCILIATION IN POSTWAR SRI LANKA , Narayani Sritharan, Economics

The Political Economy of Consumer Credit Expansion and Real Exchange Rate Policy in Dual Economies , Esra Nur Ugurlu, Economics

Dissertations from 2021 2021

Three Essays on Learning and Conflict Applied to Developing Countries , Amal Ahmad, Economics

The Political Economy of the Cost of Foreign Exchange Intervention , Devika Dutt, Economics

CARE WORK IN CHILE’S SEGREGATED CITIES , Manuel Garcia, Economics

ESSAYS ON EXCHANGE RATE SHOCKS AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LOCAL FISCAL POLICY IN BRAZIL , Raphael Rocha Gouvea, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GLOBAL INACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE , Tyler A. Hansen, Economics

Three Essays on Socio-Institutional Ecosystems & Labor Structures , Jonathan Donald Jenner, Economics

CONSTRUCTING A MARXIAN INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL CONSIDERING THE TURNOVER OF CAPITAL AND REVISITING THE FALLING-RATE-OF-PROFIT HYPOTHESIS , Junshang Liang, Economics

Three Essays on Structural Change and Labor Market Adjustment in Developing Countries , Karmen Naidoo, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON EMPLOYMENT IMPACTS OF LABOR MARKET POLICIES , Simon Dominik Sturn, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON LABOR AND MARRIAGE MARKETS: FARM CRISIS AND RURAL-TO-URBAN MIGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1920-1940 , Jennifer Withrow, Economics

Dissertations from 2020 2020

THREE ESSAYS ON GENDER-SPECIFIC EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES , SELIN SECIL AKIN, Economics

A New Economic History of Deindustrialization: Class Conflict and Race in the Motor City , Jackson Allison, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON MICROECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY: EXPLOITATION, TECHNICAL CHANGE, AND MULTISECTORAL ANALYSIS , Weikai Chen, Economics

Essays on Food Security, Gender and Agriculture , Berna Dogan, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE ECONOMICS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE , Kuochih Huang, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY OF UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT: SPACE, CLASS AND STATE IN PAKISTAN , Danish Khan, Economics

ESSAYS ON WOMEN AND WORK IN INDIA AND ON OTHER-REGARDING PREFERENCES , Sai Madhurika Mamunuru, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE , Kartik Misra, Economics

Neoliberal Capitalism and the Evolution of the U.S. Healthcare System , Samantha Sterba, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE PAST AND FUTURE OF SOCIALISM , Mihnea Tudoreanu, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE “SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE” , Anastasia C. Wilson, Economics

Endogenous Money, Corporate Liquidity Preferences and the Transformation of the U.S. Financial System , Yeo Hyub Yoon, Economics

Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Historical and Legal Creation of a Fissured Workplace: The Case of Franchising , Brian Callaci, Economics

Essays on the Minimum Wage, Immigration, and Privatization , Doruk Cengiz, Economics

Bangladesh's Energy Policy: Economic, Environmental, and Climate Change Impacts , Rohini Kamal, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE ENVIRONMENT , An Li, Economics

REVISITING THE EAST ASIAN MIRACLE: LABOR REGIMES, PROFITABILITY AND ACCUMULATION , Zhongjin Li, Economics

Dimensions of US Global Financial Power: Essays on Financial Sanctions, Global Imbalances, and Sovereign Default , Mariam Majd, Economics

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ACCUMULATION IN SOUTH AFRICA: Resource Extraction, Financialization, and Capital Flight as Barriers to Investment and Employment Growth , Seeraj Mohamed, Economics

STATE-LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING, MACROECONOMIC FISCAL POLICY, AND THE BUSINESS CYCLE , Amanda Page-Hoongrajok, Economics

Essays on Monetary Policy in Developing Countries: Income Distribution, Housing and Unemployment , Zhandos Ybrayev, Economics

Resource Rents, Public Investment and Economic Development: The Case of Bolivia , Raul Zelada Aprili, Economics

Dissertations from 2018 2018

Three Essays on Governments and Financial Crises in Developing Economies, 1870-1913 , Peter H. Bent, Economics

Constraining Labor's “Double Freedom”: Revisiting the Impact of Wrongful Discharge Laws on Labor Markets, 1979-2014 , Eric Hoyt, Economics

SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF ACCUMULATION IN TURKEY (1963 – 2015) , Osman C. Icoz, Economics

Stumbling Toward the Up Escalator: How Trends in International Trade, Investment, and Finance Have Complicated Latin America’s Quest for Sustainable, Diversified Economic Development , Mary Eliza Rebecca Ray, Economics

Forms of Naturalism in Seminal Neoclassical Texts: An Analysis and Comparison of Léon Walras, John Bates Clark, and William Stanley Jevons , Mark Silverman, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON CHILD WELFARE IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE , Didier Wayoro, Economics

Dissertations from 2017 2017

Currency Mismatch and Balance Sheet Effects of Exchange Rate in Turkish Non-Financial Corporations , Serkan Demirkilic, Economics

The Impacts of Foreign Labor Migration of Men on Women's Empowerment in Nepal , Pratistha Joshi Rajkarnikar, Economics

Real and Nominal Effects of Exchange Rate Regimes , Emiliano Libman, Economics

Three Essays on International Economics and Finance , Juan Antonio Montecino, Economics

THREE ESSAYS ON “DOING CARE”, GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE WORK DAY, AND WOMEN’S CARE WORK IN THE HOUSEHOLD , Avanti Mukherjee, Economics

Dissertations from 2016 2016

Colonial and Post-Colonial Origins of Agrarian Development: The Case of Two Punjabs , Shahram Azhar, Economics

Three Essays on the Social Determinants of Early Childhood Health and Development , Andrew Barenberg, Economics

ELITE CAPTURE, FREE RIDING, AND PROJECT DESIGN: A CASE STUDY OF A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN CEARÁ, BRAZIL , Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth, Economics

Three Essays on Sustainable Development in China: Social, Economic and Environmental Aspects , Ying Chen, Economics

Three Essays on Women's Land Rights in Rural Peru , Rosa L. Duran, Economics

Three Essays on Economic Stages and Transition , Ricardo R. Fuentes-Ramírez, Economics

Three Essays on U.S. Household Debt and the Sources of Systemic Financial Fragility , Thomas Herndon, Economics

Essays on Household Health Expenditures, National Health Insurance and Universal Access to Health Care in Ghana , EVELYN KWAKYE, Economics

Microfinance, Household Indebtedness and Gender Inequality , Theresa Mannah-Blankson, Economics

Three Essays on Labor Market Friction and the Business Cycle , Jong-seok Oh, Economics

Three Essays on Sustainability , Mark V. Paul, Economics

The Political Economy of Smallholder Incorporation and Land Acquisition , Alfredo R. Rosete, Economics

Employment and Family Leave Mandates: Three Essays on Labor Supply and Demand, Nontraditional Families, and Family Policy , Samantha Schenck, Economics

Endogenous Capacity, Multiple Equilibria and Thirlwall's Law: Theory and an Empirical Application to Mexico: 1950 - 2012. , Juan Alberto Vázquez Muñoz, Economics

Three Essays on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Rent Seeking , Kurt von Seekamm, Economics

Dissertations from 2015 2015

Essays on Growth Complementarity Between Agriculture and Industry in Developing Countries , Joao Paulo de Souza, Economics

Structural Transformation, Culture, and Women’s Labor Force Participation in Turkey , yasemin dildar, Economics

Essays on Information, Income, and the Sharing Economy , Anders F. Fremstad, Economics

Essays on Inequality, Credit Constraints, and Growth in Contemporary Mexico , Leopoldo Gómez-Ramírez, Economics

Three Essays on Macroeconomic Implications of Contemporary Financial Intermediation , Hyun Woong Park, Economics

The Labor Share Question in China , Hao Qi, Economics

Three essays on economic inequality and environmental degradation , Klara Zwickl, Economics

Dissertations from 2014 2014

Common Pool Resources and Rural Livelihoods in Stung Treng Province of Cambodia , Pitchaya Boonsrirat, Economics

The financialization of the nonfinancial corporation in the post-1970 U.S. economy , Leila Emami Davis, Economics

The Financial Underpinnings of the EU Crisis: Financial Deregulation, Privatization, and Asymmetric State Power , Nina Q. Eichacker, Economics

THE FINANCIAL SECTOR AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: ESSAYS ON ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN SOUTH SUDAN AND KENYA , James A. Garang, Economics

OUTPUT FLUCTUATIONS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE GREAT RECESSION , Gonzalo Hernandez Jimenez, Economics

TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS INEQUALITY IN SOUTH KOREA , Hyeon-Kyeong Kim, Economics

Three Essays in Macroeconomic History , Joshua W. Mason, Economics

Essays on the Evolution of Inequality , Cem Oyvat, Economics

FINANCIALIZATION OF THE COMMODITIES FUTURES MARKETS AND ITS EFFECTS ON PRICES , Manisha Pradhananga, Economics

Productive Stagnation and Unproductive Accumulation in the United States, 1947-2011. , Tomas N. Rotta, Economics

Advertising and the Creation of Exchange Value , Zoe Sherman, Economics

Understanding Income Inequality in the United States , Mark J. Stelzner, Economics

CARE TIME IN THE U.S.: MEASURES, DETERMINANTS, AND IMPLICATIONS , Joo Yeoun Suh, Economics

Essays on the minimum wage , Ben Zipperer, Economics

Dissertations from 2013 2013

Credit Chains, Credit Bubles, and Financial Fragility: Explaining The U.S. Financial Crisis of 2007-09 , Thomas L Bernardin, Economics

A Knife Hidden in Roses: Development and Gender Violence in the Dominican Republic , Cruz Caridad Bueno, Economics

Sustaining Rural Livelihoods in Upper Svaneti, Republic of Georgia , Robin J Kemkes, Economics

Contract as Contested Terrain: An Economic History of Law and the Rise of American Capitalism , Daniel P MacDonald, Economics

Essays on the Rising Demand for Convenience in Meal Provisioning in the United States , Tamara Ohler, Economics

Social Emulation, the Evolution of Gender Norms, and Intergenerational Transfers: Three Essays on the Economics of Social Interactions , Seung-Yun Oh, Economics

Decollectivization and Rural Poverty in Post-Mao China: A Critique of the Conventional Wisdom , Zhaochang Peng, Economics

Capitalist Crisis and Capitalist Reaction: The Profit Squeeze, the Business Roundtable, and the Capitalist Class Mobilization of the 1970s , Alejandro Reuss, Economics

The Economics of Same-Sex Couple Households: Essays on Work, Wages, and Poverty , Alyssa Schneebaum, Economics

The Political Economy of Cultural Production: Essays on Music and Class , Ian J. Seda Irizarry, Economics

Essays Of Human Capital Formation , Owen Thompson, Economics

Dissertations from 2012 2012

Knowledge, Gender, and Production Relations in India's Informal Economy , Amit Basole, Economics

Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Determinants of Informal Employment: The Case of Clothing Traders in Johannesburg, South Africa , Jennifer E Cohen, Economics

The Relationship Between Mass Incarceration and Crime in the Neoliberal Period in the United States , Geert Leo Dhondt, Economics

Fair Trade, Agrarian Cooperatives, and Rural Livelihoods in Peru , Noah Enelow, Economics

Organic Farming and Rural Transformations in the European Union: A Political Economy approach , Charalampos Konstantinidis, Economics

The Sources of Financial Profit: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of the Transformation of Banking in the US , Iren G. Levina, Economics

A Minskian Approach to Financial Crises with a Behavioural Twist: A Reappraisal of the 2000-2001 Financial Crisis in Turkey , Mathieu Perron-Dufour, Economics

Essays on Urban Sprawl, Race, and Ethnicity , Jared M. Ragusett, Economics

Agriculture and Class: Contradictions of Midwestern Family Farms Across the Twentieth Century , Elizabeth Ann Ramey, Economics

Women In Conflict, Peacebuilding And Reconstruction: Insights From The Aftermath Of Nepal's Maoist Insurgency , Smita Ramnarain, Economics

Money, Reality, and Value: Non-Commodity Money in Marxian Political Economy , Joseph Thomas Rebello, Economics

Three essays on oil scarcity, global warming and energy prices , Matthew Riddle, Economics

The Political Economy of Agrarian Change in the People's Republic of China , Zhun Xu, Economics

Dissertations from 2011 2011

State Hegemony and Sustainable Development: A Political Economy Analysis of Two Local Experiences in Turkey , Bengi Akbulut, Economics

Financial evolution and the declining effectiveness of US monetary policy since the 1980s , Hasan Comert

Why China Grew: Understanding the Financial Structure of Late Development , Adam S. Hersh, Economics

Solving the "Coffee Paradox": Understanding Ethiopia's Coffee Cooperatives Through Elinor Ostrom's Theory of the Commons , Susan Ruth Holmberg, Economics

Migration, Remittances And Intra-Household Allocation In Northern Ghana: Does Gender Matter? , Lynda Joyce Pickbourn, Economics

Youth and Economic Development: A Case Study of Out-of-School Time Programs for Low-Income Youth in New York State , Kristen Maeve Powlick, Economics

The Real Exchange Rate And Economic Development , Martin Rapetti, Economics

Essays on International Reserve Accumulation and Cooperation in Latin America , Luis Daniel Rosero, Economics

Three Essays on Racial Disparities in Infant Health and Air Pollution Exposure , Helen Scharber, Economics

Dissertations from 2010 2010

Capitalism in Post-Colonial India: Primative Accumulation Under Dirigiste and Laissez Faire Regimes , Rajesh Bhattacharya, Economics

Uneven Development and the Terms of Trade: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis , Bilge Erten, Economics

Gendered Vulnerabilities After Genocide: Three Essays on Post-Conflict Rwanda , Catherine Ruth Finnoff, Economics

The Employment Impacts of Economy-wide Investments in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency , Heidi Garrett-Peltier, Economics

Household Employer Payroll Tax Evasion: An Exploration Based on IRS Data and on Interviews with Employers and Domestic Workers , Catherine B. Haskins, Economics

Racial Inequality and Affirmative Action in Malaysia and South Africa , Hwok-Aun Lee, Economics

Essays on Behavioral Labor Economics , Philip Pablo Mellizo, Economics

Three Essays on the Political Economy of Live Stock Sector in Turkey , Hasan Tekguc, Economics

The Impact Of Public Employment On Health , Wei Zhang, Economics

Dissertations from 2009 2009

Effort, work hours, and income inequality: Three essays on the behavioral effects of wage inequality , Michael Carr

Essays on investment, real exchange rate, and central bank in a financially liberalized Turkey , Deger Eryar

Essays On Investment, Real Exchange Rate, And Central Bank In A Financially Liberalized Turkey , Deger Eryar, Economics

Labor Turnover in the Child-Care Industry: Voice and Exit , Lynn A. Hatch, Economics

Three Essays on Conflict and Cooperation , Sungha Hwang, Economics

Economic Reforms in East African Countries: The Impact on Government Revenue and Public Investment , Adam Beni Swebe Mwakalobo, Economics

Post-Marxism After Althusser: A Critique Of The Alternatives , Ceren Ozselcuk, Economics

Essays on Financial Behavior and its Macroeconomic Causes and Implications , Soon Ryoo, Economics

Skill Mismatch and Wage Inequality in the U.S. , Fabian Slonimczyk, Economics

Linkages Between Inequality And Environmental Degradation: An Interregional Perspective , Marina S Vornovytskyy, Economics

Dissertations from 2008 2008

Migrant women and economic justice: A *class analysis of Anatolian -German women in homemaking and cleaning services , Esra Erdem

Emigrant or sojourner? The determinants of Mexican labor migration strategies to the United States , Florian K Kaufmann

Macrofinancial risk management in the U.S. economy: Regulation, derivatives, and liquidity preference , Marcelo Milan

Essays on behavioral economics , Wesley Jose Pech

The impact of land ownership inequality on rural factor markets , Fatma Gul Unal

Three essays on family care, time allocation, and economic well -being , Jayoung Yoon

Dissertations from 2007 2007

Capital flight and foreign direct investment in the Middle East and North Africa: Comparative development and institutional analysis , Abdullah Almounsor

Investment under financial liberalization: Channels of liquidity and uncertainty , Armagan Gezici

Three essays on social dilemmas with heterogeneous agents , Mark Howard

Between the market and the milpa: Market engagements, peasant livelihood strategies, and the on -farm conservation of crop genetic diversity in the Guatemalan highlands , S. Ryan Isakson

Late neoclassical economics: Restoration of theoretical humanism in contemporary mainstream economics , Yahya Mete Madra

Inequality and the Human Development Index , Elizabeth Anne Stanton

Dissertations from 2006 2006

Institutional settings and organizational forms: Three essays , Alper Duman

Labor market characteristics and the determinants of political support for social insurance , Anil Duman

State power, world trade, and the class structure of a nation: An overdeterminist class theory of national tariff policy , Erik E Guzik

Unions and the strategy of class transformation: The case of the Broadway musicians , Catherine P Mulder

Children's work and opportunities for education: Consequences of gender and household wealth , Sevinc Rende

The economics of immigration: Household and employment dynamics , Maliha Safri

Dissertations from 2005 2005

Capital flight from Southeast Asia: Case studies on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand , Edsel L. Beja

Rethinking municipal privatization: A Marxian class analysis of the privatization of New York City's Central Park , Oliver David Cooke

Financial liberalization and its distributional consequences: An empirical exploration , Arjun Jayadev

Three essays on gender, land rights, and collective action in Brazil's rural political economy , Merrilee Mardon

Land markets, female land rights and agricultural productivity in Paraguayan agriculture , Thomas Masterson

Workers' struggles and transformations of capitalism at industrial enterprises in Russia, 1985–2000 , Maxim V Maximov

Economy and society: Class relations and the process of economic growth , Erik K Olsen

Gender, liberalization and agrarian change in Telangana , Smriti Rao

The contradictory imperatives of New Deal banking reforms. , Ellen D. Russell, Economics

Equity in community -based sustainable development: A case study in western India , Priya Parvathy Sangameswaran

Mandated wage floors and the wage structure: Analyzing the ripple effects of minimum and prevailing wage laws , Jeannette Wicks-Lim

Public enterprises in mixed economies: Their impact on economic growth and social equity , Andong Zhu

Dissertations from 2004 2004

An economic analysis of prison labor in the United States , Asatar P Bair

Three essays on income, inequality and environmental degradation , Rachel A Bouvier

The implementation and enforcement of environmental regulations in a less developed market economy: Evidence from Uruguay , Marcelo F Caffera

Race, altruism and trust: Experimental evidence from South Africa , Justine Claire Keswell

Exchanging entailments: The contested meaning of commodity exchange , Philip M Kozel

Three essays on capital account liberalization and economic growth: New measures, new estimates and the experience of South Korea , Kang-Kook Lee

Enterprise hybrids and alternative growth dynamics , Kenneth M Levin

Social interaction and economic institution , Yongjin Park

Research and policy considerations in the valuation and the allocation of environmental and health commodities , Mihail Samnaliev

Immiserizing growth: Globalization and agrarian change in Telangana, South India between 1985 and 2000 , Vamsicharan Vakulabharanam

Social networks and labor market outcomes: Theoretical expansions and econometric analysis , Russell E Williams

Dissertations from 2003 2003

Three essays on the evolution of cooperation , Jung-Kyoo Choi

Economic size and long -term growth: An empirical analysis of the consequences of small economic size on investment, productivity and income growth , Pavel E Isa

Essays on categorical inequality, non-linear income dynamics and social mobility in South Africa , Malcolm M Keswell

The effectiveness of tax incentives in attracting investment: The case of Puerto Rico , Carlos F Liard-Muriente

A theoretical and statistical exploration into the effects of morals, personality and uncertainty on hypothetical bias in contingent valuation , Joseph D Ogrodowczyk

The role of the stock market in influencing firm investment in China , Feng Xiao

Dissertations from 2002 2002

Essays on the threat effects of foreign direct investment on labor markets , Minsik Choi

An international analysis of child welfare , Nasrin Dalirazar

Fiscal faux pas? An empirical analysis of the revenue and expenditure implications of trade liberalization , Barsha Khattry

Property from the sky: The creation of property rights in the radio spectrum in the United States , Elizabeth M Kruse

Three essays on China's state owned enterprises: Towards an alternative to privatization , Minqi Li

From welfare rights to welfare fights: Neo -liberalism and the retrenchment of social provision , John Arthur O'Connor

Political community and individual gain: Aristotle, Adam Smith and the problem of exchange , Kimberly Kaethe Sims

Rethinking prostitution: Analyzing an informal sector industry , Marjolein Katrien van der Veen

Dissertations from 2001 2001

Land and labor markets among paddy producers in the Nepalese Tarai , Ravi Bhandari

What drives equity values: fundamentals or net flows? An empircal analysis of the 1982--1999 United States stock market boom , Lawrence Lee Evans

Investment, labor demand, and political conflict in South Africa , James S Heintz

Education, Inequality and Economic Mobility in South Africa , Thomas Nathaniel Hertz

Employer work -family programs: Essays on policy implementation, employee preferences, and parental childcare choices , Sally Jane Kiser

Valuing environmental health risks: A comparison of stated preference techniques applied to groundwater contamination , Tammy Barlow McDonald

Endogenous quality and intra-industry trade , Edward Allan McPhail

Perceptions of Massachusetts family and consumer sciences education professionals regarding the importance and use of the National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences Education in Massachusetts , Jo Ann Pullen

From feudal serfs to independent contractors: Class and African American women's paid domestic labor, 1863–1980 , Cecilia M Rio

A home of one's own: Overcoming gender and familial status barriers to homeownership , Judith K Robinson

Springfield Armory as industrial policy: Interchangeable parts and the precision corridor , Bruce K Tull

Dissertations from 2000 2000

Intergroup inequality, social identity and economic outcomes , Katherine E Baird

Engendering Globalization: Household Structures, Female Labor Supply and Economic Growth , Elissa Braunstein

Capital, conditionality, and free markets: The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the effects of the neoliberal transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean , Andres Carbacho-Burgos

Rural institutions, poverty and cooperation: Learning from experiments and conjoint analysis in the field , Juan-Camilo Cardenas

Understanding the equal split as a bargaining convention and the role of residual claimancy in team production: Three essays in behavioral and experimental economics , Jeffrey Paul Carpenter

Enforcing market -based environmental policies , Carlos A Chavez Rebolledo

A comparative analysis of three economic theories focusing upon the international trade of hazardous waste (the case of electric arc furnace dust) , Amy Silverstein Cramer

The political economy of transformation in Hungary , Anita Dancs

Cross -media transfers of pollution and risk , Janine Marie Dombrowski

Essays on endogenous preferences and public generosity , Christina Margareta Fong

Con nuestro trabajo y sudor: Indigenous women and the construction of colonial society in 16th and 17th century Peru , Karen B Graubart

Banks, insider lending and industries of the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts, 1813–1860 , Paul Andre Lockard

Existence value: A reappraisal and cross -cultural comparison , Billy Manoka

Quality management systems and the estimation of market power exertion , Corinna Michaela Noelke

The power of personality: Labor market rewards and the transmission of earnings , Melissa Anne Osborne

Accumulation and European unemployment , Engelbert Richard Stockhammer

Modeling Superfund: A hazardous waste bargaining model with rational threats , Mary Anderson Taft

Welfare, inequality, and resource depletion: A reassessment of Brazilian economic growth, 1965–1993 , Mariano Torras

Dissertations from 1999 1999

Steadying the husband, uplifting the race: The Pittsburgh Urban League's promotion of black female domesticity during the Great Black Migration , Nina Elizabeth Banks

The origins of parallel segmented labor and product markets: A reciprocity-based agency model with an application to motor freight , Stephen V Burks

R&D, advertising, and profits: Economic theory, empirical evidence, and consequences for transfer pricing policy , David W DeRamus

Rethinking demand: A critique and reformulation of Marxian theories of price , David Leo Kristjanson

Wealth, the power to set terms, and the financing and control of firms , Paul N Malherbe

Intra -family transfers and the household division of labor: A case study of migration and remittance behavior in South Africa , Dorrit Ruth Posel

Transportation network policy modeling for congestion and pollution control: A variational inequality approach , Padma Ramanujam

The political economy of organized baseball: Analysis of a unique industry , Ross David Weiner

Dissertations from 1998 1998

The internationalization of production and its effects on the domestic behavior of United States manufacturing multinational firms , James Michael Burke

Neoliberal and neostructuralist theories of competitiveness and flexible labor: The case of Chile's manufactured exports, 1973-1996 , Fernando Ignacio Leiva

An econometric study of the export sector of Somalia , Mohamed A Osman

Financial liberalization, multinational banks and investment: Three essays on the cases of Hungary and Poland , Christian Erik Weller

Dissertations from 1997 1997

Structuralism and individualism in economic analysis: The "contractionary devaluation debate" in development economics , S Charusheela

Financial liberalization in Mexico, 1989-1993 , Colin Danby

CEO pay, agency, and the theory of the firm , Frederick Dexter Guy

Food quality regulation under trade agreements: Effects on the supply of food safety and competitiveness , Neal Hilton Hooker

Agency problems in the capital markets and the employment relationship: The possibility of efficiency-enhancing institutional innovation: An empirical case-study , Pierre Laliberte

New directions in the political economy of consumption , Allan Henry MacNeill

Capabilities and processes of industrial growth: The case of Argentina and the Argentine auto industry , Marcela Monica Miozzo

Manufacturers' responses to new nutrition labeling regulations , Eliza Maria Mojduszka

Rethinking rural development: Making peasant organizations work. The case of Paraguay , Jose R Molinas Vega

Property regimes, technology, and environmental degradation in Cuban agriculture , Hector R Saez

International multi-sector, multi-instrument financial modeling and computation: Statics and dynamics , Stavros Siokos

Three essays on government decision-making to implement and enforce environmental policies , Kristin Ellen Skrabis

Dissertations from 1996 1996

An economic critique of urban planning and the 'postmodern' city: Los Angeles , Enid Arvidson

Dissertations from 1995 1995

Trade liberalization and income distribution: Three essays with reference to the case of Mexico and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) , Mehrene E Larudee

Dissertations from 1994 1994

Subjectivism and the limits of F. A. Hayek's political economy , Theodore A Burczak

International currencies and endogenous enforcement , Roohi Prem

Three essays on key currencies and currency blocs , Ellen Tierney

Dissertations from 1993 1993

Capitalist regulation and unequal integration: The case of Puerto Rico , Jaime Eduardo Benson

Production and reproduction: Family policy and gender inequality in East and West Germany , Lynn Susan Duggan

Dissertations from 1992 1992

Capital controls and long-term economic growth , Jessica G Nembhard

Dissertations from 1990 1990

Concentration and product diversity in culture-based industries: A case study of the music recording industry , Peter James Alexander

Dissertations from 1987 1987

THE DETERMINANTS OF THE ECONOMIC POLICIES OF STATES IN THE THIRD WORLD: THE AGRARIAN POLICIES OF THE ETHIOPIAN STATE, 1941-1974 , HENOCK KIFLE

Dissertations from 1986 1986

The Political-Economy of Nuclear Power 1946-1982 , Steven Mark Cohn, Economics

Dissertations from 1985 1985

THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT ON RACIAL INEQUALITY: 1950 TO 1984 (BLACK, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, GOVERNMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, LABOR) , PETER GEORGE BOHMER

THE GROWTH OF NONMARRIAGE AMONG U.S. WOMEN, 1954-1983 (MARRIAGE, FAMILY, HOUSEHOLDS, UNITED STATES) , ELAINE DENISE MCCRATE

Dissertations from 1983 1983

TAXATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM IN CONNECTICUT , MICHAEL ROBERT FEDEROW

Dissertations from 1982 1982

Evolution of a Hospital Labor System: Technology, Coercion, and Conflict , Jean E. Fisher, Economics

Dissertations from 1981 1981

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARKET ECONOMY IN COLONIAL MASSACHUSETTS , RONA STEPHANIE WEISS

Dissertations from 1980 1980

Justice and economic theory. , Barry Stewart Clark, Economics

Dissertations from 1976 1976

EVALUATION OF NEOCLASSICAL THEORY OF PRICE, PRODUCTION AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME. , MANUCHER DARESHURI

Dissertations from 1970 1970

COST PROBLEMS OF THE RUTLAND RAILROAD AND ITS SUCCESSORS FROM--1937 TO 1968 , ROBERT DAVID SMITH

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The Economic History Blog

February 22nd, 2022, prize-winning students working papers.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Every year we’re delighted to award the very best undergraduate and master’s dissertations a prize for excellence.  While we’re confident that this is outstanding research, until this year we have lacked a platform to share it properly with a wider audience. To this end we recently launched a Working Paper series to share prizewinning students’ dissertations in full.

You can view the dissertations here: Student Prizewinning Working Papers. If you don’t have time to read them in full, the abstracts will give you a flavour of the wide range of economic history topics and approaches.

As you continue to follow this blog you’ll also spot the occasional specially commissioned posts by prizewinning students, condensing and summarising their work for the non-specialist reader, eg Luke Oades on Norman post-conquest power consolidation , and Matthew Purcell on how American citizens flouted federal agencies in the fight for AIDS treatments.

About the author

Helena Ivins is Managing Editor of the Economic History blog.

Citizens against AIDS (and the FDA) November 23rd, 2021

Related posts.

From Norman Conquest to Norman Yoke

January 4th, 2022.

Citizens against AIDS (and the FDA)

November 23rd, 2021.

Remembering the Women of Lock Asylum 

November 6th, 2021.

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Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Examples of honors theses written by economics undergraduate students.

Posted with permission of the author. © 2019-2022 by the individual author. All rights reserved.

• "The Causal Effect of ACA Subsidies on Insurance Coverage Status Among California Adults"  - William Vereyken
• "Economic Impacts of Immigration Detention Centers Built Between 1990-2016 on U.S. Commuting Zones"  - Ekaterina Yudina

Spring/Summer 2022

• "The Impact of Indiv. Mandate on High-Income, Non-elderly Indiv. Health Insurance Coverage Rates and Racial/Ethnic Disparities"  - YeJin Ahn
• "An Economic Analysis of the 1997 Amhara Land Redistribution in Ethiopia"  - Ezana Anley
• "Affirmative Action's Effect on Educational and Wage Outcomes for Underrepresented Minorities"  - Vishnu G. Arul
• "Are the Effects of Racism Really That Black and White? A Study on the Effect Racism Has on the Productivity of Black   Footballers in the Premier League"  - Advik Banerjee
• "An Empirical Analysis of Industrial Concentration and Prices: Can We Blame Inflation on Corporate Greed?"  - Anton Bobrov
• "Tax Revenue Cyclicality and Income Inequality: Evidence from U.S. Counties From 1989 to 2019"  - Yiyang Chen
• "The Impact of Economic Opportunities on African American Migration Patterns in Oakland"  - Fernando Cheung
• "Impact of Tech Companies on Wages in the Local Economy"  - Niki Collette
• "Warm Welcome: Evidence for Weather-based Projection Bias in College Choice"  - Maria Cullen
• "Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Bilateral Trade with China"  - Pedro de Marcos
• "Renaissance of the Black Homeowner: Impact Evaluation of Michigan's Renaissance Zones"  - Rupsha Debnath
• "Lockdown Blues: The Effect of Social Norms on the Psychological Cost of Unemployment During the COVID-19 Pandemic"  - Dylan Hallahan
• "How Education Affects Health Outcomes Across Genders"  - Jessica Li
• "Is Increasing Diversity Inclusion Effective in Improving Companies' Performance in the Financial Services Industry?"  - Miranda Li
• "The Future Financial Status of the Social Security Program"  - Chloe Manouchehri
• "Does Recreational Marijuana Legalization Affect Hard-Drug Use? - Evidence from Cocaine Prevalence and Treatment Admissions"  - Arthur Weiss
• "Relationship Between Economic Status and Money Spent on Private Education Leading to Economic Inequality in South Korea"  - Jiho Lee
• "The Impact of Migrant Remittances on Rural Labor Supply: Evidence from Nepal"  - Amanda Wong
• "Confirmation Bias: The Role of Messages and Messengers"  - Hongyu (Randol) Yao

Spring 2021

• "Gender Equality and Economic Growth: Solving the Asian Puzzle"  - Zoya Ali
• "Women in STEM: Moving Up or Falling Off the Academic Career Ladder?"  - Sophia J. Bai
• "Time Dependence in Okun's Law at the State Level" - Sarah Baig
• "Labor Regulation and the Impact on Firm Behavior in India" - Vatsal Bajaj
• "Gender Representation in Academia: Evidence from the Italian Education System Reform" - Oyundari Batbayar
• "Money & Marriage on the Elementary Mind: A High-Level Analysis of Inequitable Child Development in LA County" - Matthew J. Chang
• "Unanticipated Unemployment Rate News on the Stock Market" - David Chi
• "Should Physicians Be More Collaborative? Determining the Relationship Between Patient Participation and Treatment Plan Confidence Across a Spectrum of Illness Severity in the State of California" - Saif Chowdhury
• "Modeling Optimal Investment and Greenhouse Gas Abatement in the Presence of Technology Spillovers" - Sabrina Chui
• "Understanding the Influence of Marginal Income Tax Rates on Retirement Investment Habits"  - Daniel Cohen
• "Infrastructure in India's Internal War: A District-Level Analysis of the Naxalite-Maoist Conflict" - Krunal Desai
• "Do Eucalyptus Trees Increase Wildfires?"  - Lila Englander
• "Understanding the Labor Outcomes of Hurricane Sandy" - Kevin Fang
• "Does TikTok Show Viewers the Content Relevant to them?" - Ekaterina Fedorova
• "The Impact of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Care Provision on Long-term Young Adult Labor Market Choices" - Anne Fogarty
• "Orchestra Sex Disparity: Experimental Evidence from Audience Members" - Richard Gong
• "The Big Three Medical Price Indexes: A Comparative Review and Analysis"  - Robert Hovakimyan
• "Effect of Value-Added-Services on Customer Reviews in a Platform Marketplace" - Shankar Krishnan
• "COVID19 Recession: Gender Layoff Gap Explodes" - Ember Lin-Sperry
• "The Gender Wage Gap in China: Learning from Recent Longitudinal Data" - Donghe Lyu
• "Local Graduation Policies as a Tool for Increasing College Eligibility: Evidence from Los Angeles" - Dan L. Ma
• "Trust in Government and Lockdown Compliance in Sub-Saharan Africa" - Charles McMurry
• "I Do (or Don't): The Impact of Same-Sex Marriage Laws on International Tourism" - Oliver McNeil
• "International Shipping Consequences of a Navigable Arctic" - Jack Melin
• "Investigating Dollar Invoicing Trends Using United Kingdom Export Data" - Aneesh Nathani
• "Micro-Level Impact of Initial Public Offerings on Bay Area Housing Inflation" - Mina Nezam-Mafi
• "Explaining EU's Oil Dependency Through the Response of the Portuguese Sector Indexes to Brent Oil Prices Fluctuations" - Pedro S. Nunes
• "Dynamic Incentives and Effort Provision in Professional Tennis Tournaments" - Ruiwen Pan
• "Examining the Effects of Minimum Wage Laws on Part-Time Employment" - Odysseus Pyrinis
• "The Great Indian Identity Crisis? Exclusions & Intersectionality in the Indian Aadhaar System" - Aditi Ramakrishnan
• "The 'Clutch Gene' Myth: An Analysis of Late-Game Shooting Performance in the NBA"  - Can Sarioz
• "Estimating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Jobs Within the Healthcare Industry" - Sidharth Satya
• "Factors Influencing Telehealth Utilization: Evidence from California" - Emily Schultz
• "Cash and Conflict: Evidence from the Indian Banknote Demonetization" - Nachiket Shah
• "Determinants of the Number of Anti-Government Demonstrations: Evidence from OECD Countries" - Nina Singiri
• "Hygiene Heroes: A Process Evaluation of Promoting Hygiene Practices in Tamil Nadu Schools" - Malika Sugathapala
• "Exploring the Labour Patterns of Women and Mothers Through the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact of School Closures and a New Kind of Recession"  - Renee Isabel Utter
• "How Have Socioeconomic Achievement Determinants Changed in the Past Decade for First-Generation Chinese Immigrants in the U.S." - Haolin Wang
• "The Impact of Quarantining on School Enrollment: Evidence from the Ebola Epidemic in Sierra Leone" - David Willigrod
• "Weeding out Needy Households and Welcoming the Better Off? Impacts of Transactional Barriers on SNAP Participation Rates" - Kevin Woo
• "Are Soccer Teams Being Inefficient? An Analysis of Sunk Cost Fallacy and Recency Bias Using Transfer Fee" - Junru Lyu
• "The Effects of Access to Family Planning Facilities on Female Labor Market Outcomes"  - Marcus Sander
• "Macroeconomic Volatility at the Zero Lower Bound: Evidence from the OECD" - Anthony Swaminathan
• "How are Society's Conditions and Demographics Related to the Popularity of Chief Executive Carrie Lam  and the Hong Kong Government"  - Peter To

Spring/Summer 2020

• "Parental Involvement: The Differential Impacts of Consent and Notice Requirements for Minors' Abortions" - Angela Ames
• "Examining Local Price Levels and Income Distribution Over Time" - Josh Archer
• "Estimating the Effect of Grandparent Death on Fertility" - Jason Chen
• "Democracy in the Face of COVID-19: Have Less Democratic Countries Been More Effective at Preventing the Spread of This Pandemic ?" - Yi Chen
• "Understanding the Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers on Indigenous People in Mexico" - Arushi Desai
• "Microfinance and Payday Lending: Are they Solving a Problem or Creating One?" - Sophia Faulkner
• "The Risk-Taking Channel of Monetary Policy and Foreign Banks" - Noah Forougi
• "Ride of Die? Metropolitan Bikeshare Systems and Pollution" - Sean Furuta
• "Internet's Important Involvement in Information Industry Integration in Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana (and others): How the emerging internet affected the economic geography of the information industry" - Keming (Alex) Gao
• "The Relationship between Economic Crises and Long-Run Wealth Inequality" - Renuka Garg
• "Voter Bias in the Associated Press College Football Poll : Reconducting a 2009 study with new data in a $1 Billion-dollar industry that has seen significant changes in the past decade"  - Brent Hensley
• "Monopsony Exploitation in Major League Baseball: Using Wins Above Replacement to Estimate Marginal Revenue Product" - Jacob C. Hyman
• "The Relationship Between Currency Substitution and Exchange Rate Volatility" - Jewon Ju
• "Efficiency, Bias, and Decisions: Observations from a Sports Betting Exchange" - Alexander Kan
• "The Effect of Medicaid Expansion on Substance Use Disorder Treatment Utilization: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act" - Christy Kang
• "Analyzing the Relationship between Personal Income Tax Progressivity and Income Inequality" - Gevorg Khandamiryan
• "The Effects of Occupancy Taxes on the Short-Term Rental Market: Evidence from Boston" - Alan Liang
• "Corporate Types and Bank Lending in Contractionary Era: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies" - Zishen Liu
• "Financial Constraints on Student Learning: An Analysis of How Financial Stress Influences Cognitive Function in Children" - Simone Matecna
• "The Effect of Workplace Inspections on Employment and Sales - A Regression Discontinuity Analysis" - Jeseo Park
• "Lending Sociodynamics, Economic Instability, and the U.S. Farm Credit Crisis" - Erfan Samaei
• "The Effect of Intangible Assets on Value Added: Evidence from microdata across small and large firms in Europe" - Tamara Sequeira
• "Price Efficiency Differences Between Public and Private Utilities: An Empirical Analysis of US Electric Utilities" - Yechan Shin
• "Effect of Campus Shootings on Academic Achievement: Examination of 2014 Isla Vista Killings" - Min Joo (Julie) Song
• "First-Degree Price Discrimination: Evidence from Informal Markets in India" - Rishab Srivastava
• "Who Benefits From Gentrification? A Case Study of Oregon Public High Schools" - Namrata Subramanian
• "Estimating the Economic Impacts of Wealth Taxation in France" - Jeffrey Suzuki
• "Transit-Oriented Development or Transit-Oriented Displacement? Evaluating the Sorting Effect of Public Transportation in Los Angeles County" - Yeeling Tse
• "How State Abortion Policy Restrictiveness is Associated with Unintended Pregnancy Outcomes in the United States from 2014-2018" - Ruhee Wadhwania
• "Global Food Security and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation"  - Aidan Wang
• "The Relationship Between Pharmaceutical R&D Spending and NME Development" - Taylor Wang
• "The Role of Individual Risk Attitude in Occupational Inheritance" - Yi Wang
• "Labor Market Segmentation: Evidence from U.S. Janitorial Jobs Advertised in English and Spanish" - Zijun Xu
• "Bias on the Brain: How Patient Gender Influences Use of Emergency Room Diagnostic Imaging" - Abigail Zhong
• "Age Effects, Irrationality and Excessive Risk-Taking in Supposedly Expert Agents" - William Aldred
• "Pricing Disparities for Minority Communities in Chicago: Rideshares and Taxis" - Matthew Cleveland
• "Where My Negros At? Evaluating the Effects of Banning Affirmative Action on Black College Enrollment" - Ellie Koepplinger
• "Race and Recession: How Minorities May Affect Downturns" - Alexander Szarka
• "Understanding the Effects of Canadian International Food Aid on Production and Trade" - Patrick D. Tagari
• "Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru: Heterogeneity Analysis by Gender and Educational Attainment" - Juan Sebastián Rozo Vásquez
• "Effect of High-Speed Rail on City Tourism Revenue in China: A Perspective on Spatial Connectivity" - Lingyun Xiao

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Economics Dissertation Topics

Published by Alvin Nicolas at January 11th, 2023 , Revised On April 16, 2024

The field of economics has changed entirely in recent times. Today, the field holds an extremely important place in every economy, with individual choices, spending, borrowing, production, occupations, markets, trading, employment, and a lot more being predicted and planned by economists.

Today, economists view economics from a modern and slightly different perspective than traditional economics. Different approaches in economics include perspectives like anthropology, sociology, geography, and various institutions.

Studying economics involving these perspectives provides a clearer view of the issues and problems related to the modern economic world. In contrast, focusing on the traditional economic approaches while selecting a topic will result in vague outcomes according to modern economics.

The most difficult task with respect to economics dissertations involves the  collection of data . Mostly the data required by the researcher must be in quantitative form. However, once data is collected, the researcher can focus on performing the analysis.

There are a number of economic perspectives that can be studied in detail. As your final project, you will want to select the most recent and relevant economics topic for your dissertation.

To help you get started with brainstorming for economics topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your economics dissertation.

These topics have been developed by PhD-qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the problem,  research question , aim and objectives,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  example dissertations to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

You can review step by step guide on how to write your dissertation.

Check our  example dissertation to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

2024 Economics Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: the influence of price and brand on consumer preference during an economic recession: a case of the clothing market in greece.

Research Aim: The research will aim to examine the impact of prices and brands on consumer buying behaviour during an economic recession in Greece’s clothing market. During an economic crisis, not all types of products suffer the same consequences. During a recession, people are more sensible in their buying decisions, and they frequently continue to choose known product brands that meet their demands. The study will look at the impact of the recession on consumer purchasing preferences, taking into account variations in spending on various apparel brands based on price.

Topic 2: The financial and non-financial support of the family members in the growth of a successful entrepreneurship

Research Aim: The research will aim to investigate the importance of financial and non-financial support of family members in the growth of successful entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a driving force in economic growth, social transformation, and organizational change. Private businesses (entrepreneurship) not only support a state’s social and economic growth but it also develops intellectual competition and innovation. Family members who are involved in business ventures can influence individuals’ goals to start new businesses, and they can also be considered as a means of economic and motivational strength.

Topic 3: The impact of transaction cost on economic development

Research Aim: The research will aim to explore the impact of transaction cost on the economic development of a country. The study will try to find the impact by using different methods and analyses. This article will investigate the difficulties of economic growth as they relate to transaction costs and how the latter produce various sorts of market failures. The study also explores several major contributions to the field of economic development, including market failure and growth barriers. Alternative perspectives on the failure of government and the market-government duality will also be examined.

Topic 4: What effect does oil price fluctuation have on business activity in oil-importing and exporting states?

Research Aim: The research will aim to find the influence of oil rate fluctuation on businesses of oil-importing and exporting countries. Change has a significant influence on the production costs of oil-importing countries and changes in pricing levels changes. At the same time, oil price variations have a significant impact on energy export profits and government budget revenues in energy-exporting economies.

Topic 5: The impact of gender inequality on work productivity and economic growth: A case study on developing countries

Research Aim: The research will aim to find the impact of gender inequality on work productivity and economic growth in developing countries. Gender inequality is not solely a concern in developing countries. Males earn more than women in practically every society. Differences in health, education, and negotiating power within marriage, on the other hand, tend to be bigger in countries with low Per capita income. Gender inequality in the office contributes to females’ lower socio-economic standing. Furthermore, such gender inequality may be associated with human resource rules and human resource related decision-making.

Topic 6: Research to identify the impacts of Coronavirus on the economy

Research Aim: This study will focus on identifying the impacts of coronavirus on the global economy.

Topic 7: Research to study the impacts of Coronavirus on the real estate sector

Research Aim: This research aims at identifying the impacts of coronavirus on the real estate sector. Is real estate a better option for investment during COVID-19?

Topic 8: Research to study the impacts of Coronavirus on the stock market

Research Aim: This research aims at identifying the impacts of coronavirus on the stock market.

Topic 9: Research to identify the impacts of Coronavirus on banking and the future of banking after the pandemic

Research Aim: This research aims at identifying the impacts of coronavirus on banking and the future of banking after the pandemic. What are the predictions? What challenges may come across? How to overcome those challenges?

Dissertation Topics on Economics 2023

Topic 1: economic expansion in bioenergy: a case study.

Research Aim: This research aims to conduct a case study on the economic expansion in bioenergy

Topic 2: Factors responsible for job creation and job destruction in the UK

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the factors responsible for job creation and job destruction in the UK.

Topic 3: Impacts of wars on the economy of both nations

Research Aim: This research aims to address how do wars impact the economy of both nations?

Topic 4: The role of banks in the economy of a country

Research Aim:  This research aims to highlight the role of Banks in the economy of a country. Students can choose any country to conduct the study.

Topic 5: Is an unhealthy country considered an emerging country?

Research Aim:  This research will answer the question: Is an unhealthy country considered a poor country?

Dissertation Topics Related to Economic Geography

Economic geography studies human economic activities with respect to various conditions such as location, distribution, production, consumption, exchange of resources, etc. Thus, studying the availability of all these resources, their development, and utilization is the main subject matter of economic geography.

In addition to studying these resources and their relationship with human economic activities, economic geography also helps study the interaction of these resources and variables with respect to nature and economic activities.

Economic geography is studied within different regions and localities in order to assess various human economic activities. Here are some economic geography dissertation topics to help you explore this field.

Topic 1: Role of local ethics and culture in shaping entrepreneurial economic development in various businesses.

Research Aim: This study will talk about the role of culture and ethics in shaping economic entrepreneurial attitudes in different fields of business.

Topic 2: Diversity in entrepreneurial approaches brought up by emigrants in the economics of a place: A critical analysis

Research Aim: This research will discuss whether entrepreneurial approaches be exported when emigrants move to a new place.

Topic 3: Assessing factors involved in facilitating knowledge transfer in a specific locality or place

Research Aim: This research will understand the various factors that play a role in transferring knowledge from one place or locality to another.

Topic 4: Economic opportunities provided within local boundaries. A case study of any specific area

Research Aim: This study will talk about the economic opportunities provided by local boundaries. This dissertation can be customised according to an area/region of your choice.

Topic 5: To discuss the role of the “European regional policy” in shaping or modifying places in the UK

Research Aim: This study will talk about the role of European regional policy in shaping and modifying UK places.

Topic 6: Location of top IT firms in the UK, the role of location on economics linked to a particular firm

Research Aim: This study will assess the economic geography of top IT firms in the UK that are linked to different firms.

Topic 7: Causes of regional diversity. Analysis and comparison between the richest and poorest places of the UK

Research Aim: This will be a comparative study between the richest and poorest places in the UK based on regional diversity.

Topic 8: Economics and expansion in bioenergy: A Case Study

Research Aim: This study will talk about economics and expansion in bioenergy, and a specific case will be under analysis.

Topic 9: Economic modifications faced by emigrants, causes and impacts

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various economic modifications that emigrants have to face and will also assess its causes and impacts.

Topic 16: A critical analysis of diversity in entrepreneurial attitudes in rural and urban areas

Research Aim: This will be a critical study that will assess diversity in entrepreneurial attitudes in both rural and urban areas.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service!

Dissertation Topics on Microeconomics

This branch of economics deals with economic perspectives on an individual level. It takes into account the allocation of various resources that are limited in nature. Different theories of microeconomics can be applied to markets where different products are bought and sold out.

In order to complete your graduation program, you will have to select the right economics topic that not only interests you but is relevant in today’s world. The suggested topics for you to choose from are listed below:

Topic 1: Difference in consumer attitudes in the UK over the past 15 years – Critical analysis of customer behaviour trends.

Research Aim: This research will compare the consumer attitude in the UK over the past 15 years and will study the trends.

Topic 2: Understanding to what extent does the concept of oligopoly exists in markets of the UK – A critical analysis

Research Aim: This study will first talk about oligopoly, and will then build and critically discuss how this concept exists in the UK market.

Topic 3: Laws and their impact on British firms.

Research Aim: This study will talk about the various laws in the UK that have an impact on various industries as a whole.

Topic 4: “European regional policy” and its effects on British small and medium enterprises

Research Aim: This research will study the European regional policy and the impacts this has on SMEs in the UK.

Topic 5: To discuss specific traits of the UK innovation organisation

Research Aim:  This research will understand the various traits of UK organisations that innovate.

Topic 6: Study of the characteristics of the energy market in the UK – A microeconomic approach

Research Aim: This study will undertake a microeconomic approach in order to understand the characteristics of the energy market in the UK.

Topic 7: Common traits of the top internet technology firms in the US – Analysis of the approaches adopted by different successful technology firms

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various traits of leading internet firms in the US and will analyse their different approaches

Topic 8: How is the concept of “economic convergence” linked to salary levels in the United States? – A critical analysis

Research Aim: This study will critically discuss economic convergence and how it is linked to salary levels in the US.

Topic 9: A Discussion on the use and role of various “pricing models” in making investment decisions.

Research Aim: This research will analyze the various pricing models that companies use to make decisions with respect to their investment.

Topic 10: Analysing salary inequalities in the United States and the forces behind such inequalities? – A Critical analysis

Research Aim: This study will talk about an important issue, i.e., salary inequalities in the US, and will also discuss the various forces that drive such inequalities.

Dissertation Topics on Employment Economics

Employment is a very important aspect that is studied in economics. Employment is interconnected with other academic subjects as well and affects people’s finances, which further determines their type of relationship with their environment or society.

Moreover, with the passage of time, technological advancements in various fields have impacted the labor market, which directly influenced the employment rate.  Dissertation topics  related to the field of employment economics are listed as under:

Topic 1: Factors responsible for the job creation and job destruction in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This research will talk about the different factors that are responsible for job creation and destruction in the United Kingdom.

Topic 2: Analysing to what extent the concept of self-employment prevails in the United Kingdom – Discuss the factors that determine it

Research Aim: This research will determine the extent to which the concept of self-employment prevails in the UK. Furthermore, the factors determining self-employment will also be explored.

Topic 3: Link between minimum wages and British employment. A critical analysis

Research Aim: This study will critically analyze the link between wages minimum wages and employment in Britain.

Topic 4: Understanding In what ways technological advancements have paved the way for a rise in British employment levels

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various ways through which technological advancements have helped increase employment in the British economy.

Topic 5: Exploring the value of labour in the United Kingdom– Skilled or unskilled labour? A Critical Analysis

Research Aim: This study will talk about the value of both types of labour, skilled and unskilled, in the UK. A critical analysis will be conducted as to which type of labour is more in demand in the economic system.

Topic 6: Analysing the levels and prevalence of self-employment in various parts of Europe. An Analysis of the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This research will discuss and analyse the levels and prevalence of self-employment in various parts across Europe. Special attention will be given to the UK in the study to understand the self-employment system.

Topic 7: In what ways does immigration affects British employment levels and productivity? Discuss

Research Aim: This research will talk about the various ways through which immigration affects British employment levels and productivity.

Topic 8: How can professional training impact British employment? Discuss

Research Aim: This study will talk about the impact of professional training on employment in the UK. The research will discuss if the impact was negative or positive.

Topic 9: Analysing the impact of gender inequality in employment on economic growth in the UK

Research Aim: This research will analyse the impact of gender inequality in employment on economic growth in the UK.

Topic 10: Economic productivity and Innovation – Are they both related? A study of the UK services industry

Research Aim: This research will help understand the relationship (if any) between economic productivity and innovation. The UK Services industry will be analyzed.

Dissertation Topics on Economic Sociology

This field refers to the study of sociological aspects from an economic perspective. Social networks are also one of the more important features in the economic world because they can contribute greatly to promoting a particular brand.

Different social gatherings are a source to highlight a particular industry, firm, and even a private setup. They can contribute greatly to building successful businesses. Following are some economic sociology dissertation topics for you to choose from:

Topic 1: Exploring Innovation Activities for the promotion of a particular firm/industry/brand

Research Aim: This research will talk about all the innovative activities that take place while promoting a brand or a company in an industry. This topic can be customised according to a brand/company of your choosing.

Topic 2: Understanding the role of families in funding a particular firm

Research Aim: This research will talk about the family funding of businesses, the whole process and how it takes place. You can choose an industry of your choice to base your dissertation on.

Topic 3: Can a blend of different cultures contribute to increasing the level of productivity? Evidence from a UK firm

Research Aim : This research will discuss how various cultures contribute to increasing productivity levels. A UK firm will be chosen for this research.

Topic 4: Social capital plays its role in the rural areas in the UK – A critical analysis

Research Aim: This research will talk about social capital and its role in the rural areas of the UK.

Topic 5: Youth as one of the biggest supports in the promotion of economic agents

Research Aim: This research will help understand the relationship (if any) between economic productivity and innovation. The UK services industry will be analysed.

Topic 6: Exploring the role of university networks in shaping entrepreneurial behaviours and actions

Research Aim: This study will help explore the role of university networks in shaping entrepreneurial actions and behaviours.

Topic 43: Role of social entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This study will talk about the role of social entrepreneurship in the UK and how it has emerged.

Topic 8: Diverse culture and productivity enhancement – How are the two related?

Research Aim: This study will talk about whether diverse culture has an impact on productivity enhancement in the UK or not.

Topic 9: Exploring the Impact of social networks on the success of Brands

Research Aim: This study will talk about the impact of social networks on the success of brands and how they impact businesses. You can choose a brand for this dissertation.

Topic 10: Understanding the ‘peer’ factor in setting up businesses

Research Aim: Setting up a business involves various factors, and an essential one is a support from peers. This research will explore this aspect of support when starting a business and the impact it has.

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Dissertation Topics on Institutional Economics

Institutional economics helps in understanding the role of institutions in shaping economic behaviour. Certain institutions promote certain values, beliefs and norms, and they impact the public in a certain way.

These institutions can affect the economics of a certain region and help shape economic life and behaviour. Institutional economics is still an emerging field. Following are some institutional economics dissertation topics that you can base your dissertation on.

Topic 1: Assessing the factors behind the power of a successful firm. How is it built?

Research Aim: This research will discuss the various factors that help companies build power in the industry and impact the economy.

Topic 2: Analysing the impact of cultural mix on the organisation of firms in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This study will analyse the impact of diverse cultures on organisations in the UK.

Topic 3: Evaluating the role of bureaucracy in the productivity levels of the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This research will help in evaluating the role of bureaucracy on productivity levels in the UK.

Topic 4: Understanding various methods to ensure economic efficiency in the property markets of the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This study will understand the different ways through which economic efficiency is ensured in the UK property markets.

Topic 5: Impacts of transaction costs on economic development?

Research Aim: This research will evaluate how economic development is impacted by transaction costs.

Topic 6: Analysing the major forces operating behind the concept of control and ownership in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This study will help analyse the major forces that control and own institutions in the UK and how they impact the economy.

Topic 7: Traits of British managers and investors. A Comparative analysis

Research Aim: This will be an interesting study as it will talk about the various traits of British managers and investors.

Topic 8: Role of educational aspects in entrepreneurship

Research Aim: This research will explore the role of education concerning entrepreneurship, i.e. how does education help build entrepreneurs, which in turn benefits the economy.

Topic 9: The concept of latent entrepreneurship – A comparison between the United Kingdom and Europe

Research Aim: This study will understand the concept of latent entrepreneurship by comparing the UK environment with that of Europe.

Topic 10: Is the profit of a firm dependent on its size? Evidence from the manufacturing firms in the UK

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding whether the profit of a company is dependent on the business’ size or not. The UK Manufacturing industry will be explored.

Dissertation Topics on Environmental Economics

Environment and economics share a unique and close relationship. The environment can affect economics in a good or bad way. There are various environmental economic issues that should be addressed. Following are some of the pressing issues pertaining to environmental economics that you can choose as your dissertation topic.

Topic 1: To what extent is the environment responsible for shaping business behaviours? A critical analysis

Research Aim: This research will talk about the extent to which the environment is responsible for building business behaviours.

Topic 2: Economics in relation to biodiversity and nature conservation. An evidence-based study

Research Aim: This research will discuss economics in relation to biodiversity and nature conservation.

Topic 3: Assessing the role of NGO’s and organizations to promote a healthy environment through fundraising programs

Research Aim: This research will help in assessing the role of NGOs and organisations in promoting healthy environments through various fundraising programs.

Topic 4: Willingness to pay for various recycling programs – A case study of the United Kingdom.

Research Aim : This research will help understand the different recycling programs by evaluating a UK-based case study.

Topic 5: Incentives regarding land and water management – A case study of the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This research will talk about various incentives relating to land and water management. A UK-based case study will be chosen.

Topic 6: Economic value of historical places: A critical analysis

Research Aim: This research will talk about the economic value of historical places and will present a critical analysis.

Topic 7: In which field is it cheapest to reduce or cut carbon emissions? Discuss.

Research Aim: This research will talk about the impacts of carbon emissions and will discuss in which field it will be cheapest to reduce or eliminate such emissions.

Topic 8: Ethanol production from an economic perspective. Discuss.

Research Aim: This research will help in exploring ethanol production with respect to economics.

Topic 9: Environmental improvements in regards to locational differences in communities Discuss in an economic approach

Research Aim: This research will present various environmental improvements with respect to locational differences in communities.

Topic 10: Climate change in relation to economics. Discuss

Research Aim: This research will talk about an important issue, i.e. climate change and the impact it has on economics.

Dissertation Topics on Regional Development

Economic growth can also be studied at a regional level. This field considers economic perspectives on a smaller level with a focus on trade between regions. Suggestions for dissertation topics in this field are listed as follows:

Topic 1: Evaluating the link between profit and regional development?

Research Aim: This research will evaluate the link between profit and regional development with respect to economics.

Topic 2: Assessing the “regional development policy” in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This study will talk about the regional development policy in the UK.

Topic 3: Discussing the role of learning or knowledge gaining involved in regional development?

Research Aim: This research will explore the role of knowledge and learning that helps promote regional development.

Topic 4: Assessing the existence of location theories that contribute towards the development and understanding of regional development

Research Aim: This research will assess the existence of locational theories that help contribute towards the development and understanding of regional development.

Topic 5: Evaluating the role that technology plays in regional development? A UK case study

Research Aim: This research will evaluate the role that technology plays in promoting regional development.

Topic 6: Exploring entrepreneurship and its regional aspects in the United Kingdom

Research Aim: This research will help explore entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship network with respect to regional development in the UK.

Topic 7: Role of Institutional setups in regional development

Research Aim: This study will talk about the role of institutional setups in regional development.

Topic 8: Assessing the relationship between unemployment and entrepreneurship in the light of evidence from British relationship

Research Aim: This research will assess the relationship between unemployment and entrepreneurship in the UK.

Find 100s of dissertation topics for other research areas.

Topic 9: In what ways the UK and the European firms are different in terms of innovation – A critical analysis

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding the various ways in which the UK and European firms are different with respect to innovation.

Topic 10: Assessing the role of regional co-operation in developing sustainable advantage

Research Aim: This research will help in assessing the role of regional cooperation in developing sustainable advantage amongst regions

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Important Notes

As a student of economics looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment on existing economics theories – i.e., to add value and interest in your research topic.

The field of economics is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like civil engineering ,  construction ,  law , engineering management , healthcare , mental health , artificial intelligence , tourism , physiotherapy , sociology , management , marketing and nursing . That is why it is imperative to create a project management dissertation topic that is articular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic; it is the basis of your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in  writing your dissertation  as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the very initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

Keeping our advice in mind while developing a research topic will allow you to pick one of the best economics dissertation topics that not only fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper but also adds to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and can also be practically implemented. Take a look at some of our sample economics dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your Economics Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems to be addressed. An outline of the structure of a dissertation  can also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review :  This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic, in light of  research questions  to be addressed. The purpose is to highlight and discuss the relative weaknesses and strengths of the selected research area while identifying any research gaps. Break down of the topic, and key terms can have a positive impact on your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology:  The  data collection  and  analysis  methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter which usually includes  research design, research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and  data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis:  Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include  graphs ,  charts, and  tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion  and  Conclusion: The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter, and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section is to establish the link between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References:  Make sure to complete this in accordance with your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices:  Any additional information, diagrams, graphs that were used to  complete the dissertation  but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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How to find economics dissertation topics.

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• Seek topics aligning with your passion and career aspirations.

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Department of Economics

Ec342: topics in economic history.

Cecilia Lanata-Briones

Total students will not give an accurate representation of student numbers until module registration is complete

Principal Aims

The module is organised on a topic basis, with subjects chosen to illustrate particular theoretical or methodological issues. It exposes students to leading themes in economic history with a substantial level of depth. It also familiarises students with cutting-edge research on prominent topics like the long run trends in well-being and inequality. Sessions are divided in two parts: one lecturer led and the other student led. Students will work in groups and carry out a presentation followed by a debate-like activity involving their classmates.

Principal Learning Outcomes

Subject knowledge and understanding:...(i) demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of selected topics in economic history; (ii) exhibit proficiency with applications of economic tools that have been specific to these selected issues; (iii) show a well-developed understanding of contemporary empirical debates and latest research in economic history; (iv) exhibit strong skills in how to approach an economic problem from the perspective of a contemporary researcher in economics.

Subject-specific and Professional Key General Skills:...(i) Demonstrate strengths in study and research skills including using the library and internet as information sources and understand how to locate relevant data, extract appropriate data, analyse and present material; (ii) communicate their knowledge and understanding to others, verbally and in writing, in a scholarly fashion; (iii) Critically review and analyse the relevant literature and evidence.

Cognitive skills:... (i) demonstrate analytical thinking, reasoning and application of economic theory; (ii) show a strong capacity for creative and strategic thinking; (iii) apply critical analysis to the topics of the module.

The syllabus for this module will typically include:

1. History matters:

Why history matters for economic development; Historical persistence

2. Institutions:

Institutions in history; Institutions in development

3. Conflict:

Conflict in history; Conflict in development

4. Human capital:

Human capital in history; Human capital in development

Health in history; Health in development

6. Globalization:

Globalization in history; Globalization in development

7. Capital:

Capital in history; Capital in development

8. Technology and innovation:

Technology and innovation in history; Technology and innovation in development

9. Governance:

Governance in history; Governance in development

10. Gender:

Gender in history; Gender in development

However, the module leader may add additional topics and sub-topics within the scope set out by the aims and learning outcomes of the module and subject to the approval of the department.

Exam Rubric

Time Allowed: 2 Hours

Read all instructions carefully - and read through the entire paper at least once before you start entering your answers.

There is ONE section in this paper. Answer FOUR questions out of five. All questions carry equal weight (25 marks each).

Approved pocket calculators are allowed.

You should not submit answers to more than the required number of questions. If you do, we will mark the questions in the order that they appear, up to the required number of questions in each section.

Previous exam papers can be found in the University’s past papers archive . Please note that previous exam papers may not have operated under the same exam rubric or assessment weightings as those for the current academic year. The content of past papers may also be different.

Improving economics teaching and learning for over 20 years

Undergraduate Dissertations in Economics

A practical guide

1. Introduction

2. the uk experience, 3. the dissertation life-cycle, 4. an alternative to the dissertation.

Emeritus Professor Peter Smith , University of Southampton  First published 2009  Revised version July 2016

https://doi.org/10.53593/n169a

For many students, the dissertation is the culmination of their undergraduate careers, and a rewarding and satisfying experience that gives them the opportunity to undertake an in-depth study of a topic that interests them. However, it can also become a traumatic and disillusioning venture for students who do not engage with the research, or who have a bad experience with some aspect of the dissertation process.

This chapter sets out to share good practice and provide guidance for co-ordinators, curriculum planners and supervisors, highlighting danger areas and providing discussion of some of the more contentious aspects of the dissertation process.

A key aim of any honours degree programme in the UK is to encourage students to become independent learners. This is no easy task in an environment in which many students arrive from school or college with preconceived notions of what is meant by study, and an array of expectations about the support they will receive from academic staff, not to mention the feedback and interaction with staff that they can expect.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in August 2008 set out the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland , which contains the following descriptor for a Bachelor’s degree with honours:

‘Bachelor's degrees with honours are awarded to students who have demonstrated:

• a systematic understanding of key aspects of their field of study, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of a discipline
• an ability to deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within a discipline
• to devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of a discipline
• to describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the discipline
• an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge
• the ability to manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (e.g. refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to the discipline).’

(Source:   http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Framework-Higher-Education-Qualifications-08.pdf  )

In the context of an economics programme, where in many cases students can arrive at university with no prior knowledge of the discipline, it is ambitious to think that students will be able to use ideas and techniques ‘at the forefront’ of the discipline after only three years of study, especially if this is really to be the aim for all honours students. On many programmes, the dissertation has become the prime vehicle by which students find an opportunity to become independent learners and to confront current research. For many students, the dissertation is the culmination of their undergraduate careers, and a rewarding and satisfying experience that gives them the opportunity to undertake an in-depth study of a topic that interests them. However, it can also become a traumatic and disillusioning venture for students who do not engage with the research, or who have a bad experience with some aspect of the dissertation process.

After a brief investigation of the current experience in the UK, this chapter is organised around the typical life-cycle of a dissertation, divided into a series of stages:

• laying the foundations
• topic selection
• early practicalities
• supervision
• progress monitoring
• data issues
• dissertation structure
• academic integrity.

As background to this chapter, a brief email survey was undertaken to gather information about the role of the undergraduate dissertation in economics departments across the UK. A report on this survey may be found in Appendix 1 .

From the survey it seems that dissertations are a part of the majority of Economics programmes in the UK. However, there are significant differences in the way in which the dissertation module is organised, and the way that students experience the dissertation.

A particular issue is whether all students should be required to complete a dissertation as part of their undergraduate programme. In some institutions, the dissertation is indeed compulsory for everyone, but elsewhere it is restricted to single honours students, or to those students who obtain an average of 60% or more in their second year. The QAA’s descriptor quoted above suggests that all students should receive some exposure to research, but clearly joint honours students are likely to find this more challenging than the specialists, having acquired less in-depth familiarity with either of their chosen disciplines.

Where joint honours students are required to take the dissertation, it may be necessary to adjust the expectations in terms of content. For example, whilst a single honours student with some exposure to econometrics may be expected to undertake some empirical work, it would be unreasonable to expect a joint honours (e.g. Politics and Economics) student to have the same familiarity with econometric methods. It has been known for students to try to teach themselves econometrics, which can prove disastrous.

Whether the dissertation should be limited to the better students is a moot point. On the one hand, it could be argued that weaker students should have equal access to the dissertation option; it may even be that there are some students who may achieve a better result on the dissertation where they can immerse themselves in a topic and produce a polished piece of work, than they could produce under examination conditions or in a problem-set-oriented assessment. On the other hand, experience suggests that weaker students require more supervision, and are more likely to resort to practices that breach academic integrity guidelines.

For these reasons, it may be necessary (or desirable) to provide alternative ways of exposing joint honours and weaker students to research methods. This will be discussed later in section 4 .

Where the dissertation is compulsory for all students, the organisation of the module causes concern. When there are large numbers of students requiring supervision, the load on individual staff members becomes heavy – especially given that some topic areas (and some staff members) tend to be more popular with students than others. It may then be necessary to find some way of spreading the supervision load across available staff or accommodating differences through a workload management system. Spreading the load evenly may result in inconsistency in the supervision provided, which can be very difficult to monitor effectively.

Another major impact on the dissertation has been the rise of the internet, and the ease with which students are able to find material. This can lead to excessive reliance on sites such as Wikipedia, and makes it imperative to be able to monitor standards of academic integrity. Almost all of the survey respondents reported using TurnitinUK, whether as routine for all dissertations submitted, for a random sample or for suspect cases. The traditional remedy of holding vivas for all student dissertations becomes extremely costly when large numbers of students are involved (one institution reported that more than 500 dissertations are submitted in a typical year). Nonetheless, this practice appears to have survived in some economics departments.

3.1 Laying the foundations

3.2 topic selection, 3.3 some early practicalities, 3.4 supervision, 3.5 early progress monitoring and the dangers of the last minute rush, 3.6 data issues, 3.7 dissertation content and structure, 3.8 submission, 3.9 assessment, 3.10 academic integrity.

There is a sense in which the whole of learning and teaching in a programme can be seen as preparation for the dissertation, as it provides the opportunity for students to draw holistically upon the range of material that they have studied during their programme. However, the dissertation is a very different exercise from anything else that they will have been required to undertake and specific preparation is needed.

First, some training in research skills will need to be provided. This may or may not take place as part of a specific module within the programme that is devoted to preparation for the dissertation, perhaps in the penultimate year of study. This needs to include general discussion of research in economics, and the ways in which economists undertake research and scholarship. It is important to remember that this is likely to be a wholly new experience for most students, who may be well drilled in problem solving and mathematical exercises, but who may not have had much exposure to the practicalities of economic research.

The booklets by Greenlaw (2006) and Neugeboren (2005) may be useful references for students at this stage of the process, or they may wish to visit the "Doing a dissertation" tab of the Studying Economics website run by the Economics Network.

Included in this research training it is important to provide some guidance in library skills and the use of evidence in economics research. Being able to evaluate evidence, to weigh up the importance of a set of results and to be aware of the limitations of the evidence produced are challenging skills for students to develop.

There are different approaches to providing such research methods training. It may be that library staff will be able to provide sessions in library skills. It may be wise to incentivise students by awarding a small percentage of the dissertation marks for a library skills exercise. For example, students could be required to undertake an online literature search related to their chosen topic and produce a preliminary reading list. This has the added benefit for forcing them to start their research at an early stage of proceedings.

Depending on programme structure, some students may have had extensive exposure to statistical and econometric methods, so may be accustomed to handling data and interpreting results. However, there may still be a difference between running some regressions in response to a specific exercise during an econometrics module and devising a model to allow testing of a specific hypothesis.

Where students have not been exposed to econometrics, this will clearly affect the scope and nature of research that they can undertake. It may be that they are restricted to a theoretical approach or a literature review style of project, or that they need to find alternative ways of presenting evidence. Where there is a mixture of single and joint honours students it may well be that there are students working on similar topic areas, some of whom know some econometrics and others not. This can create particular pressures on the joint honours students, who may feel obliged to try to use techniques with which they are unfamiliar. This is almost always disastrous. It also becomes important that the skills base of students is taken into account during the assessment process, so that students without training in econometrics are not unduly penalised by markers.

It is increasingly crucial to provide clear guidance on academic integrity at an early juncture. Section 3.10 explores this issue in more depth.

Where there are large numbers of international students, support may need to be provided in academic writing. Indeed, such support may be necessary more generally, given that so many economics assessments are based on problem sets and exercises, rather than on extended continuous prose. There is some evidence that the writing skills of UK students may also need to be further developed in this context.

From a student perspective, finding a topic for the dissertation is a critical step. One of the key strengths of the dissertation is its capacity to engage the student by arousing interest and motivating through a sense of discovery. However, it can also be a stressful part of the process, especially for some weaker students who may not have strong ideas about topics that might inspire interest, and who may be daunted by the prospect of undertaking the task. Failure to find the right topic can be a recipe for a weak dissertation that does not fulfil the intended outcomes.

When the numbers of students looking for dissertation topics are relatively small, then it may be that students can be left to choose their own topics – probably subject to the availability of an appropriate supervisor or the submission of a coherent research proposal. With large numbers of students, this laissez-faire approach may not be feasible.

An alternative approach is to provide students with a list of topics from which they can choose. These topics may be closely circumscribed, or may simply offer a general topic area, leaving the student to focus on a specific research question within that topic area.

The advantage of providing very general topics is that that it leaves the responsibility of formulating a specific research question with the student. This is a key part of research in economics, of course, so it is good (albeit challenging) for the student to have to think about how to go about it. It also has the benefit of giving the student ownership of the question to be investigated, which helps to provide motivation.

Where there are large numbers of students, topic choice can be handled online.

Students can submit their preferences through a webpage, and asked to specify their top four choices and rank them. Students can then be allocated to topics and supervisors, with no guarantee that they will get their first choice – depending on whether certain topics are over-subscribed.

It is helpful for students if a selection of past dissertations is made available to current students to provide some guidance on what is expected of them. However, if the same topics appear for too many successive years, there may be the obvious danger of plagiarism. Even where this does not extend to actual copying, there is the danger that students will simply adopt the same dissertation structure as used by previous students rather than working through this part of the process on their own.

Top tips: dissertation topics

There are several ways in which students can find (or be allocated) the topic for their research.

Students find their own topic, and then look for a supervisor

This may work where the number of students is limited, but may be more difficult to manage when numbers increase. Some staff members are likely to be overwhelmed with requests, especially if they happen to have taught popular second year modules.

Students may also congregate around topics of recent interest – the financial crisis, the impact of migration, or the economics of Brexit…

Others may delay thinking about their topic until it is too late, or may choose topics that prove to be impracticable.

Staff declare topic areas in which they are prepared to supervise projects

This seems to work for a number of institutions. Topics here may be defined broadly – labour economics, development economics, or monetary economics. This may also produce bunching around some staff members.

A list of topic areas is provided

This entails listing key areas of economics – public economics, behavioural economics etc. Students are then allocated a supervisor, where possible a supervisor with a specific interest in that area. Bunching can be ameliorated by not guaranteeing that the allocated supervisor will be an expert in that field. After all, at undergraduate level, detailed knowledge of the topic area may not be crucial.

A list of topics is provided

More specific titles could be provided, rather than general areas. Some staff may prefer this, but others may not. Too specific a topic may attract no students at all (there are only so many undergraduates burning to undertake research into theoretical issues in econometrics).

For example, a topic such as ‘Child labour in less developed countries’ offers wide scope for tackling the issue in different ways and different contexts. A more specific topic such as “Are household members altruistically linked? an examination based on the Mexican anti-poverty programme Progresa’ is much more prescriptive, and may deter students.

There will always be students with fixed ideas about what they wish to research, and these should be accommodated where possible and plausible.

Legislation impinges on the dissertation process, and students may all be required to complete risk assessments before they start their research. The impetus from this comes from Health and Safety legislation in place since 1992, and many universities require such assessments for undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking research. The need for this is perhaps more obvious where students are carrying out experiments in the physical sciences, but may also be important in the social sciences. There may also be a need to seek ethics approval, especially where research involves the use of human subjects, for example, where students intend to undertake surveys or to conduct experiments using human participants.

Given that most economics dissertations tend to be desk studies that do not involve the use of human subjects, the bureaucracy may be viewed as superfluous. Nonetheless, compliance with the law is essential. This may be especially important where economics as a discipline is part of a wider School of Social Sciences. Sociologists who decide to interview local drug dealers as part of their dissertation research clearly face rather different risks and ethical issues than an economist who decides to estimate a consumption function from macro data.

Sample forms can be viewed in Appendix 2 . The ethics form is designed for a School of Social Sciences. The expectation is that the vast majority of economics projects will qualify to skip from question 1 to question 15, thus minimising the paperwork whilst still complying with the demands of the legislation.

Given the requirements of the Data Protection Act, it is also advisable to ask students to give permission for their completed dissertations to be made available within the university for succeeding generations of students. This then allows a database of previous dissertations to be mounted on an internal website or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) such as Blackboard or Moodle.

It is also important at the outset to be absolutely clear about some aspects of the dissertation. In particular, students seem to get very exercised about word length. In many UK undergraduate economics programmes, the dissertation counts as a double module in the final year – for example, 15 ECTS, or a quarter of the assessment for the year. Given the importance of this piece of work (especially where the final year carries a heavy weight), it is probably appropriate for the dissertation to carry a word length of 7,500 to 10,000 words. Notice that this may depend on institutional demands set by your School, Faculty or at University level.

Top Tips on the word limit

• Be explicit from the start about what is included and not included in the word count. When students get near to submission time, the chances are that they will be hitting the limit, and will want to exclude as much as possible from the count. To remove ambiguity, it is wise to be clear.
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• Bibliography
• Figures (i.e. diagrams, maps)
• Tables of data
• Prohibit the widespread use of appendices – otherwise, students will simply carve chunks of material out of the main text and stash it away at the back in the hope that it will not count. Make it clear that appendices will be part of the word count (perhaps allowing some appendices to be exempt, e.g. raw data, with the express permission of the supervisor).
• Then state that everything else counts. Students will still find questions to ask (what about footnotes?), but if you have been explicit you will be on reasonably firm ground – and you can point out that the rules are the same for everyone.
• In order to enforce the word limit, you will probably need to impose penalties for exceeding it. A sliding scale is probably best – say, 1 percentage point per 100 words (or part thereof) by which the dissertation exceeds the limit. This provides students with the incentive to learn to be selective and to avoid waffle in presenting their report. And it seems to work!

The provision of good supervision is crucial to the success of the dissertation. In many institutions facing increasing student numbers, the amount of contact between staff and students on a one-to-one basis is in decline. Indeed, it may be that the supervision of the dissertation provides the single most important opportunity for students to interact on a personal basis with a member of the academic staff. Some students may be intimidated by this, but if the relationship works, it can be mutually rewarding as an educational experience.

As in many other areas of learning and teaching, it is important to manage student expectations of the supervision process. It is helpful for students to be told clearly what they can expect from their supervisor. This may be expressed in terms of an entitlement, rather than being left open-ended. Such an entitlement could be expressed in terms of a number of meetings that each student is entitled to have with their supervisor or it could be expressed in hours. Experience with operating such a system is that although some students may request assistance above their entitlement – and this need not be prohibited within the scheme – others may choose not to avail themselves of their full entitlement. In the context of encouraging students to become independent learners, it may not be desirable to insist that all students attend for a given number of sessions. It is this that makes the entitlement system an attractive way of specifying what is the normal expectation for supervisory contact.

Such an approach has the added benefit of helping to manage the supervisors’ expectations of the process. Supervisors need to know what is expected of them in terms of reading drafts, marking, length and frequency of meetings, and so on. It is also crucial that both supervisors and students have the same expectations of what is involved. Being explicit about this is thus crucial for both groups.

Achieving consistency of supervision provision is one of the challenges, especially when large numbers of students are in need of supervision. Just as some students may need more help than others, it is also important to be aware that some supervisors may be more comfortable in the role than others, or more prepared (or able) to make themselves available.

It is also common for certain topic areas to be more popular than others – and for some supervisors to be more popular than others. If unregulated, this can lead to a situation in which some members of staff find that they have much heavier loads than their colleagues.

Some fair way of allocating supervisory responsibilities may thus be needed. One possibility is to ensure that supervisory loads are recognised as part of a workload management system, in which there is a trade-off between supervisory responsibilities and other forms of teaching contact. An alternative is to allocate loads evenly across available staff. This may require allocating students to topics that are not their first choice, or requiring supervisors to oversee topics of which they have little specialist knowledge. This needs to be monitored carefully to safeguard the student experience. However, at the undergraduate level, specialist knowledge of topic areas may be less crucial than at masters’ or doctoral level.

There may be benefits from group supervision of students following similar topics, not only in terms of economies of scale, but also because the students may be able to learn from each other. Economies of scale may arise because much of the advice given to students will be common – the central importance of economic analysis, the need for a literature review, the interpretation of evidence, how to avoid plagiarism and so on.

At my university, each supervisor is responsible for between six and ten students. It may be highly time-consuming to meet each supervisee separately on a one-to-one basis, but there are some issues that can be readily communicated in group sessions, perhaps even in combination with a colleague supervising in similar topic areas.

A first meeting could take place early in the year, or at the end of the penultimate year, when students have been allocated their topics and supervisors. This would be a preliminary briefing meeting, to answer questions and concerns, highlight some key relevant readings and data sources, and explain how the supervision will be conducted. Some preliminary explanation of how to structure a good dissertation is also provided, together with some discussion of what is meant by academic integrity.

At a second meeting each student could be asked to talk about their topic, outline their progress to date, identify their research question (if they have formulated it) and comment on any problem areas that they have encountered.

A third meeting could be held towards the end of the first term. By this time, students will have been required to submit an interim report, in which they sketch out their proposed research, including an explanation of their research question, and the methodology that they propose to use in order to investigate their question. This is an opportunity to provide feedback and progress to date, to suggest future directions and to identify potential problems.

A fourth meeting could be held towards the end of the second term. Before this meeting, you could invite each student to submit an extract from the first chapter, including their explanation of their research question. In the meeting, you could comment on writing styles and referencing, and provide an opportunity for questions. The importance of maintaining standards of academic integrity also needs to be stressed.

Students should also be encouraged to meet up on a one-to-one basis if they have questions that are specific to their own research.

In some institutions, this is taken one step further, through the provision of a whole module (normally in the second year) that deals with research methods. The economies of scale in doing this are even greater, of course, as one individual (or a relatively small number of staff) can provide the generic advice that all students need in approaching the dissertation. Such dedicated modules are not always popular with students, who may see the material as being fragmented and of little relevance to them at the time. In other words, they may need to be convinced that they really will need this material at a later stage. Such modules are not always popular with the staff either. They may not be appealing to teach, and also put pressure on the curriculum. When so much other material has to be covered in the second year, there may be a reluctance to use up a whole module on research methods that could have been used to provide more micro theory or econometrics.

A frequent complaint about students undertaking undergraduate dissertations is that they leave everything until the last minute. The pressures of other coursework items and mid-term or mid-year examinations may encourage students to devote their time to these, as the dissertation seems less urgent.

There are various ways of trying to encourage students to start work on their research early, and not to rely on a late rush. It may be worth drawing an analogy in early discussions with them. Few students would think of arriving at an exam with only a few minutes to go, and thus finding they have no time to answer the questions. So, why should they think they can fritter away their dissertation time and start work on it when it is too late to do it justice?

However, as economists, we understand about incentives, and thus realise that exhortation alone will not suffice. We need to provide good incentives if we expect students to start work early.

One possibility is to require students to give a presentation of their intended research at an early stage of proceedings. This could be a presentation to their peers with a member of academic staff present. It would even be possible to designate a discussant for each presentation or for a small percentage of the overall mark to be attached to it. However, as soon as numbers begin to grow, this option begins to become very costly in time and effort. Ensuring consistency in the assessment becomes problematic – although if it is a very small percentage of the overall mark, this may be less crucial. If the presentation becomes more than a small percentage, then the logistics of enabling appropriate external examining becomes a potential issue.

An alternative is to introduce an interim report or research proposal that has to be submitted at an early stage. Again, attaching a modest percentage of the overall marks to this report has good incentive effects, and provides an early check to identify students that are not engaging with the process, or who have unrealistic grandiose plans for solving the world’s problems in 10,000 words. It is also a good opportunity to provide formal feedback – an important consideration when the paucity of feedback is a common criticism emerging from questionnaire surveys.

It may be helpful to ask students to submit draft material (or even chapters) to provide a framework for discussion in supervisory meetings – and to do so before the meeting takes place. There is nothing worse than having a student arrive to discuss their work clutching their precious draft, only to find that the time is mainly spent in the supervisor reading it, rather than being able to discuss it. It should be made clear that this is not for the purpose of proof-reading, which is not the supervisor’s responsibility. It may be worth setting a timetable for such discussions at the beginning of the year – which then forces the student into a regular schedule of work. Of course, your institution’s rules may prohibit the reading of draft material. You may also think that it is possible to go too far in helping the student, as this may militate against encouraging independent work and time management. However, it can make for more productive supervisory meetings – and anything that highlights that you are providing feedback may pay dividends in national student surveys.

The other task that must be tackled at an early stage is data hunting. Students embarking on empirical work – probably for the first time – almost always have over-optimistic views of the data that are likely to be available. Perhaps a student has been to a course in development economics that has stressed the importance of human capital formation in stimulating improvements in agricultural productivity. An interesting project might be to examine the effect of primary schooling on agricultural productivity in rural Zanzibar. Or to examine the effect of overseas assistance on the provision of health care in Papua New Guinea. Panic then sets in when it transpires that, with only a few weeks remaining, there are no data to be found.

Again, this is partly a question of managing student expectations – and of getting students to hunt for their data as early as possible.

Of course, there is a time inconsistency problem here. We tell the students that they must look for data as soon as possible… but we also tell them that they should think about the underlying economics of their topic first, in order that they know what data they will require. Without this proviso, the danger of data-mining is high. Students told to look for data early may well see what they can find, run a few regressions and then see if they can find a theory that will match their results.

There is a lot of data readily available on the internet. This brings good and bad news. The good news is that there are more data accessible on a wide range of economic topics that students can readily obtain. This expands the range of topics on which they can undertake empirical work – and they are aided and abetted in this by the software at their disposal to enable them to produce lots of results. The bad news is that the scope for doing foolish things and getting nonsense results is also much expanded. The ease of use of today’s software makes it very easy to produce results that go way beyond the competence and understanding of the students. Indeed, a key part of the supervisor’s role may be to rein in the over-enthusiastic student to ensure that the work undertaken is appropriate for the topic being investigated, and the reasonable ambition of the student given knowledge and understanding of statistical and/or econometric methodology. This reining in has to done in a sensitive way, so as not to discourage or dishearten. A fine line to tread.

Provide web links to the most relevant data sources.

Providing web links to key recommended data sources is wise. This can be accomplished through a dedicated dissertation webpage or VLE. The links can then be tailored to the needs of a particular cohort of students. There is also a helpful section on the Economics Network website that provides links to freely available data .

One obvious situation in which this can be an issue is where a student has received no training in econometrics, but has heard of ‘regression’ and perceives that no dissertation is complete without it. There may be some bright students out there who can teach themselves regression along the way and produce sensible results. But for every one such student, there are likely to be countless others who will be unable to produce coherent results. For the econometrically untrained, more modest objectives need to be set for the analysis of empirical data. However, the collection of data, and the marshalling of evidence in support (or not) of an hypothesis, is a central part of research in economics. In some cases, students may sign up for an optional course in econometrics for which they are ill-prepared. This has a doubly damaging impact, as they may fail the module as well as finding themselves no better off for the research.

Another pitfall is where a student with some econometric training collects data and runs some regressions, but is unable to produce results that are consistent with any known economic theory. Panic then sets in. Can economic theory really be so wrong? It takes confidence for a novice researcher to look at a set of seemingly meaningless results with equanimity. It may then be for the supervisor to reassure, and to point out how many possible explanations there are for seemingly contradictory results. Perhaps the data do not measure what the model demands. Perhaps a more sophisticated econometric methodology is required. Perhaps there are omitted variables. And so on. The student researcher may then need to be persuaded that it is perfectly OK to present weak results, so long as some awareness is shown that the analysis has limitations, and that there are many possible reasons for the seeming contradictions.

It is important to remind students of the key objective of the dissertation – namely, to showcase what they have assimilated during their degree programme. If they can show competence in applying economic analysis and (perhaps) econometric techniques in a topic area of their choice, then they are on their way to a reasonable mark. They will not be submitting their dissertation to Econometrica .

‘The secret of happiness lay in limiting the aspirations.’ Thomas Hardy in The Woodlanders .

Students who have spent most of their undergraduate careers solving problems and tackling exercises are likely to need specific help in constructing a coherent argument through continuous prose and appropriate structuring of material. Furthermore, the dissertation will require them to move beyond the descriptive to analysis and evaluation. These are also key skills that may only be developed through the dissertation in many economics undergraduate programmes.

There are several guides available providing advice to students on how to structure a report on a piece of economic research (e.g. Neugeboren (2005); Greenlaw (2006) ).

A typical structure

From Neugeboren (2005)

Students need further guidance to keep an appropriate balance between the key components. The temptation is to use up too many words in the early sections in introducing the topic and describing the background. This is especially tempting in relation to some projects. For example, a student investigating a question in the context of a particular country may begin by describing the economic conditions of that country, so that the report comes to resemble something more appropriate for economic history or geography than economics. On the other hand, there may be a temptation to take some of the economic analysis for granted, thus missing the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of economic analysis and thereby showcasing their skills to the examiner. This question of knowing what to include and what to omit is a tricky one, and an area in which supervisors will need to be ready to offer guidance. Another challenge is for students to be evaluative and analytic, going beyond description.

At the outset, students often find it intimidating to launch themselves on writing an 8,000 or 10,000 word report. It is important to find a way of overcoming this. One way is to encourage students to draw up a chapter plan at an early stage. This could be based on the general pattern set out above, with the students being asked to draft a few sentences describing the intended content of each chapter, and a target word count. This has the advantage of breaking the overall task into a sequence of shorter pieces of work, which may be less intimidating. Making some examples of previous dissertations available for students to consult may also be helpful, as they are able to see what can be achieved, as well as getting a feel for how to structure a long report.

Make sure there is no ambiguity about the deadline for submission and the penalties for missing it.

Another danger point comes at submission time. Be clear about the conditions under which an extension might be granted and how and whether this might be authorised. In addition, be clear about the conditions in which an extension will not be granted. For example, you might want to be explicit that extensions will not be granted for frivolous reasons or because ‘my computer crashed’. There are good reasons for being strict about this. One of the skills that students derive from producing a dissertation is project management. Meeting deadlines will give students the opportunity to practise time management. A student who does not understand the need to keep back-up copies of files will have a rude awakening in the world of work. Furthermore, a student granted an extension is likely to find that there are knock-on effects in terms of exam preparation.

Assessment is a crucial part of the dissertation process and entails a number of problematic issues.

It is important that students have a clear idea of what is expected of them in producing a dissertation. Unlike the problem sets and exercises that characterise much of assessment in economics, there cannot be a specific mark scheme for the dissertation. However, it is possible to provide a set of grade descriptors designed for the dissertation, showing the characteristics that markers will be looking for in allocating marks to the final product. This helps in forming student expectations and provides transparency. A sample set of descriptors is available in Appendix 3 . These descriptors can be tailored to local requirements. Asking markers to highlight a copy of the descriptors for each student being assessed indicating how well they have performed on each aspect is a good way of reaching comparability of standards across markers, and providing feedback to students afterwards.

There is no universal agreement that this approach is desirable. It has been argued that marking to descriptors enforces too much conformity and inhibits markers from examining with their own personal and professional judgement. However, this may be an argument for framing the descriptors in such a way that they are not overly prescriptive, but yet identify the intended outcomes on which the assessment of the dissertation should be based. When large numbers of students are involved, it may be that personal and professional judgement has to be harnessed in order to ensure equity in treatment.

Another way of trying to manage student expectations is through some element of peer- or self-assessment – not necessarily as part of the summative assessment. For example, students could be encouraged to evaluate a fellow student’s research proposal or presentation. Alternatively, a self-assessment checklist could be required as part of the dissertation submission, itemising key aspects of the dissertation. A sample self-assessment form is available through the Appendices .

Students may also gain confidence in their work if some portion of the summative assessment is derived from interim pieces of work, such as the research proposal, a presentation or library skills project. This can also incentivise students to manage their time and receive feedback on how they are progressing.

Achieving consistency in assessment is challenging, especially where the number of dissertations to be marked is large so that marking has to be spread between a relatively large number of staff members. Consistency is also difficult because of the wide range of dissertation topics that is possible. The use of descriptors can help here, as they are cast in general terms that do not vary across topics. The danger is that some markers will be more diligent than others in giving marks based on the descriptors. At department level, this could be monitored by constructing a spreadsheet to compare mean marks (and the standard deviation) for each pair of markers. This may help to reassure external examiners that marking has been carefully undertaken — as well as ensuring equality of treatment for students.

The nature of the dissertation is such that it is difficult to maintain anonymity in the marking, so this is one type of assessment where double-blind marking must be retained, rather than some form of sample moderation process.

Where the economics dissertation can be taken by both single honours students and those following joint honours, it is important for markers to be aware of what is reasonable for particular students to produce. A politics and economics student should not be penalised for avoiding econometric work, nor should a single honours economics student be penalised for lacking background in political science.

One of the issues on which practice varies between universities is the question of whether the supervisor should or should not be one of the markers of the dissertation. Some argue that the supervisor should be excluded from the assessment process in order to ensure independence of the marking, whereas others argue that the supervisor is able to identify the extent to which the student had received assistance as part of the supervisory process. Consistency may be more likely where marking is organised to mix up the pairings of first and second markers.

Given the ubiquity of the internet, it has become impossible to discuss undergraduate dissertations without also discussing the greater opportunities for student plagiarism. The internet provides students with access to a vast range of material, and anecdotal evidence suggests that many students arrive at university with at best a sketchy understanding of methods of scholarship and standards of academic integrity.

Inculcating a sense of what constitutes academic integrity at an early stage in the degree programme is critical. This approach – stressing that there are expected standards for student work – is to be preferred to instructing students simply to ‘avoid plagiarism’. The notion of avoiding plagiarism is almost tantamount to telling students not to get caught, whereas setting expected standards is a more positive tack to take.

The importance of academic integrity is reflected in the fact that there is a whole chapter in this Handbook by Jeremy Williams devoted to the topic. The detail of this discussion will not be repeated here, where the focus will be on academic integrity in the dissertation.

Jeremy Williams identifies three types of plagiarist. The ‘lazy plagiarist’ takes the work of another author and puts his or her own name to it, and may use a ‘cheat’ site in order to purchase a dissertation or part thereof. The ‘cunning plagiarist’ uses the work of another author or authors, but changes things sufficiently to avoid detection. ‘Cut-and-paste’ characterises this approach. The ‘accidental plagiarist’ does not even realise that they are plagiarising – for example, they may have taken notes on a journal article in the early stages of their research without realising that they were simply noting down the original author’s words. They then construct their dissertation from those notes. In some cases, students from a Confucian tradition may believe that in reproducing the words of the experts they are paying them a compliment, and may find it culturally difficult to criticise or even amend what has been printed in a textbook. The use of anti-plagiarism software will throw up examples of all three types.

In the email survey of UK economics departments, most made use of TurnitinUK as a way of identifying whether plagiarism has taken place. The convenience of this is that a dissertation submitted via a VLE can be automatically screened for overlap with TurnitinUK’s growing database. The disadvantage is that the output produced by the software requires very careful interpretation. The software produces a Similarity Index (SI), which quantifies the degree of overlap with material in the database. A high SI does not necessarily indicate plagiarism, but it does help to highlight which dissertation submissions are suspicious.

An important practical point to remember is that when students submit their dissertation they should not only be asked to sign a declaration stating that the work is their own, but also that they understand what is meant by academic integrity and that their dissertation will be checked by TurnitinUK.

Sample declaration for students to sign on submission:

I understand that by signing the declaration below, I have read and accepted the following statements:

• I have read and understood the University’s Academic Integrity Statement for Students, including the information on practice to avoid given the Statement and that in the attached submission I have worked within the expectations of this Statement.
• I am aware that failure to act in accordance with the Academic Integrity Statement for Students may lead to the imposition of penalties which, for the most serious cases, may include termination of the programme.

I consent to the University copying and distributing any or all of my work in any form and using third parties (who may be based outside the EU/EEA). This may include the use of anti-plagiarism software (e.g. TurnitinUK) to verify whether my work contains plagiarised material, and for quality assurance purposes.

Perhaps more valuable than its diagnostic properties is the deterrent value of TurnitinUK. The very fact that all dissertations are to be screened may encourage students to take care in their work. If this does not suffice, then a practical demonstration may be effective.

Encouraging good academic practice

Find a brief paper written by a member of staff in the department and submit it to TurnitinUK. Then hack the article about. Include some quotations (some with, some without quotation marks), paraphrase some passages, introduce some new material. Submit the revised version to TurnitinUK.

Arrange a session for all students writing a dissertation, and show them the TurnitinUK output on the amended version. Let them see what we see as examiners. Point out the key examples of bad practice that we can readily recognise.

This exercise can have a dramatic effect. In one academic year, I (as the School’s Academic Integrity Officer) had to investigate 10 breaches of academic integrity in economics dissertations. Penalties were imposed in all cases. The following year, having demonstrated the examiner’s eye view of the TurnitinUK output, not one single case emerged.

More difficult to detect is where students commission a third party to produced their dissertation for them – either to order, or off the peg from subscription websites. TurnitinUK may or may not identify these cases, although I have known one case where the dissertation that had been purchased was picked up because some paragraphs from it were used as an advert on the website, and were thus caught by TurnitinUK. The risks of being caught may be lower for this form of cheating – but the penalties are likely to be more severe.

An important part of the fight for academic integrity is to make sure that all supervisors are familiar with your university’s procedures for dealing with breaches of academic integrity, and with how to interpret the TurnitinUK output. This is a key part of ensuring consistency in supervision and equity of treatment across students. It is wise to make sure that the general principles of academic integrity are covered in joint sessions to all students, rather than this being left as part of the responsibility of the individual supervisor. Student handbooks also need to carry clear guidance on your institution’s policies and procedures.

More discussion on academic integrity may be found in the Handbook chapter by Jeremy Williams and the more recent chapter by Carlos Cortinhas .

If it is accepted that all honours students should be exposed to ‘current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the discipline…’ (QAA), then can the dissertation be avoided?

It could be argued that if we provide research-led teaching , then this in itself ensures that students will fit the bill in terms of exposure to research. But what do we mean by ‘research-led teaching’? Does it mean that academic staff are given the opportunity to teach in their specialist research areas? Is that enough? How do we ensure that students engage with this process? If we cannot be sure about the answer to these questions, then is the dissertation the only solution?

To some extent, a research-led approach can be embedded within the normal curriculum. Modules can be designed in such a way as to enhance the students’ ability to develop critical and evaluative thinking skills and thereby support and promote independent learning. This approach can be reinforced by a research-led approach to assessment and may be most straightforward in econometric or other quantitative methods modules, where students can be required to find, analyse and interpret their own data. A similar approach can be adopted for other modules. A development economics module can require students to prepare a report on a particular country; students could be required to evaluate a recent report from the CMA . Such exercises can encourage and engender a sense of discovery and engage students in a reflective and self-critical process. There is much more discussion or undergraduate research in economics in KimMarie Goldrick’s chapter in this Handbook .

An alternative approach would be to run a seminar or tutorial-based module, in which students are required to provide critical evaluation of recent research, probably through the vehicle of appropriate journal articles. This sort of exercise can also provide students with the opportunity to develop their presentation skills, and could be part of a module that also includes sessions on aspects of research in economics. Such presentations could be given in a quasi-conference setting, if the number of students permits.

A well-organised dissertation can be the most rewarding part of the student experience. However, this may require careful thought and planning if it is not to turn into a nightmare. Here are some key points to remember as the dissertation life-cycle unfolds:

• Think about how research training will be provided
• Ensure that students are guided towards a feasible topic
• Be aware of the legislative context
• Give early rules on word length
• Manage student and supervisor expectations of the supervisory process
• Look for a coherent way of allocating students to supervisors
• Set intermediate targets to prevent students leaving too much to the last minute
• Be aware of data issues
• Provide guidance in terms of how to structure a dissertation
• Offer clear guidelines for the assessment process, so that students know what is expected of them
• Be unambiguous in setting deadlines and the rules for extensions
• Explain academic integrity and monitor adherence

Students can benefit greatly from undertaking a dissertation. The process can capture their interest and give them confidence to engage in independent work. The finished product can be used to sell their abilities to potential employers, by showcasing their skills. Supervisors can add to the experience by making sure that students are aware of these benefits. Furthermore, students often enjoy their dissertation work.

Greenlaw, S. A. (2006) Doing Economics: A guide to carrying out economic research. Boston: Houghton Miffin. ISBN 9780618379835

Neugeboren, R. (2005) The Student’s Guide to Writing Economics. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415701235

"Doing a dissertation" in the 'Studying economics' section of the Economics Network website.

If you Google 'dissertations in economics' you will find many websites that claim to provide help and guidance. Some of these will be helpful to students e.g. the guide by Paul Dudenhefer ; other links take you to guides provided by various Universities for their students. However, care is needed here, as students may also find offers from tutors prepared to write their dissertations at a price...

Other chapters in the Handbook for Economics Lecturers augment this guide. In particular:

KimMarie McGoldrick, Undergraduate Research in Economics

Jeremy B. Williams, Plagiarism: Deterrence, Detection and Prevention

• The undergraduate dissertation in UG economics in the UK: A brief survey
• Risk assessment form
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• Self-assessment form
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Deng, Hanzhi (2021) A history of decentralization: fiscal transitions in late imperial China, 1850-1911. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hinrichsen, Simon (2021) Essays on war reparations and sovereign debt: two hundred years of war debts and default, from the Napoleonic Wars to Iraq. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Liu, Ziang (2021) Quantification and fiscal governance in China, 1400-1800. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Don-Siemion, Thea (2021) 'We'll give up our blood but not our gold': money, debt, and the balance of payments in Poland's Great Depression. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Vicquéry, Roger H. (2021) Essays on currency unions and the international monetary system in historical perspective. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Raman, Alka (2021) Learning from the muse: Indian cotton textiles and British industrialisation. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Luzardo-Luna, Ivan (2021) Essays on labour frictions in interwar Britain. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Cheng, Chung-Tang (2021) The microeconometrics of household behaviour: building the foundations, 1920-1960. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Betteridge, Samuel R. (2021) Rethinking the Bengal connection: opium monopoly and fiscal capacity in British India, 1862-1908. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hu, Sijie (2020) A micro-demographic analysis of human fertility from Chinese genealogies, 1368-1911. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Nath, Maanik (2020) The state and rural credit markets in south India, 1930-1960. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Seibel, Greta Christine (2020) The role of government policy in Indonesian small and medium enterprise development, 1966 - 2006. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Escamilla-Guerrero, David (2019) Cliometric essays on Mexican migration to the United States. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Bertazzini, Mattia Cosma (2019) The economic impact of Italian colonial investments in Libya and in the Horn of Africa, 1920-2000. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mandeng, Ousmène Jacques (2019) Central bank reform, spatial diversity and monetary policy in Germany, 1876-1890. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Jorge-Sotelo, Enrique (2019) “Escaping” the Great Depression: monetary policy, financial crises and banking in Spain, 1921-1935. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Albers, Thilo Nils Hendrik (2018) Trade frictions, trade policies, and the interwar business cycle. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Jang, Youngook (2018) Migration and ethnic diversity in the Soviet and post-Soviet space. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Zobl, Franz Xaver (2018) Regional economic development under trade liberalisation, technological change and market access: evidence from 19th century France and Belgium. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kennedy, Francis (2018) Institutional effects: studies from the sterling area in the 1950s-60s. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Harris, Jamesdaniel Adam (2018) A comparative study of late-imperial and early-republican private property rights institutions, as measured by their effects on Shanghai's early financial markets. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Lopez-Uribe, Maria del Pilar (2017) Essays on the political economy of development in Colombia. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Macher, Flóra (2017) The 1931 financial crisis in Austria and Hungary: a critical reassessment. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Arslantaş, Yasin (2017) Confiscation by the ruler: a study of the Ottoman practice of Müsadere, 1700s-1839. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Montaigne, Maxine (2017) The Malthusian and the anti-Malthusian: the use of economic ideas and language in the public discourse of nineteenth-century Britain. MPhil thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Wjuniski, Bernardo Stuhlberger (2017) Multiple exchange rates and industrialization in Brazil, 1953-1961: macroeconomic miracle or mirage? PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Lane, Joseph Peter (2017) Networks, innovation and knowledge: the North Staffordshire Potteries, 1750-1851. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dowey, James (2017) Mind over matter: access to knowledge and the British industrial revolution. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kukić, Leonard (2017) Economic growth, regional development, and nation formation under socialism: evidence from Yugoslavia. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Papadia, Andrea (2017) Government action under constraints: fiscal development, fiscal policy and public goods provision during the great depression and in 19th and early 20th century Brazil. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Fuder, Katja (2017) No experiments: federal privatisation politics in West Germany 1949-1989. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Simson, Rebecca (2017) (Under)privileged bureaucrats? The changing fortunes of public servants in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, 1960–2010. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Varian, Brian (2017) The course and character of late-Victorian British exports. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ceylan, Pinar (2016) Essays on markets, prices, and consumption in the Ottoman Empire (late-seventeenth to mid-nineteenth centuries). PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Geloso, Vincent (2016) The seeds of divergence: the economy of French North America, 1688 to 1760. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Gent, John (2016) Abundance and scarcity: classical theories of money, bank balance sheets and business models, and the British restriction of 1797‐1818. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sahle, Esther (2016) A faith of merchants: Quakers and institutional change in the early modern Atlantic, c.1660-1800. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Velasco, Gustavo (2016) Natural resources, state formation and the institutions of settler capitalism: the case of Western Canada, 1850-1914. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Nishizaki, Sumiyo (2016) After empire comes home: economic experiences of Japanese civilian repatriates, 1945-1956. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Wu, Meng (2016) Traditions and innovations: an exploration of the governance structure, business strategy and historical development of the Chinese Shanxi piaohao, 1820s to 1930s. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kerby, Edward (2016) The economics of isolation, trade and investment: case studies from Taiwan & apartheid South Africa. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kobayashi, Kazuo (2016) Indian cotton textiles and the Senegal River Valley in a globalising world: production, trade and consumption, 1750-1850. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Lanata Briones, Cecilia (2016) Constructing public statistics: the history of the Argentine cost of living index, 1918-1943. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Werner, Stephan D. (2016) Endogenous risk in non-life insurance: evidence from the German insurance sector during the Interwar period. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Tang, Jian-Jing (2016) Interest rates and financial market integration: a long-run perspective on China. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Vogelgsang, Tobias (2016) Cognitive artefacts: remaking economies, 1917 - 1947. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Stephenson, Judy (2015) The organisation of work and wages in the London building trades in the long eighteenth century. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Christodoulaki, Olga (2015) The origins of central banking in Greece. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Palma, Nuno Pedro G. (2015) Harbingers of modernity: monetary injections and European economic growth, 1492-1790. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Aldous, Michael (2015) Avoiding 'negligence and profusion': the ownership and organisation of Anglo-Indian trading firms, 1818 to 1870. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hileman, Garrick (2015) Sovereign debt sustainability, financial repression, and monetary innovation: Britain and currency black markets in the mid-20th century. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Yan, Xun (2015) In search of power and credibility: essays on Chinese monetary history (1851-1945). PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Gao, Pei (2015) Risen from chaos: the development of modern education in China, 1905-1948. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Serra, Gerardo (2015) From scattered data to ideological education: economics, statistics and the state in Ghana, 1948-1966. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Pirohakul, Teerapa (2015) The funeral in England in the long Eighteenth Century. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Caruana Galizia, Paul (2015) Economic development and market potential: European regional income differentials, 1870-1913. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Postel-Vinay, Natacha (2014) Sitting ducks: banks, mortgage lending, and the Great Depression in the Chicago area, 1923-1933. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Gudmundsson, Tryggvi (2014) Principles of crisis management revisited: the Bank of England in the 1970s. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Missiaia, Anna (2014) Industrial location, market access and economic development: regional patterns in post-unification Italy. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Karakoç, Ulaş (2014) Sources of economic growth in interwar Egypt and Turkey: industrial growth, tariff protection and the role of agriculture. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ivings, Steven (2014) Colonial settlement and migratory labour in Karafuto 1905-1941. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Sims, Peter (2014) Social networks and entrepreneurship: the British merchant community of Uruguay, 1830-1875. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Francis, Joseph A. (2013) The terms of trade and the rise of Argentina in the long nineteenth century. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Krieghoff, Niels (2013) Banking regulation in a federal system: lessons from American and German banking history. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Merette, Sarah (2013) Vietnam’s north-south gap in historical perspective: the economies of Cochinchina and Tonkin, 1900-1940. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Brando, Carlos (2012) The political economy of financing late development: credit, capital and industrialisation; Colombia 1940–67. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ling-Fan, Li (2012) Bullion, bills and arbitrage: exchange markets in fourteenth- to seventeenth century Europe. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mensink, Julia (2012) Poverty measures: from production to use. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Castañeda Valdez, Alejandro (2012) Cronies, rents and import licenses: non-tariff trade controls throughout Import Substitution Industrialisation (ISI) in Mexico. MPhil thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Martin, Marina (2012) An economic history of Hundi, 1858-1978. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Colvin, Christopher Louis (2011) Religion, competition and liability: Dutch cooperative banking in crisis, 1919-1927. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Wood, Andrew B. (2011) The limits of social mobility: social origins and career patterns of British generals, 1688-1815. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Chang, Ting Ting (2011) Re-examination on the role of the state in the development of Taiwan’s small and medium-sized enterprises, 1950- 2000: the state, market and social institution. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Golson, Eric (2011) The economics of neutrality: Spain, Sweden and Switzerland in the Second World War. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Andrews, Michael (2011) Cultures of commerce compared: a comparative study of the ideal of the businessman in China and England, c.1600-1800. MPhil thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Cirenza, Peter (2011) Melting pot or salad bowl?: assessing Irish immigrant assimilation in late nineteenth century America. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Fernández, Raúl Alberto (2011) Financial liberalisation, asymmetric information and inflation: a new perspective on the Argentine financial experiment of 1977-81. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Grinberg, Nicolas (2011) Transformations in the Korean and Brazilian processes of capitalist development between the mid-1950s and the mid-2000s: the political economy of late industrialisation. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Gonzalez, Arish Tatiana (2010) Economic disparity yet resulting similarity: The 'double paradox' of Argentina's and Mexico's electric telegraph and telephone diffusion, 1851-1997. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Apostolides, Alexander (2010) Economic growth or continuing stagnation? Estimating the GDP of Cyprus and Malta, 1921-1938. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Tennent, Kevin (2009) Owned, monitored, but not always controlled: understanding the success and failure of Scottish Free-Standing Companies, 1862-1910. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Fernandes, Felipe Tamega (2009) Institutions, geography and market power: The political economy of rubber in the Brazilian Amazon, c. 1870-1910. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Yi, Jonghyun (2009) The Korean retailing sector since the 1970s: Government, consumers and the rise and fall of the department store. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Santiago Caballero, Carlos (2009) Path to survival: The response to the production crisis of the late 18th century in the Spanish region of Guadalajara. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Cummins, Neil (2009) Why did fertility decline?: an analysis of the individual level economics correlates of the nineteenth century fertility transition in England and France. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Velkar, Aashish (2008) Markets, standards and transactions: measurements in nineteenth-century British economy. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Jerven, Morten (2008) African economic growth reconsidered: measurement and performance in east-central Africa, 1965-1995. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Felis Rota, Marta (2008) Social capital in historical perspective: a principal components approach to international measurement and its economic implications, 1870-2000. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Umemura, Maki (2008) Unrealised potential: Japan's post-war pharmaceutical industry, 1945-2005. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Shimizu, Hiroshi (2007) Competition, knowledge spillover, and innovation: technological development of semiconductor lasers, 1960- 1990. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Khan, Arshi Rasheed (2007) Did zakat deliver welfare and justice? Islamic welfare policy in Pakistan, 1980-1994. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Altorfer-Ong, Stefan (2007) State-building without taxation: The political economy of government finance in the eighteenth-century republic of Bern. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mitchell, Andrew Hunter (2006) Institutions and endowments: state credibility, fiscal institutions and divergence, Argentina and Australia, c.1880-1980. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hickson, Kerry (2006) The contribution of improved health to standards of living in twentieth century England and Wales. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Afrifa Taylor, Ayowa (2006) An economic history of the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, 1895-2004: land, labour, capital and enterprise. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

De Rouvray, Cristel Anne (2005) Economists writing history: American and French experience in the mid 20th century. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Feldman, Roger A. (2005) Recruitment, training and knowledge transfer in the London Dyers’ Company, 1649-1826. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hopf, Gregor (2004) Saving and investment: the economic development of Singapore 1965-99. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Searles, Patrick James (2004) The measurement of economic and labour market conditions in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and the use of data from the co-operative movement of Great Britain. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Maielli, Giuliano (2003) Managerial culture and company survival: Technological change and output-mix optimisation at Fiat, 1960-1987. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Domenech, Jordi (2003) Negotiating work in the liberal age. Unions, the state, and labour market reform in restoration Spain, 1875-1923. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Nahum, Andrew (2002) World War to Cold War: formative episodes in the development of the British aircraft industry, 1943-1965. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Rubio Varas, Maria del Mar (2002) Towards environmental historical national accounts for oil producers: methodological considerations and estimates for Venezuela and Mexico over the 20th century. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Calvo-Gonzalez, Oscar (2002) The political economy of conditional foreign aid to Spain, 1950-1963: relief of input bottlenecks, economic policy change and political credibility. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Pegler, Lee J (2000) Workers, unions and the 'politics of modernisation': Labour process change in the Brazilian white goods industry. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Day, William R (2000) The early development of the Florentine economy, c.1100-1275. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Strong, Paul Nicholas (1999) The economic consequences of ethno-national conflict in Cyprus: the development of two siege economies after 1963 and 1974. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Villela, André (1999) The political economy of money and banking in Imperial Brazil, 1850-1870. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Combs, Arthur (1998) Rural economic development as a nation building strategy in South Vietnam, 1968-1972. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Edwards, Roy A (1997) Management information and management practices: Freight train operation in inter-war Britain. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ball, Rajiv (1997) The state and the development of small-scale industry in Ghana since c.1945. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Lamounier, Lucia (1993) Between slavery and free labour: experiments with free labour and patterns of slave emancipation in Brazil and Cuba c.1830-1888. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Minoglou, Ioanna Pepelasis (1993) The Greek state and the international financial community, 1922-1932: Demystifying the 'foreign factor'. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Bartsch, William Henry (1970) Labour supply and employment-creation in the urban areas of Iran, 1956 - 1966. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Earle, Peter (1969) The commercial development of Ancona, 1479-1551. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Conway, Edward Sidney (1957) The institutional care of children: a case history. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ungphakorn, Puey (1949) The economics of tin control. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Home » 500+ Economics Research Topics

500+ Economics Research Topics

Economics is a vast and fascinating field that explores how individuals, businesses, and governments make decisions about the allocation of resources. As such, it provides a wealth of research opportunities for those interested in understanding and analyzing the complexities of modern society. From macroeconomic issues such as globalization and monetary policy, to microeconomic topics such as consumer behavior and market competition, there are numerous research topics that economists can investigate. In this post, we will explore some of the most interesting and relevant economics research topics that are shaping our world today.

Economics Research Topics

Economics Research Topics are as follows:

• The impact of technological change on income inequality.
• An analysis of the relationship between exchange rates and foreign direct investment.
• The effects of tax incentives on small business growth and development.
• The determinants of economic growth in developing countries.
• The impact of globalization on economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of the minimum wage on employment and poverty.
• The role of central banks in managing inflation and economic stability.
• An investigation into the factors influencing consumer behavior and spending.
• An analysis of the impact of trade liberalization on economic growth.
• The effects of income inequality on social welfare and economic stability.
• The role of international trade in economic development.
• An investigation into the relationship between education and economic growth.
• An analysis of the effects of corruption on economic growth and development.
• The impact of the gig economy on employment and wages.
• An investigation into the causes and consequences of financial crises.
• The role of innovation in economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the impact of government spending on economic growth.
• The effects of globalization on the environment.
• The impact of climate change on economic growth and development.
• An investigation into the determinants of poverty and inequality.
• The role of entrepreneurship in economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of monetary policy on economic growth and stability.
• The impact of immigration on labor markets and economic growth.
• An investigation into the factors influencing international trade flows.
• An analysis of the effects of foreign aid on economic development.
• The role of financial intermediaries in economic development.
• An investigation into the causes and consequences of income inequality.
• The impact of trade agreements on economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of government regulation on business and economic growth.
• The role of technology transfer in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of economic sanctions on trade and economic growth.
• The impact of population growth on economic development.
• An analysis of the effects of infrastructure investment on economic growth.
• The role of natural resources in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of labor market policies on economic growth and employment.
• The impact of financial innovation on economic growth and stability.
• An analysis of the effects of income tax policy on economic growth and income distribution.
• The role of social capital in economic development.
• An investigation into the impact of economic policies on international trade.
• The effects of financial liberalization on economic growth and stability.
• The impact of urbanization on economic development.
• An analysis of the effects of international migration on labor markets and economic growth.
• The role of institutions in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of exchange rate volatility on international trade.
• The impact of demographic change on economic growth and development.
• An analysis of the effects of government debt on economic growth and stability.
• The role of foreign investment in economic development.
• An investigation into the effects of labor market flexibility on economic growth and employment.
• The impact of intellectual property rights on innovation and economic growth.
• An analysis of the effects of economic inequality on social mobility and economic growth.
• The impact of COVID-19 on the global economy.
• The role of financial markets in economic growth.
• The effectiveness of monetary policy in stabilizing the economy.
• The relationship between income inequality and economic growth.
• The impact of government regulations on business activity.
• The role of technology in shaping the future of the economy.
• The effect of globalization on the labor market.
• The impact of trade policy on economic growth.
• The relationship between education and economic growth.
• The effectiveness of fiscal policy in stimulating economic growth.
• The impact of immigration on the labor market.
• The effect of tax policy on economic growth.
• The role of entrepreneurship in economic development.
• The impact of environmental regulations on economic growth.
• The effect of international capital flows on the economy.
• The relationship between innovation and economic growth.
• The impact of demographic changes on the economy.
• The role of infrastructure investment in economic growth.
• The effect of monetary policy on income inequality.
• The impact of government debt on economic growth.
• The relationship between corruption and economic growth.
• The effect of globalization on income inequality.
• The impact of education on income inequality.
• The role of social welfare programs in reducing poverty.
• The effect of minimum wage laws on the labor market.
• The impact of health care policy on economic growth.
• The relationship between energy prices and economic growth.
• The effect of government subsidies on business activity.
• The impact of exchange rate fluctuations on trade.
• The role of financial innovation in economic development.
• The effect of social media on consumer behavior.
• The impact of consumer confidence on economic growth.
• The relationship between economic growth and political stability.
• The effect of demographic changes on income inequality.
• The impact of government spending on economic growth.
• The role of labor unions in the labor market.
• The effect of natural disasters on the economy.
• The relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability.
• The effect of corporate social responsibility on business activity.
• The impact of intellectual property rights on innovation.
• The effect of cultural differences on business activity.
• The impact of financial crises on the economy.
• The relationship between economic growth and health outcomes.
• The effect of government corruption on economic growth.
• The impact of demographic changes on the labor market.
• The effect of foreign aid on economic growth.
• The impact of technological change on the labor market.
• The effect of monetary policy on income distribution.
• The impact of trade agreements on economic growth
• The effect of corruption on economic development
• The relationship between financial development and economic growth
• The impact of foreign aid on economic growth in developing countries
• The role of innovation in promoting economic growth
• The impact of globalization on income inequality
• The relationship between inflation and economic growth
• The role of natural resources in economic development
• The impact of government expenditure on economic growth
• The relationship between income distribution and economic growth
• The impact of monetary policy on economic growth
• The role of education in promoting economic growth
• The impact of entrepreneurship on economic development
• The relationship between taxation and economic growth
• The impact of infrastructure on economic growth
• The role of international trade in economic development
• The impact of fiscal policy on economic growth
• The relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth
• The impact of economic integration on economic growth
• The role of institutions in promoting economic development
• The impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth
• The relationship between inequality and economic growth
• The impact of social welfare programs on economic growth
• The role of technology in promoting economic growth
• The impact of political instability on economic growth
• The relationship between corruption and economic growth
• The impact of labor market policies on economic growth
• The role of human capital in promoting economic development
• The impact of health care on economic growth
• The relationship between exchange rates and economic growth
• The impact of foreign trade on income distribution
• The role of entrepreneurship in economic development
• The impact of environmental policies on economic growth
• The relationship between foreign aid and poverty reduction
• The impact of financial sector reforms on economic growth
• The role of social capital in promoting economic development
• The impact of regional integration on economic growth
• The relationship between public investment and economic growth
• The impact of monetary policy on income distribution
• The role of international migration in economic development
• The impact of labor market flexibility on economic growth
• The relationship between trade and technology transfer
• The impact of institutional quality on economic growth
• The role of financial sector development in promoting economic growth
• The impact of regional inequality on economic growth
• The relationship between education and poverty reduction
• The impact of foreign debt on economic growth
• The role of social protection in promoting economic development
• The impact of energy policies on economic growth
• The relationship between foreign trade and environmental sustainability
• The impact of international trade on income inequality.
• The relationship between public debt and economic growth.
• The effect of tax policy on international capital flows.
• The impact of government subsidies on technological innovation.
• The role of financial development in reducing poverty.
• The effect of regulation on market structure.
• The impact of globalization on financial stability.
• The relationship between financial development and income inequality.
• The effect of fiscal policy on long-term economic growth.
• The impact of financial frictions on business cycles.
• The role of international capital flows in financial crises.
• The effect of natural resource abundance on economic growth.
• The impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth.
• The relationship between institutions and economic growth.
• The effect of financial innovation on market efficiency.
• The impact of international migration on the labor market.
• The role of corporate governance in firm performance.
• The effect of monetary policy on the housing market.
• The impact of environmental policy on the energy sector.
• The effect of competition policy on market outcomes.
• The impact of technology adoption on productivity.
• The effect of regulation on consumer welfare.
• The impact of trade policy on export performance.
• The relationship between social capital and economic growth.
• The effect of labor market institutions on the gender wage gap.
• The impact of financial liberalization on economic growth.
• The role of human capital in technological innovation.
• The effect of trade openness on innovation.
• The impact of natural disasters on economic growth.
• The relationship between inequality and economic growth.
• The effect of exchange rate volatility on international trade.
• The impact of banking regulation on financial stability.
• The role of venture capital in financing innovation.
• The effect of regional trade agreements on economic growth.
• The impact of financial development on economic growth in emerging markets.
• The relationship between government spending and economic growth.
• The effect of monetary policy on credit markets.
• The impact of innovation on firm performance.
• The role of social networks in job search and labor market outcomes.
• The effect of international capital flows on income inequality.
• The impact of natural resource dependence on political instability.
• The relationship between financial development and income mobility.
• The effect of tax competition on fiscal policy.
• The impact of labor market institutions on unemployment.
• The role of infrastructure investment in economic development.
• The effect of monetary policy on financial market volatility.
• The impact of fiscal policy on income redistribution.
• The role of digital currencies in the future of finance.
• The effects of the gig economy on labor markets.
• The impact of artificial intelligence on economic growth.
• The relationship between climate change and economic growth.
• The role of blockchain technology in supply chain management.
• The effects of automation on the labor market.
• The impact of E-commerce on traditional retail industries.
• The relationship between social media and consumer behavior.
• The role of data analytics in business decision-making.
• The effects of globalization on income inequality.
• The impact of digital platforms on the sharing economy.
• The relationship between education and economic growth in the digital age.
• The role of fintech in financial inclusion.
• The effects of trade policies on global supply chains.
• The impact of corporate social responsibility on business performance.
• The relationship between immigration and economic growth.
• The role of venture capital in stimulating innovation and economic growth.
• The effects of the circular economy on sustainable development.
• The impact of cybersecurity threats on the global economy.
• The relationship between gender inequality and economic growth.
• The role of green finance in promoting sustainable development.
• The effects of automation on income inequality.
• The impact of the sharing economy on traditional business models.
• The relationship between human capital and economic growth.
• The role of technology transfer in international trade.
• The effects of regulatory frameworks on innovation.
• The impact of government policies on the growth of start-up companies.
• The role of venture philanthropy in social entrepreneurship.
• The effects of digital disruption on the financial services industry.
• The impact of the circular economy on job creation.
• The relationship between health outcomes and economic growth.
• The role of impact investing in social and environmental sustainability.
• The effects of trade agreements on the global economy.
• The impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth.
• The relationship between innovation and income inequality.
• The role of corporate governance in sustainable business practices.
• The effects of immigration policies on labor market outcomes.
• The impact of international capital flows on economic development.
• The relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance.
• The role of innovation clusters in regional economic development.
• The effects of digitalization on productivity.
• The impact of the sharing economy on urban development.
• The relationship between social entrepreneurship and economic growth.
• The role of government policies in promoting sustainable development.
• The effects of demographic changes on the economy.
• The impact of digitalization on economic development in developing countries.
• The relationship between consumer behavior and sustainability.
• The role of private equity in stimulating economic growth.
• The impact of government spending on economic growth
• The effects of minimum wage laws on employment and poverty rates
• The role of government subsidies in promoting renewable energy adoption
• The impact of trade liberalization on economic growth and income inequality
• The effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and unemployment
• The determinants of foreign direct investment flows in emerging markets
• The role of financial markets in economic development
• The impact of globalization on the labor market
• The effects of tax policies on economic growth and income distribution
• The role of human capital in economic growth and development
• The economics of climate change and the environment
• The effects of population aging on economic growth and social welfare
• The impact of social safety net programs on poverty reduction
• The effects of corruption on economic development and political stability
• The impact of technological innovation on labor market outcomes
• The economics of healthcare policy and healthcare markets
• The determinants of entrepreneurship and small business success
• The effects of income inequality on economic growth and social welfare
• The economics of urbanization and regional development
• The role of foreign aid in promoting economic development
• The impact of fiscal policy on economic growth and government debt
• The effects of financial regulation on economic stability and growth
• The economics of education policy and school choice
• The determinants of consumer behavior and market outcomes
• The role of multinational corporations in the global economy
• The effects of immigration on labor markets and economic growth
• The impact of monetary policy on financial markets and stability
• The economics of natural resource management and conservation
• The determinants of industrial competitiveness and productivity
• The effects of trade policies on economic growth and regional integration
• The role of institutional quality in economic development
• The impact of technological change on income inequality
• The economics of innovation and intellectual property rights
• The effects of financial globalization on emerging markets
• The role of infrastructure investment in promoting economic development
• The impact of exchange rate policies on international trade and investment
• The determinants of consumer credit and debt behavior
• The effects of social media and online platforms on market competition
• The role of international organizations in global economic governance
• The impact of natural disasters on economic development and poverty
• The economics of gender inequality and discrimination
• The effects of government regulation on business behavior and market outcomes
• The role of behavioral economics in understanding market behavior
• The impact of public investment on economic growth and social welfare
• The determinants of household saving and investment behavior
• The economics of renewable energy and clean technology adoption
• The effects of economic sanctions on international trade and investment
• The role of information and communication technologies in economic development
• The impact of globalization on income distribution and poverty
• The economics of international migration and remittances.
• The effects of income inequality on economic development
• An analysis of the efficiency of market structures in different industries
• The role of technology in economic growth and development
• The impact of international trade on economic development
• An investigation into the determinants of inflation
• The effects of labor market regulations on employment and productivity
• An analysis of the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability
• The role of institutions in economic development
• The impact of foreign aid on economic development
• The effects of taxation on economic growth
• An investigation into the factors that contribute to economic fluctuations
• The effects of globalization on income distribution
• The impact of education on economic growth and development
• The role of infrastructure in economic development
• The effects of trade liberalization on economic growth
• An analysis of the impact of exchange rates on trade and investment
• The relationship between innovation and economic growth
• The impact of government policies on the agricultural sector
• The effects of corruption on economic development
• An investigation into the effects of demographic changes on economic growth
• The impact of financial crisis on economic growth
• The effects of foreign direct investment on economic growth
• An analysis of the effects of natural resources on economic development
• The impact of healthcare on economic growth
• The effects of international migration on the economy
• The relationship between poverty and economic development
• The role of infrastructure in promoting economic growth
• An investigation into the effects of regional economic integration
• The impact of foreign trade on economic development
• The effects of government regulation on economic growth
• An analysis of the role of technology in improving economic efficiency
• The impact of population growth on economic development
• The effects of government spending on income inequality
• The role of the financial system in economic growth
• The impact of energy policies on economic development
• An investigation into the effects of intellectual property rights on economic growth
• The effects of trade on labor markets
• The role of social capital in economic development
• The effects of regional inequality on economic development
• An analysis of the impact of financial market development on economic growth
• The impact of international trade on technological progress
• The effects of financial regulation on economic growth
• The role of institutions in promoting entrepreneurship
• The impact of healthcare policies on economic growth
• An investigation into the effects of income redistribution on economic growth.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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130 Best Economic Research Topics For Students

The choice of economic research topics depends on the topic that students want to study. You can write about microeconomic or macroeconomic factors, or describe the current problems of countries and individual enterprises. There are also many interesting sections on agriculture, industry and foreign economic relations.

In any case, economics topics are a chance to consider the main nuances of international countries' success or the peculiarities of a particular region's economy. Such studies require not only the search for reliable sources of information but also the authoritative research of economists. This will help you use the valuable economics papers topics in the context of your research activities.

After you have considered all economics research paper topics, you can proceed to the stage of preparation. It is worth taking real research, facts, and statistics as a basis. However, you need to be original and make your emphases in your research paper.

In some cases, you need the advice of experienced educators or watch interviews with the world's leading economists. Sometimes you can change the subject if you think you can't cope with the task at hand. There is nothing shameful about that.

After you do your research and empirical calculations, you can collect a scientific database and prepare a draft version. Once it's finished, you can clean up your materials and create a tentative bibliography. It is important in the context of the study of the chosen topic.

There is also a need to create strong theses and a definite purpose for your research work. You should answer the basic questions in your research paper that address a specific problem and its solution. Also, do not forget about the formatting that is relevant to your school. Economics research topics list lets you choose what works best for you.

Microeconomics Research Topics

Such research paper topics in economics are especially relevant because they allow us to consider the global processes of the financial well-being of many countries and the world trade. Students can prepare expert papers based on many studies and get high marks for considering microeconomic effects.

• The consumer choice model in the context of improving economic performance.
• Labor force and its impact on the country's budget.
• The family economy in the context of the progress of an entire state.
• Consumer relations and analysis from economic trends.
• Inequality of wages as the main stimulus of the economy.
• Consumption economics and progress in purchasing power.
• Evolution of consumption in the USA.
• The index of income inequality and purchasing power.
• Dynamics of growth of a cashless economy in the context of modern society.
• State enterprise and privatization system.
• The main factors of behavioral microeconomics
• The structural analysis of microeconomics on real examples.
• The format for the microeconomic effects.

Macroeconomics Research Topics

Choosing the economics thesis topic, you must be ready to consider the main issues of macroeconomics in the context of a particular state, company, or individual organization. This is a good example of how you can choose a narrow direction to study certain economic environment factors and relationships.

• Economic growth and a decrease in unemployment.
• The main factors of the economic recession.
• Cutting costs as a guarantee of the prosperity of the state.
• The importance of tax revenue in the context of each US state.
• Inflation and the dynamics of the pricing of the company's shares.
• Correlation of government spending during inflation.
• Devaluation as the main factor of problems in the economy.
• Economic prerequisites for the growth of the digital economy.
• The stock market as a cause of economic growth.
• The connection between unemployment and modern digitalization.
• Factors influencing the self-employment of the population.
• Features of modern macroeconomic trends.
• The nuances of managing macroeconomic indicators.
• Preconditions for the formation of a stable macroeconomic.
• The effect of macroeconomic equilibrium.

Economic History Topics

The choice of economics research topics for undergraduates may be related to the student's desire to study certain historical spheres of influence of countries and the moments of their formation on the world stage. It is also a good opportunity to study world trade and foreign economic research. A historical topic allows you to consider the structure of galloping inflation in developing countries and to study in detail the specifics of economic stagnation.

• Economic revolution in Argentina.
• Creation of the foreign exchange reserve.
• The history of the formation of banking organizations.
• Modern British economy.
• The growth of the Chinese economy amid global depression.
• Eastern European economy and the basis of its well-being.
• Causes of the economic depression of the Netherlands.
• The European currency as a replacement for the dollar.
• History of the French economy.
• German National Bank.
• The history of the European Union as an economic factor of development.
• The world economy and historical heritage.
• The impact of economic progress on African countries.
• The nuances of economic prosperity in European countries.

Research Topics on International Trade

International trade is a good option to write a research paper. The fact is that this section includes many historical and current aspects of the interaction between countries and individual organizations. Such economic research paper topics are very popular among students because everyone can find reliable information and verified facts.

• The impact of international trade on the growth of the economy
• The monetary union and its role in the US control
• International trade and developing countries.
• Investments as elements of international trade.
• Banking crisis and trade wars.
• Brexit as a factor in changing economic investment.
• Dependence of countries on international investment.
• The import control.
• Developing countries and methods of their economic growth.
• Foreign trade as a subject of liberalization of international relations.
• The main factors in the development of international trade.
• The trade relations between China and the United States.
• The nuances of the interaction of world superpowers.
• Consequences of successful economic activity.

Environmental Economics Research Paper Topics

Environmental economics is full of interesting areas for your research papers. In particular, this applies to different countries and continents. Using economics term paper topics, you can create truly expert material that will get a high mark. A significant advantage is the relevance of the topic and many scientific studies that you can use as a basis.

• The economic prerequisites for waste disposal.
• The nuances of the economy and human-made disasters.
• The world economy in the context of the United States.
• The influence of North America on economic trends in the world.
• Water resources management policy.
• Climate policy and economic preconditions.
• World environment in the context of the US economy.
• The economic study of investment in the environment.
• The distribution of natural resources and a key factor in the economy.
• The main technological innovations and their role in the environment.
• The balance of the social ecosystem.
• Financial subsidies as an incentive to buy organic products.
• The influence of the environment on the behavioral factors of the economy.
• The stagnation of world enterprises in the context of the economic crisis.
• The environment and risk factors.

Research Paper Topics on Behavioral Economics

Behavioral economics structures knowledge about many aspects of the interaction of countries and individual nations. You can use existing scientific research to trace people's behavioral patterns that affect the unemployment rate, fluctuations in the currency exchange, and other nuances. It is worth noting that economics research topics are very relevant in modern times since the information space contributes to the regular change in behavioral factors.

• Major behavioral factors of the avalanche of buyers.
• Discount in the context of trade on amazon digitalization as the main driver of the economy.
• Behavioral factors of the economy in the context of digital commerce.
• Methods of investing in the US in the context of behavioral economics.
• The customer demand and its incentive.
• The value of the product then and the formation of behavioral economics.
• What is the main motivation for consumers?
• The formation of a behavioral economy as a task of the state.
• The lifestyle and economic factors of US citizens.
• The digital economy and behavioral factors.
• Main methods of forming a buying habit.

Law And Economics Paper Topics

Choosing such economics research topics for students, you can rely on many countries' legal framework and the relationship with economic sectors. This will be especially interesting in the context of the United States or any other large state that conducts foreign trade and affects certain moments in the world. Legislation has a ton of interesting facts that you can explore in your paperwork.

• The main risks of an innovative economy.
• Taxation as a method of political economy.
• The nuances of creating an optimal tax policy.
• Main benefits of lowering the tax rate.
• The economic organization and legal aspects.
• The control of the economy through taxation.
• Do you need a progressive tax scale?
• The consequences of flexible taxes in the US economy.
• Basic legal aspects of foreign economic activity.
• Structuring law and economic investment.
• Legislative innovations in the field of economics.
• All nuances of promoting tax legislation for economic growth.
• The format of taxation for small businesses.

Labor Economics Research Topics

Such a topic allows you to explore the nuances of labor law, taxation, and the reasons for demonstration in disadvantaged countries. This format allows you to maximize economic research geography and consider the main nuances of economic crises or new rounds of development.

• Minimum wage and its impact on economic aspects.
• The taxation and labor market demand.
• The nuances of the formation of the structure of wages.
• The impact of migration on the labor market point to common technologies and their economic impact on the labor market.
• Main nuances of obtaining higher education in the context of economics.
• Strikes as a major factor in an economic recession.
• The firm's profitability in the context of the minimum wage.
• The economic consequences of regulation of working hours.
• The nuances of gender policy in the labor market.
• The feasibility of creating trade unions.
• The relationship between demography and economic growth.

Basic Economics Topics

Sometimes basic topics for economic research papers can be much better than narrow learning segments. The fact is that choosing such a free topic does not limit you to certain aspects, and you can consider the nuances of the economy in a broad sense. For example, your custom research paper may be about foreign trade, the risks of economic stagnation, or other nuances that apply to many countries.

• The relationship between income and purchasing.
• The risks of economic stagnation.
• The lack of economic factors for income growth.
• The main problem of the economies of developing countries.
• The nuances of Western European economic culture.
• Asian countries and economic progress.
• The influence of external economic factors on the unemployment rate.
• System of gender inequality.
• The format of economic relations between countries.
• The main aspects of the economic independence of states.
• The influence of the United States on the world economy.
• Lending and stimulating the economy world economic recessions.
• Risk factors in the global economy.

Other Economics Topics

Such a list cannot be attributed to a specific segment or division of the economy. You can choose this option if you have no idea at all about what your research paper should look like. In fact, it allows you to prepare and get a good grade without taking too long practical research. So, you can check these economic research paper topics ideas.

• The target market analysis.
• Managerial accounting for apple Inc.
• The Nissan operations management.
• All Starbucks success factors.
• The methodology of employee turnover study.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
• Poverty in South Africa.
• Signs of economic stagnation.
• Memorandum for a paperless office.
• The impact of social media as a business promotion instrument.
• Main effects of employee turnover on the organization.

How to Write a Good Economics Research Paper?

You should adhere to all the technical guidelines and requirements of your high school or college. Don't forget about the formatting and proper structure of your research papers. You should browse the Internet and head to your local library to find the information you need as a basis for future research. It is worth noting that not all economic topics for research papers can be found quickly in printed books.

Sometimes it is better to search for reputable scientific papers on the Internet, as this reduces the preparation time. Next, you need to make a plan, a strong introduction, and a clear message along with the main message you want to convey in your research paper. You should also rely on facts and figures to get a good estimate. Unfortunately, choosing a good economics essay topic is not always associated with a successful completion.

If you can't do it on your own, then it is easier and more profitable for students to delegate work to someone else. Our company can help any person who is in a difficult situation and cannot cope with the research paper on their own. Our team of specialists has enough experience to prepare a high-quality paper for you.

The Research Topics in Economics Inspiration List:

• Business Cycle (Recession & Recovery)
• Economic research
• International Advances in Economic Research
• Monetary Policy & Economic Research
• Economic Research Reports
• Glassdoor Economic Research
• CASE - Center for Social and Economic Research

10 Popular Posts on Economic Topics in 2021

What did people most want to know about the economy in 2021?

Inflation and COVID-19’s effects on the economy were top of mind, judging by the popularity of posts on those topics in our On the Economy blog, which offers frequent commentary, analysis and data from our economists and other St. Louis Fed experts. But examinations of longer-run trends, such as employment growth over 20 years, also attracted attention.

For readers of our Open Vault blog, which explains everyday economics and the Fed, the nuts and bolts of topical subjects like central bank digital currency and Fed “tapering” struck a chord, as did a post about the economic concept of externalities, explained with canine and pandemic examples. 

Here’s a look at a few of the posts that were among the favorites published from January through Nov. 30.

Inflation Trends

How covid-19 may be affecting inflation.

The changing of U.S. consumer spending patterns during the pandemic may have affected the measurement of inflation, according to an On the Economy post published in February. The Bureau of Labor Statistics gathers information about prices in the U.S., weights the prices and aggregates them for the consumer price index, or CPI. Inflation is measured as the CPI’s rate of growth over a certain period.

But what happens if a certain category of goods or services becomes a bigger, or smaller, part of consumer spending? Based on spending habits in prior years, the official weights might not be the “true” weights in 2020, when social distancing led to more eating at home and less spending in restaurants.

What Are Risks for Future Inflation?

As U.S. inflation surged in 2021, an October On the Economy post identified some upside and downside risks for future inflation. A follow-up post examined whether higher inflation could “be attributed to a small group of goods and services or whether it is a more generalized event.” Looking at the overall price change over the period of the pandemic, “the role of outliers is greatly diminished, revealing that higher inflation is perhaps a broader phenomenon,” the post said.

Economic and Monetary Policy Explainers

Externalities: it’s what pandemics, pollution and puppies have in common.

Externalities are costs and benefits that impact or spill over to someone other than the producer or the consumer of a good or a service. As a June Open Vault post explained, that applies to everything from pandemics to puppies. In a pandemic, a lack of social distancing by one person creates an externality that is negative: a higher risk of infection for everyone. Puppies that only bark at strangers, meanwhile, could provide a positive externality for neighbors as a warning system.

A June Open Vault blog post highlighted the Economic Lowdown series video “Externalities.” What makes pollution a negative externality is explained in this clip.

Here’s What the Fed Means by Tapering

As anticipation built this fall for a Federal Open Market Committee decision to “taper,” so did curiosity about what tapering is. An Open Vault post answered that question: The Fed can turn to large-scale asset purchases when economic conditions warrant, and tapering means reducing the pace of those purchases. The post, published a week after the Nov. 3 announcement of the FOMC’s decision to start tapering, also explained how tapering works.

What Is the Federal Open Market Committee?

Readers curious about what tapering is could have learned earlier in the year about the committee that makes that and other monetary policy decisions. As a February Open Vault post explained, the FOMC is the main monetary policymaking body of the Federal Reserve and is comprised of leaders from around the Federal Reserve System.

People and Places

Older workers accounted for all net employment growth in past 20 years.

Before there was the “Great Resignation,” there was an employment increase: A February On the Economy post said that a rise in employment of people age 60 and older was responsible for U.S. employment growth of 11.8 million from December 2000 to December 2020. (See chart.) Among those workers, the increase in employment is attributed to the group’s population growth and increased employment-to-population ratio.

Cumulative Net Change in the Number of Employed People since December 2000

House Prices Surpass Housing-Bubble Peak on One Key Measure of Value

The steady increase of a house price-to-rent ratio “would imply increasing overvaluation” of houses, a May On the Economy post said. That was the case in early 2021 (using data available through March), when an index measuring the ratio of house prices to rent in the U.S. had risen rapidly over the course of a year and reached its highest level since at least 1975.

Sign up now for the free symposium, which has the theme, “Leading the Way in Challenging Times.” The event will run 6 to 8 p.m. CT on Feb. 23-24. Participants will hear insights from leading economists.

Inspiring Young Women to Pursue Economics

A January Open Vault post previewed a February 2021 event that is “designed to inspire young women and underrepresented minorities who may be interested in econ—and to encourage those pursuing a degree to persist.” The next Women in Economics Symposium is set for Feb. 23-24, 2022.

Money and Finance

Wealth gaps between white, black and hispanic families in 2019.

Across education, family structure and generations, gaps persist between the wealth of white families and that of Black and Hispanic families, the authors of a January On the Economy post found.

For instance, they wrote: “More education was associated with more wealth for all the racial and ethnic groups considered. However, wide gaps remain at every education level, with Black and Hispanic families having less median family wealth than white families with the same education.”

And Black and Hispanic families are less likely than white families to have financial and other assets like homes and businesses, and when they do, those assets were more likely to have lower values.

Navigating the ABCs of CBDCs—Central Bank Digital Currencies

“You’ve likely heard of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or even Dogecoin, but you may not have heard of ‘Fedcoin,’ an informal name some have used for the idea of a digital currency tied to a central bank, namely the Federal Reserve,” a June Open Vault post said. The post highlighted short videos in which a St. Louis Fed economist answered questions on central bank digital currencies, including about possible effects on privacy and bank lending.

Heather Hennerich is a senior editor with the St. Louis Fed External Engagement and Corporate Communications Division.

Related Topics

This blog explains everyday economics, consumer topics and the Fed. It also spotlights the people and programs that make the St. Louis Fed central to America’s economy. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System.

Media questions

All other blog-related questions

Top 101 Home Economics Research Topics [Updated]

Home economics research is more than just cooking and sewing; it encompasses a diverse range of topics that impact our daily lives. In this blog, we’ll delve into the world of home economics research topics, exploring current trends and potential research topics.

Home economics has a rich history, evolving from its early focus on domestic tasks to encompass broader aspects of family and consumer sciences. Throughout history, pioneers in the field have made significant contributions, shaping its development into the interdisciplinary study it is today.

Current Trends in Home Economics Research

Table of Contents

• Home economics research addresses contemporary issues impacting individuals, families, and communities.
• Focus areas include food and nutrition, family and consumer sciences, housing and interior design, textiles and apparel, and human development.
• Researchers explore topics such as dietary patterns, parenting styles, sustainable housing solutions, sustainable fashion practices, and mental health in families.
• Emphasis is placed on understanding cultural influences, promoting well-being, and addressing societal challenges.

Top 101 Home Economics Research Topics: Category Wise

Food and nutrition.

• The impact of dietary patterns on health outcomes.
• Food insecurity and its effects on families.
• Cultural influences on culinary practices.
• Sustainable food systems and their implications.
• Nutritional interventions for improving community health.
• The role of food education in promoting healthy eating habits.
• Food labeling and its influence on consumer choices.
• The psychology of food cravings and binge eating.
• Food allergies and dietary restrictions: coping strategies and solutions.
• The relationship between diet and mental health.
• The effects of urbanization on dietary habits and nutrition.
• Food marketing strategies targeted at children and adolescents.
• The relationship between food additives and health outcomes.
• Food waste reduction strategies at the household level.
• The influence of socioeconomic status on food choices and access.
• Community-based nutrition programs for underserved populations.
• The importance of learning about healthy eating to stop long-lasting illnesses.
• Looking at how different cultures eat and how it affects their health.
• How the world becoming more connected changes the way people eat traditional foods.
• Food safety practices in home kitchens and their effectiveness.

Family and Consumer Sciences

• Parenting styles and their effects on child development.
• Financial literacy and its impact on household economics.
• Consumer behavior and decision-making processes.
• Gender roles in household chores and responsibilities.
• The influence of the media on family dynamics.
• Intergenerational transmission of family values and traditions.
• Work-life balance: challenges and strategies for modern families.
• The role of technology in family communication.
• Coping mechanisms for family stress and conflict resolution.
• Diversity and inclusion in family structures and dynamics.
• The intersection of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in family dynamics.
• Financial planning for major life events such as marriage and retirement.
• Consumer attitudes towards sustainable and ethical products.
• Digital literacy skills and their importance for modern households.
• The role of family rituals in strengthening relationships.
• Substance abuse prevention programs for families.
• Time management techniques for balancing work, family, and personal life.
• The effects of household clutter on mental health and well-being.
• Intergenerational transmission of culinary traditions and recipes.
• Strategies for conflict resolution and mediation within families.

Housing and Interior Design

• Sustainable housing solutions for urban environments.
• Universal design principles for creating accessible homes.
• Biophilic design: incorporating nature into indoor spaces.
• The impact of interior design on mental health and well-being.
• Smart home technologies: benefits and drawbacks.
• Affordable housing strategies for low-income communities.
• Historic preservation and adaptive reuse in architecture.
• The psychology of color in interior design.
• Innovative materials and construction techniques in homebuilding.
• Housing policies and their effects on social equity.
• The impact of the built environment on physical activity levels.
• Cultural influences on architectural styles and housing designs.
• Aging in place: adapting homes for older adults’ needs.
• Energy-efficient design principles for sustainable housing.
• The psychology of space: how interior design affects mood and behavior.
• Homelessness prevention strategies and support services.
• Innovative furniture design for small living spaces.
• Historic preservation and community revitalization efforts.
• Smart home technologies for improving safety and accessibility.
• The role of public policy in addressing housing affordability issues.

Textiles and Apparel

• Sustainable fashion practices and their environmental impact.
• Ethical considerations in the global textile industry.
• Clothing and identity: self-expression through fashion.
• The psychology of fashion trends and consumer behavior.
• Textile recycling and upcycling initiatives.
• Fashion education and its role in shaping industry standards.
• Historical influences on contemporary fashion design.
• Body image perceptions and their relationship to clothing choices.
• The future of wearable technology in fashion.
• Cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation in fashion.
• The environmental footprint of fast fashion and alternative business models.
• Textile innovations for sustainable clothing production.
• The cultural significance of traditional textile crafts.
• Fashion as a form of social activism and self-expression.
• The psychology of online shopping and its impact on consumer behavior.
• Clothing rental and sharing platforms : sustainability and consumer trends.
• Textile recycling technologies and closed-loop production systems.
• Fashion entrepreneurship: challenges and opportunities for small businesses.
• Body positivity movements and their influence on fashion marketing.
• The role of fashion in shaping cultural identities and social norms.

Human Development and Relationships

• Marital satisfaction and communication patterns.
• The impact of divorce on children’s well-being.
• Aging and quality of life: promoting healthy aging practices.
• Intergenerational relationships and their significance.
• Mental health stigma within families and communities.
• Resilience factors in overcoming family adversity.
• Attachment theory and its implications for parent-child relationships.
• The role of social support networks in coping with life transitions.
• Gender identity development across the lifespan.
• Intersectionality in understanding human development and relationships.
• How social media impacts how we connect with others and our mental well-being.
• Coping strategies for managing work-related stress within families.
• The impact of migration on family dynamics and support networks.
• Trauma-informed care approaches for supporting survivors of abuse and violence.
• Positive youth development programs and their long-term outcomes.
• The benefits of intergenerational activities for promoting social cohesion.
• Cultural competence in providing family-centered healthcare services.
• Gender equality initiatives within families and communities.
• How having a parent in jail can affect kids’ happiness and growth.
• Technology-mediated communication and its impact on family cohesion.
• Innovations in marriage and family therapy for addressing diverse needs and challenges.

What Is The Importance Of Home Economics To You As A Student?

As a student, home economics holds significant importance for several reasons:

• Life Skills Development: Home economics equips students with practical life skills that are essential for everyday living. From cooking and nutrition to budgeting and time management, these skills are invaluable for independent living and contribute to personal growth and self-sufficiency.
• Health and Well-being: Studying home economics helps students understand the importance of healthy living practices, including proper nutrition, hygiene, and stress management. This knowledge promotes physical and mental well-being, laying the foundation for a healthier lifestyle both now and in the future.
• Financial Literacy: In home economics class, we learn about money stuff like budgeting, saving, and handling debt. This helps us understand how to use money wisely and make smart choices. It’s like learning the secrets to being good with money so we can be in control of our finances and become more independent.
• Cultural and Social Awareness: Home economics encompasses various aspects of culture, family dynamics, and social issues. Through studying topics like food culture, family relationships, and societal trends, students gain a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives and develop empathy and respect for different cultures and lifestyles.
• Practical Application of Academic Concepts: Home economics provides a hands-on approach to learning that complements theoretical knowledge acquired in other subjects. By applying concepts from science, mathematics, and social studies to real-life situations, students gain a deeper understanding of academic content and its relevance to their daily lives.
• Preparation for Future Roles: Whether students aspire to become parents, caregivers, homeowners, or professionals in fields related to food, nutrition, or family services, home economics provides a solid foundation for success in these roles. The skills and knowledge acquired through home economics education are transferable and applicable across various personal and professional domains.

In conclusion, home economics research is a dynamic field that encompasses a wide range of topics relevant to everyday life.

By exploring issues related to food, family, housing, textiles, and human development, researchers contribute valuable insights that can lead to positive changes in individuals, families, and communities.

As we continue to advance our understanding of home economics research topics, we empower ourselves to create healthier, more sustainable, and more fulfilling lifestyles for all.

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HBCUs get historic funding from Biden administration. How has $16 billion been spent?

Usa today looked at where the $16 billion in funding for historically black college and universities has gone, and how the funding compares to predominantly white universities.

The Biden administration recently announced that it has invested a record $16 billion in historically Black colleges and universities over the past three years.

The administration announced the record investment on Thursday ahead of Biden's commencement speech on Sunday at Morehouse College, one of the country's  most revered African American academic institutions.

"These historic funding levels demonstrate the Administration's ongoing commitment to HBCUs, which serve as an engine for upward economic mobility in our country," the White House said in a news release.

USA TODAY looked at how that money has been spent and how the record investment compares to predominantly white universities. Here's what we found out.

Where was the money invested?

Over the past three years, the federal government has invested money in the following places:

• Nearly $4 billion invested in HBCUs through the American Rescue Plan and other COVID relief legislation.
• $2.6 billion  invested from the Department of Education to build institutional capacity at HBCUs. According to the Biden administration, "these efforts support the growth and sustainability of HBCU degree programs; increase and enhance human, technological, and physical infrastructure for research; strengthen positioning to secure direct partnership opportunities; and create sustainable fund development."
• Over $1.6 billion  invested through Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and "other competitive funding opportunities"
• Almost $950 million  to support HBCUs in growing research capacity and related infrastructure
• Nearly $719 million  in grant funding to expand STEM academic capacity and educational programs
• Over $150 million  in federal contracting opportunities awarded to HBCUs, including for research and expansion of STEM education programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, and the U.S. Agency for International Development
• $1.6 billion  in capital finance debt relief for 45 public and private HBCUs
• Over $2.4 million  in Project SERV funds to support HBCUs affected by more than a dozen bomb threats in 2022
• $2.8 billion  in need-based grants and other federal programs, including Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
• Nearly $1.3 billion  to support veterans attending HBCUs through the GI bill and other college, graduate school, and training programs

The impact of historically Black colleges and universities

There are more than 100 HBCUs around the country, according to Leslie Jones , founder and director of  The Hundred-Seven , an organization that promotes the higher education institutions for Black students.

HBCUs represent 3% of all colleges and universities but account for 8% of all undergraduate enrollment of Black students and 13% of all bachelor's degrees earned by Black students.

Research suggests that HBCUs provide opportunities for upward mobility compared to other colleges in the country. Nearly a third of students who graduate from HBCUs will move up at least two income quintiles from their parents by the age of 30.

About 40% of all Black engineers, half of all Black teachers and 70% of all Black doctors and dentists earned their degrees from HBCUs, the Biden administration shared in their news release.

According to  social mobility research  by the United Negro College Fund, HBCUs support almost five times more students than Ivy League schools in helping community members transition from the bottom 40% in U.S. household income to the top 60%.

Where are HBCUs located in the country?

Hbcus have a history of being underfunded.

Under federal law, historically Black land-grant universities are to receive equitable funding with land-grant universities that are predominantly white.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack s ent joint letters  to 16 state governors, addressing funding disparities that totaled $13 billion for 16 historically Black land grant universities.

According to Inside Higher Ed, between 1987 and 2020, 16 state funded institutions had funding gaps ranging from $172 million to $2.14 billion, in comparison with predominantly white land grant universities. Tennessee underfunded its HBCU land grant college by $2.14 billion during this time period, the federal analysis found.

The following states underfunded their historically black land grant colleges:

• North Carolina
• West Virginia
• South Carolina
• Mississsippi

A separate study from philanthropic research group Candid and ABFE, a nonprofit pushing for investment in Black communities, found funding to HBCUs from large U.S. foundations fell 30% between 2002 to 2019.

As previously reported by USA TODAY , the average Ivy League institution received 178 times more foundation funding than the average HBCU, according to the study.

Funding to HBCUs dropped from $65 million in 2002 to $45 million in 2019. Between 2015 to 2019, the nation’s 99 HBCUs received $303 million – compared to a combined $5.5 billion given to the eight Ivy League schools in that same period.

Contributing: Marc Ramirez , Saleen Martin

150 Strong History Dissertation Topics to Write about

Writing a dissertation is one of the most challenging and exciting moments of an academic career. Such work usually takes a great deal of time, courage, and intellectual effort to complete. That’s why every step in your work process is essential.

It all starts with finding a good topic, which can be a challenge of its own. It especially matters when it comes to liberal arts subjects. In social studies, literature, or world history options are practically endless.

Coming up with history dissertation ideas, you need to think of historical events that interest you. We get it, choosing one is tough. There can be too much to wrap your head around. That’s why IvyPanda experts prepare some dissertation topics in history ready for you.

• How to Choose a Topic?
• Ancient History
• Medieval History
• Modern History
• Cold War Topics
• American History
• European History
• Indian History
• African History
• Performing Arts
• Visual Arts
• How to Structure

🧐 How to Choose a History Dissertation Topic?

Before examining our ideas for dissertation topics in history, you should get ready for this. You have to understand how to pick a history dissertation topic, which will ensure your academic success. Keep in mind that this is a vital step in your career.

So, check some tips on picking what to write about:

• Make sure that the topic fits in your field of study. You have to understand what you’re writing about. Basing your paper on existing knowledge and experience is a part of any dissertation. Working on an overly complicated idea can sound impressive but lead to failure. It will become a nightmare already on the stage of writing a dissertation proposal. How can you write the entire thing without comprehending it?
• Estimate whether you’re interested in the topic you intend to write on. Although this might seem obvious, yes. However, being actually invested makes a massive difference for your further work. There are plenty of students who settle for “easy but boring” topics and end up struggling twice as much.
• Ensure that your topic is specific enough. Your idea should have the potential for fruitful research. Narrowing down your area of study is essential for writing a good dissertation. It helps you to find the direction of your examination and enough sources to work with. Moreover, this way, you’ll be able to explore your topic in its entirety.
• Do some prior research. It will give you an understanding of how much literature on your topic is out there. Take notes of the materials for the reference list and your analysis. Checking history essay samples is a good idea, too.
• Don’t be shy to ask your dissertation advisor for some assistance. After all, they are here to help and guide you through the process. Besides, you have to see what ideas they consider relevant and appropriate.

👍 Good Dissertation Topics in History: Time Period

History is a subject as ancient and vast as the humankind itself. It’s only rational to study it according to a particular timeline. Here are some good history dissertation topics for different periods.

🏺 Ancient History Dissertation Topics

• Ancient Civilizations: The Maya Empire . The Maya was an incredibly powerful Empire with its prime around six century A.D., excelling in mathematics, calendar-making, astrology, and writing. It faced the decline of its city-states in nine century A.D., leaving a rich cultural heritage to the studies of subsequent generations.
• Women’s Roles and Gender relations in the Ancient World
• Greek City-States . Ancient Greece is the place where the first city-states were formed. How did the first governments in the ancient history timeline develop? How did people’s attitudes towards leadership change in that context?

• Ancient Near-Eastern Thought and the Old Testament
• The Inca Empire as a Great Civilization of Pre-Columbian America
• The Impact of Mongol Invasion in Ancient Arab
• The personality of Julius Caesar and His Effect on Rome
• The Role of Poets and the place of Poetry in Ancient Greece
• Mesopotamian Civilization . This was a fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It has been home to some of the world’s wealthiest and most advanced ancient cities. It can also make an excellent archaeology dissertation topic. There are plenty of fascinating sites that could be studied.
• History: Ancient Greek Olympics . Started in 776 BC, the Olympic Games were the most important cultural event in Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus every four years. Besides, the Olympics were representative of the triumph of physical and spiritual power.
• Warfare and Violence in Ancient Times. Try to do a comparative analysis of warfare techniques used by different ancient civilizations. It could be a great dissertation topic.
• Burial Rituals in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece: a comparison
• Plutarch’s Vision on Alexander the Great
• Dissolution of the Roman Empire . The Empire sprawled from the coast of North Africa to the territories of the modern UK and Armenia. Once, it was the most powerful political entity in the entire Mediterranean. The empire, however, collapsed in 476 CE. What were the reasons for its eventual decline?

• How Geography Has Impacted the Development of Ancient Cultures
• Cause and Effect of Art on Classical Societies
• The Invention of Papyrus and its impact on the World
• Chichen Itza Archaeological Site . Chichen Itza is a great pre-Columbian archaeological site, home to the Maya civilization. It is a fascinating study case in many aspects. Consider the origins and Maya history. Analyze the cultural preservation issues that it faces nowadays.
• Egyptian Pyramid’s Importance in Egypt’s society
• The Stone Age Period and its Evolution

🛡 Medieval History Dissertation Ideas

• Cultural Exchanges in the Medieval Period . In the aftermath of the Roman Empire’s fall, new geopolitical conditions formed. The early Middle Ages period already marked the appearance of new trade routes. It fostered cultural exchange between nations.
• Rome in the Middle Ages and its cultural transformation
• The Development of Feudalism and Manorialism in the Middle Ages
• The Catholic Church and the Black Death in the 14th Century . During the high Middle Ages, the plague epidemic terrorized Europe. It was a dreadful challenge to medicine, religious institutions, and the social apparatus of the time. How did the Catholic Church deal with such a complex and disastrous medical phenomenon?
• Jews and Muslims in Medieval Spain . Christian, Islamic, and Jewish communities shared the Iberian peninsula in the early Middle Ages. It formed a vibrant cultural environment.
• London during the Roman Age: A Critical Overview
• Causes of the First Crusade of 1095-1099
• Twelfth-Century Renaissance, how Franciscans reacted to it and benefited from its development
• Business and Empire, the British ideal of an Orderly World
• The Black Death, Late Medieval Demographic crisis, and the Standard of Living controversies
• The Role of the Church in the life of the Middle Ages

• Medieval Siege Warfare . Exploring methods of defense used during the Middle Ages might be an interesting research project.
• The Conditions of Hindu and Islamic women in Medieval India
• Why the Crusades Failed
• The Mechanical Water clock of Ibn Al-Haytham, his philosophy of the rise and fall of empires
• The Renaissance and its Cultural, Political and Economic Influence
• The Dark Ages as the Golden Ages of European History . Plenty of facts demonstrate civilization’s decline during the Middle Ages. It was, nevertheless, the time of significant scientific, literary, and technological progress. For some interested in writing a medieval literature dissertation: think of Dante’s Divine Comedy . Da Vinci made his groundbreaking study projects during the Middle Ages. It was the time when first universities, such as Cambridge and Oxford, were founded. Overall, this period has a lot to offer!
• Japan’s Development Under Edo/Tokugawa Shogunate
• Historical and Theological Context of Byzantine Iconoclasm
• Medieval Convivencia: Document Analysis

🕰 Modern History Dissertation Topics

• World History: Enlightenment in Society and its Impact on Global Culture
• Nationalism and its 19th Century History
• Why Mussolini and the Fascists Were Able to Seize Power in Italy
• Religious Symbolism in Renaissance paintings . Renaissance is well-known as a period when fine arts were thriving. It was an early modern birthplace of many technological and cultural advancements. Religion, however, was still a central topic in visual art.
• Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Western Civilizations
• Principles of Liberalism and Its Connection to Enlightenment and Conservatism
• “History and Topography of Ireland” by Gerald of Wales . Looking for an incredible Irish history dissertation topic? Then this document might be an interesting prompt. Its somewhat controversial tone of describing contemporary Irish culture, history, and traditions can be subject to a comprehensive analysis.
• Moral treatment of Mental Illness . Over the 19th and 20th centuries, psychology has changed. Moving from a scientific periphery, it became one of the central subjects of scholarly discussions. Mental illnesses were highly disregarded in earlier centuries. People even considered them to be manifestations of demonic possession. How did this attitude change? Why did people rethink psychology as a scholarly discipline?
• A History of the Cuban Revolution

• Abraham Lincoln’s Historical Influence
• Role of Women During the Spanish Civil War
• Conquest and Colonization of America by European Countries . Colonization of America is one of the grandest enterprises in the world’s political history. What were its driving forces?
• Origins and Trajectory of the French Revolution
• Major Impacts of Consumerism in contemporary world history
• Coco Chanel Fashion: History of Costume . Probably not the first topic for a history dissertation that comes to mind. Chanel is truly an iconic figure in modern history, though. She revolutionized the fashion industry concerning gender as well.
• Causes of the Breakup of the Former Yugoslavia
• The Russian Working Class Movement . Before 1861, the agriculture and peasant-owning system were the foundation of the Russian Empire’s economy. Serfs made up a significant part of the population, accounting for over 60% in some regions. Then the serfdom abolition happened. A lot has changed in the economic and social life of the country.
• Segregation During the 1960s
• Historical Development of Feminism and Patriarchy
• Monetary and Fiscal Policy during the Great Depression

🔔 History Dissertation Topics on Cold War

• The Role of Cold War in Shaping Transatlantic Relations in the Period from 1945 to 1970
• The showdown between the United States and the USSR . Cold Was was essentially the power struggle between the US and the Soviet Union. It unleashed in the aftermath of World War II. This political precedent came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the answer to the “Who won the Cold War?” question may be unclear.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis , its causes, and effects
• US Foreign Policy during the Cold War. Cold War, as a phenomenon, has many layers to it. Yet the one crucial is the contest of two ideologies: democracy and communism. How did the US shape its foreign policy and pursue its interests abroad? And how did the cultural and political setup within the country adjust to it?
• To what extent did the Cold War shape the US relations with Latin America?
• What was the importance of Berlin in the Cold War?
• Japan’s role since the end of the Cold War
• Cold War Politics, Culture, and War . Exploring the Cold War causes and effects can be quite a challenge. It is such a multifaceted phenomenon. It was a war led on many fronts. Both USSR and the US pursued their interests using a variety of methods.

• How did Cold War propaganda influence the film industry?
• What were the challenges in the post-cold war world?

🗺 History Dissertation Topics: Geographical Regions

Every country has its historical course, and so does every continent. Geography has always been an important factor when talking about history. It shapes historical trajectory in varied, unique ways.

Look at a dissertation topics history list based on geographical regions:

🦅 American History Dissertation Topics

• History of Hollywood, California . Oh, Hollywood. A place where American movie history was born. What about Hollywood’s history? Although a less traditional American history dissertation topic, it is still a fascinating one. Explore the way technological advancements in filmmaking were introduced over the decades. How did they influence the film’s general style?
• History: Migration into the United States . How did migration influence the economy of the time?
• The Relationships between the Settlers and Native Americans
• Literary works’ Views on Slavery in the United States
• Causes of the Civil War in America
• What is the real meaning of a cowboy?
• The United States military experience through the eyes of films
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: Effects of Foreign policy
• Causes of Depression in the 1890s
• Has President Obama’s Presidency changed the US?
• The role of Founding Fathers in American Society and Religion
• Post-Civil War reconstruction . Consider the way America’s economy, trade, and finance transformed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
• Principal causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War
• Why was the Declaration of Independence written?
• The Significance of the Frontier in American History
• How is a “new racial narrative” in the U.S.A created?
• American Revolution and the Crisis of the Constitution of the U.S.A. Rethink the origins of the American constitution, as well as the following events. It could be an exciting thesis idea for an American history dissertation.

• Growth and Development of San Francisco and Los Angeles after the Gold Rush
• The Role of Racism in American Art
• Drug Use and Abuse in America: Historical Analysis

🏰 European History Dissertation Topics

• Age of Discovery in Europe. The Age of Exploration in Europe lasted from the 15th to the 17th century. Over this period, Europe actively engaged with other territories and continents. Discoverers formed new international relations and expanded geographical knowledge. This topic could also make an excellent cultural history dissertation.
• Analyzing the Impact of British Colonization
• Nationalism in World War II
• Effects of the Industrial Revolution concerning World War I
• The Rise and Fall of Napoleon and the Cause of Revolution . Napoleon is one of the most prominent figures in French history. What has shaped his career as a political leader?
• History of Hitler’s Nazi Propaganda . Consider a brief history of Germany. Undoubtedly, the rule of Hitler and the Third Reich was its most devastating chapter. The “art” of propaganda flourished during the nazi regime. It penetrated the cultural, political, and social life of the country.
• Evolution of the IRA
• Napoleon’s Strategy and Tactics in his Invasion of Russia . For someone interested in writing a military history dissertation.
• Industrial Revolution Impact on Gender Roles
• Witchcraft in Europe (1450-1750) . Witch hunts took place as early as the Middle Ages in Europe. Held by the Church in most cases, witch hunts targeted those who were suspected of practicing black magic. Examine this both astonishing and problematic phenomenon.

• French Revolution: Liberal and Radical Portions
• West European Studies: Columbus’s Journey
• History of Feudalism . Feudalism dominated the European way of life during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. What were its distinctive features as a system? Why did it eventually fade away?
• Europe’s perception of Islam in the Early and Middle centuries
• Cold War Consequences for European Countries
• Mutated Medical Professionals in the Third Reich: Third Reich Doctors
• Was the Holocaust the Failure or the Product of Modernity?
• How did the use of print change the lives of early modern Europeans ?
• Early Modern England: a Social History
• Jewish Insight of Holocaust

⛰ Indian History Dissertation Topics

• History of the Indian Castes. The Indian Caste system is a complex and unique example of social stratification.
• Mahatma Gandhi’s Leadership . Gandhi is, for sure, among the greatest human rights advocates in the world’s history. His one of a kind leadership style is subject to many studies. While practicing a peaceful form of civil protest, he fought for equality, independence, and compassion.
• Political conflicts in India in the XVII century
• Impacts of the First World War on British Policies in India
• Movement Against the British rule in India. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, with the support of the National Congress, the movement took place in 1920-22. It sought to fight for the freedom of Indians.
• The Origin and Course of the Indian revolt of 1857
• The Issues of the Partitioning of India in 1947
• India Since 1900 . India is a region rich with unique traditions. Its spiritual and cultural heritage goes back to antiquity. The country’s authentic art and architecture, music, and cuisine have served as an inspiration worldwide. A considerable part of its history is, however, affected by British rule.

• Women in Hinduism and Buddhism
• The British East India Company

🌍 African History Dissertation Topics

• Ancient Societies in Mesopotamia and Ancient Societies in Africa: a comparison . Egypt is one of the most ancient African civilizations. Its origins go back to the third millennium B.C. Back then, the cultural exchange between Egypt and Mesopotamia was flourishing. What were the significant differences between the two civilizations? What did they have to offer to one another?
• Political Violence in South Africa between 1985 and 1989
• Did History of Modern South Africa begin with the Discovery of Diamonds and Gold?
• Nelson Mandela: “Freedom in Africa.” Nelson Mandela is, without a doubt, one of the central figures in African history. His devotion and tireless effort in fighting against apartheid were remarkable. Thanks to him, many sub-Saharan countries enjoy the freedoms and advances of a democratic society.
• The Cult of the Dead in West Africa: The Kongo People . African tribal rituals and traditions are unique and specific to their region. Cult of the Dead is prevalent in Western African culture. It can be notoriously known as the origin place of voodoo and other black magic practices. There is yet much more to this culture. Dismantling some prejudices could make an excellent African history thesis.
• Christianity, Slavery, and Colonialism: the paradox
• The Colonial War in Southwest Africa
• African-Europe Relations between 1800 and 2000
• Impacts of Slavery and Slave Trade in Africa
• African Communities in America

🎨 Art History Dissertation Topics

Art comes in all shapes and forms. To grasp it better, we can explore each kind separately. Here’s a list of art history dissertation ideas:

🎶 Topics on Performing Arts

• History and Development of Ballet . Ballet is an art form with a long history. Initially, a specific dance originated in Medieval Italy. It was later brought to France and Great Britain. Ballet thrived in the 20th century Russia, where Russian choreographers brought it to the highest level of mastery.
• The Life and Work of William Shakespeare: His Contribution to The Contemporary Theater
• Jazz Music in American Culture . Jazz is one of the most complex and exciting music genres of all time. It was born in the 20’s century black communities of New Orleans and quickly spread across America and then the world. The genre, however, will always be an integral part of African-American identity.
• The Instrumental Music of Baroque: Forms and Evolution
• Rock Music of the 1970s
• Michael Jackson’s Life as a Musician and Choreographer
• Development of the Symphony Orchestra in the 19th and 20th Century
• Woodstock Music Festival . This massive music festival that first took place in 1969 was the epitome of hippie culture. It has a rich history that once again underscores the importance of performing arts in Western culture.
• The History of Modern Chinese Music
• The Renaissance Theater Development. The era in which both visual and performing arts were thriving. It has a lot to offer for proper dissertation research.

🖼Topics on Visual Arts

• Art Period Comparison: Classicism and Middle Age
• Vincent Van Gogh: Changes in the Technique
• The Ambiguity of Mona Lisa Painting

• Orientalism in Western Art . It’s commonly associated with romanticism and some 20th-century artworks. Orientalism is a Western term that speculates the aesthetics of the Orient. Consider this concept as a prism through which Westerners viewed the Eastern world.
• Classical Art and Cubism: History and Comparison
• Postmodern and Modern Art . The 20th and 21st centuries have been a breeding ground for many forms of fine art to emerge and flourish. Some art movements presented their philosophy in the form of manifestos. These texts can be nothing but a pure treasure for someone writing an art history dissertation.
• Female Figures in Ancient Greek Sculpture
• Andy Warhol’s Career . Pioneer of pop-art, creator of Studio 54, and a style icon.
• Filippo Brunelleschi and Religious Architecture
• The Photographic Approaches Towards American Culture of Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand

📋 How to Structure Your Dissertation?

An adequately structured history dissertation can immensely help students. It ensures that they present their ideas and thoughts logically. Sticking to a particular dissertation structure is an essential element of such work.

The general plan of any dissertation type is the following:

• Title Page. A title page should only contain essential information about your work. It usually shows your name, type of the document (thesis, research paper, dissertation), and the title itself. A good history dissertation title is crucial! It’s the first thing a reader will see.
• Acknowledgments. Do you wish to give credit to someone for supporting you during the tiresome months of your work? This is the right part to do so, be it your family, friends, or professors. It is an excellent form to express gratitude to those who proofread your drafts. Or those who brought you another cup of coffee when you needed it.
• Declaration. This section is your written confirmation. You declare that all the research and writing is entirely original and was conducted by you. If someone intellectually contributed to your project, state it in the acknowledgments.
• Table of Contents. Essentially, it’s a brief structure of your dissertation. List every section that you’ve included in your academic paper here.
• Abstract. This is the section where you write a brief summary of your dissertation. It should describe the issue, summarize your core message and essential points. List your research methods and what you’ve done. Remember to make it short, as the abstract shouldn’t exceed 300 words or so. Finish the part with a few essential keywords so that others can find your work.
• Introduction. A dissertation introduction presents the subject to the reader. You can talk about the format of your work. Explain what you plan to contribute to the field with your research.
• Literature Review. The chapter reviews and analyzes pieces of scholarly work (literature) that have been made on the subject of your research. The sources should present relevant theories and support your thesis. Be sure to discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the selected area of study and highlight possible gaps in this research.
• a code of conduct;
• research limitations;
• research philosophy;
• research design;
• ethical consideration;
• data collection methods;
• data analysis strategy.
• Findings and Results. Restate everything you have found in your research. However, do not interpret the data or make any conclusions yet.
• Discussion and Conclusion. In this chapter, you should personally interpret all of the data and make conclusions based on your research. It is essential to establish a logical link between the results and evidence. Finally, conclude the overall study. You can add final judgments, opinions, and comments.
• References. This section contains a list of references to all the sources that you used. Write down every material, which you quoted, mentioned, or paraphrased in your work. Check your educational institution’s guidelines to see how to do so correctly.
• Bibliography. Similar to the reference section, a bibliography is a list of sources you used in your dissertation. The only difference is that it should contain even the sources you don’t directly mention in your writing. Whatever helped you with the research, you state here.
• Appendices. The section may include any supplementary information that explains and complement the arguments. Add pictures, diagrams, and graphs that serve as examples for your research subject.

Writing a dissertation is the right challenge for those with ambitions and lots of determination. It is a lot like a marathon, and it starts with choosing the right topic. We hope that you will find one for yourself on this list. Good luck! Share the article to help those who may need a piece of advice or some history dissertation topics.

🔗 References

• How To Write A Dissertation: Department of Computer Science, West Lafayette, Purdue University
• Ph.D. Thesis Research, Where Do I Start: Don Davis, Columbia University
• Writing with Power: Elbow P., Oxford University
• Writing a Thesis or Dissertation – A Guide to Resources: Gricel Dominguez
• The Elements of Style: Strunk, W. Jr., White, E.B., Angell, R.
• A Collection Of Dissertation Topics In American History: asqauditconference.org
• Yale History Dissertations: Department of History, Yale University
• Dissertation Outline: School of Education, Duquesne University
• Developing a Thesis Statement: The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Writing an Abstract: The Writing Center, George Mason University
• Formatting Additional Pages: University of Missouri Graduate School
• Reference List vs. Bibliography: OWLL, Massey University
• How to Write Your Dissertation: Goldsmiths University for The Guardian
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style: Kim Cooper, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Acknowledgments, Thesis and Dissertation: Research Guides at Sam Houston State University
• Thesis Formatting, Writing up your Research: Subject Guides at University of Canterbury
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