Bachelor’s and Master’s theses

Seit dem Wintersemester 2024/25 werden alle zu betreuenden Abschlussarbeiten der MSM über das zentrale Vergabeverfahren auf die Lehrstühle verteilt. 

Der nächste Registrierungszeitraum für das Verteilverfahren im SoSe 2025 ist vom 17. bis 20. März 2025.

Bachelor’s and Master’s theses

Topics for theses are based on the research areas of the members of the chair. The thesis can be written either in German or English.

The formal requirements for writing the thesis are explained in the "Guidelines for preparing scientific papers" from the Mercator School of Management. Instructions from the chair are to be taken into account.
 

Bachelor's theses contain either an own empirical analysis (e.g. with Excel or Stata) and a short literature review or a more comprehensive review of (mainly empirical) research papers.

For example, we are currently proposing the following topics:

  1. Insurance Effects within the Household and the Added Worker Effect.*
  2. The Impact of Free Secondary Education.
  3. The Effects of Youth Employment Programs on Future Employment and Earnings. *
  4. The Relationship Between Economic Conditions and Health. * 
  5. The Economic Impact of the 1918 Pandemic.*
  6. Can Perspective-Taking Strengthen Social Cohesion in Schools?
  7. The Impact of Mentoring on Labor Market Prospects of Youths from Disadvantaged Families.
  8. The Impact of Occupational Recognition on Migrants' Labor Market Outcomes.*
  9. The Impact of Management Reforms in Public Organizations.
  10. The Effects of Early Childhood Interventions on Fertility and Employment of Mothers.
  11. An Analysis of Barriers to Neighborhood Choice: Can Government Policies Promote Social Mobility?
  12. Discrimination in the Housing Market.
  13. The Influence of Gender in Hiring Decisions.
  14. Physical Disability and Labor Market Discrimination.
  15. The Impact of Family Environment on Education.
  16. What factors explain the gender pay gap? Evidence from the Gig Economy.
  17. The Use of AI in Hiring Decisions.
  18. The Long-Term Effects of the Environment in Early Education.
  19. The Impact of Gender in Medical Evaluations.
  20. The Effects of Bicycles on the School Education of Girls.

* This topic requires the candidate to understand econometric or theoretical methods going significantly beyond those taught in the Bachelor’s courses. Therefore, this topic should only be chosen by students interested and capable of acquiring these methods. Students targeting for excellent grades may benefit from choosing a challenging topic.

It is also possible for students to propose own topics.
 

Master's theses contain either a comprehensive review of (mainly empirical) research papers or an own empirical analysis (e.g. with Stata) based on data provided by the chair, web sources or data collected by yourself. In the case of a methodical-econometric theory theses, a simulation with generated data can be carried out instead of an analysis with observational data.

It is possible for students to choose suggested topics from the area of the bachelor’s theses. In this case, the level of difficulty will be adjusted accordingly. Additionally, students can also propose own topics.
 

Organization

Allocation of topics for bachelor’s and master’s theses

If you are interested in writing your thesis at our chair, please send an e-mail to Ms. Nassal in advance (lea.nassal (at) uni-due.de). Please explain briefly (approx. 1000 characters) why you would like to write your thesis at our chair (e.g. interest in conducting an own empirical analysis, interest in the content of our main research areas or in the topics/methods of a course taken at our chair). Ms. Stahl will then invite you to an appointment.

We offer the following dates in this semester:

  • 08/05/2024
  • 05/06/2024

Please send an e-mail at least 5 days before the desired date. This semester the appointments will take place online. After receiving the email, we will send you a link to a Zoom meeting.