Potential thesis topics
This page suggests some potential topics for pre-MSc and MSc theses. Of course, you are not constrained to any of those topics but I personally consider them interesting and relevant and reasonably doable in the context of a pre-MSc/MSc thesis.
If you plan to write your MSc thesis with me, please contact me and/or the MSc thesis course coordinator before submitting your preferences/supervisor placement.
Economic growth & development macro
Estimation of macroeconomic production functions
Does what you import matter? Quality of imported intermediate inputs and growth
Cyclical and structural patterns in income convergence
The role of demography and female labor during growth accelerations
Cyclical and structural patterns in income convergence
The role of institutions during growth accelerations
To what extent can capital externalities account for cross-country income differences?
Cross-country capital dynamics in the long run and economic growth
Convergence of sectoral productivities
Drivers (and patterns) of sectoral productivity differences
Remittances and growth: what are the channels? (saving, investment, stabilization? GDP vs. GNI effects)
Labor share: determinants, relevance, effects, measurement
Trade liberalization and fiscal spending: patterns and effects
Resource economics & sustainability
The relationship between inequality and emissions/resource use
Natural capital accounting
Measuring inclusive/sustainable wealth of nations
Development aid and climate change
Structural change and climate emissions
Political economy
Voting patterns in the European Parliament (with a focus on corporate tax matters)
Corporate lobbying in the European Parliament
Determinants and consequences of (civil) wars
The violent legacy of conflicts (replication, application to other settings, gender violence)
FDI
FDI and tax havens & the role of conduit FDI/SPEs