Thesis Guidelines

Thesis guidelines 

This page sets out the standard expectations and working rules for writing a bachelor’s or master’s thesis under my supervision. Please read it carefully before requesting supervision and refer back to it throughout the process.

The goal is simple: a thesis should be focused, evidence-based, well-written, and feasible within the time available.

1) Before you ask for supervision: prerequisites and feasibility

I am happy to supervise motivated students, but a thesis requires preparation and time.

What to bring to the first meeting (or to your first email):

• your transcript with exams taken and grades - note that I supervise only students who have achieved a minimum grade of 27/30 in my exams ;

• your expected graduation date;

• 2–3 thesis topic ideas (even preliminary);

• a brief note on your skills (English, Excel, statistics/econometrics, coding).

Recommended prerequisites (especially for quantitative or policy-oriented theses):

• good performance in core economics courses;

• adequate knowledge of at least one among English, mathematics, statistics/econometrics;

• willingness to work with data (at minimum: tables/graphs; ideally: a simple empirical exercise).

Time requirement (non-negotiable in practice):

• Bachelor’s thesis: typically at least 4 months of steady work.

• Master’s thesis: typically 6 months or more.

If you start late, the topic will likely need to be scaled down to protect quality and completion.

2) What a thesis is (and is not)

A thesis is a thesis if it advances a clear claim (a “thesis”) by answering a specific research question.

A good thesis:

• starts from a precise question;

• engages with credible academic literature;

• uses evidence (data and/or structured analysis);

• reaches a reasoned conclusion and discusses limitations.

A thesis is not:

• a long general essay on a broad topic;

• a collection of summaries copied from the internet;

• a purely descriptive narrative with no analytical core;

• a “copy & paste” document.

3) Choosing a topic: how to make it researchable

A good topic is narrow enough to be answered and interesting enough to matter.

Avoid generic titles.

A practical rule: if the title could describe hundreds of different papers, it is too broad.

We will refine the topic together, but you must show initiative in exploring it.

PART A — Thesis prospectus (required)

Before writing chapters, you must prepare a short Thesis Prospectus (typically 2–4 pages). This document is crucial: it prevents “off-track” writing and saves time.

4) Thesis prospectus format

Title

Primary Thesis Adviser

Specific aims and hypotheses

• Clear, succinct statement of the thesis objectives.

• Include the primary hypothesis (if applicable).

Background and rationale (3–5 paragraphs)

• What does the relevant literature say?

• Why is this project important?

• How is your project different from existing research?

Methods

• Brief overview of your approach (data, indicators, identification strategy if applicable).

• What will you measure/compare/test?

Focus (public policy relevance)

• Explain how the thesis is relevant to public policy (or to real-world economic decisions), not only to abstract academic debate.

Deliverables

• List what you will produce (e.g., dataset + graphs + regression table; replication package; policy brief addendum).

Timeline

• A simple schedule with milestones (prospectus approval; data collection; first results; full draft).

PART B — Thesis structure (recommended standard)

5) Mandatory front matter (before the main text)

Your thesis should be assembled as follows:

1. Title page (title cannot exceed 60 characters)

2. Abstract (one page, double-spaced)

   • The abstract is written at the end, once results are mature. It is the final statement on the problem addressed and the main findings.

3. Acknowledgments (optional)

4. Table of contents

5. List of tables (if any)

6. List of figures (if any)

6) Recommended organization of the thesis body

Chapter 1 — Introduction

• Specific objectives of the investigation

• General problem addressed

• Hypotheses and/or guiding questions

• Brief roadmap of the thesis

Chapter 2 — Review of studies relevant to the problem (literature review)

• What the literature agrees/disagrees on

• Key concepts, measures, and debates

• Where your work fits

Chapter 3 — Research design / Data and methods

• Data sources and construction (if applicable)

• Research design and method

• Reasons for selecting the method

• Method of analysis and (if relevant) justification for statistical tests

• Limitations

Chapter 4 — Presentation and analysis of findings This is the major portion of the thesis.

• Present results in a logical order (not “everything you tried”)

• Discuss significance and interpretation

• Connect results to theory and evidence

(You may split analysis and discussion into one chapter or two, depending on the project.)

Chapter 5 — Conclusions

• Summary of findings

• Limitations (and what they imply)

• Conclusions based on the study

• Recommendations for policy/program design or further research

References

• Include all pertinent references used.

• Any standard and consistent format is acceptable, but you must apply it consistently (APA strongly recommended).

Appendix/Appendices

• Extra tables, robustness checks, variable definitions, questionnaires, additional figures, code notes.

PART C — Evidence, data, and empirical work

7) Minimum empirical/analytical requirement

Even a bachelor’s thesis should include some analysis beyond narrative writing. Depending on your topic, this can be:

• descriptive statistics and trends;

• cross-country / cross-sector comparisons;

• graphs and tables that answer your question;

• a simple replication of an exercise from an academic paper;

• a basic regression (only if you understand what it means).

Golden rule: do not choose methods you cannot explain.

8) Data sources and reproducibility

• You must clearly report where data come from, how they were cleaned, and how variables were constructed.

• Keep your files organized (data, code, output). You may be asked to share them.

Suggested folder structure:

• /data_raw (never edited)

• /data_clean

• /code

• /output (tables/figures)

• /drafts

PART D — Literature, citations, and academic integrity

9) What counts as an acceptable source

Acceptable:

• peer-reviewed articles, books from academic publishers;

• working papers (recognized series);

• reports from reputable institutions (OECD, World Bank, IMF, ECB, Eurostat, etc.).

Use with care:

• newspapers and magazines (only for context, not as scientific evidence).

Not acceptable as cited sources:

• Wikipedia;

• personal blogs or anonymous web pages;

• unverified “internet articles” without institutional or editorial responsibility.

Internet can be useful for finding data or official documents, but the thesis must stand on traceable, reliable sources.

10) Plagiarism and quoting

A thesis is not a “copy & paste” job.

• You may quote short excerpts, but you must:

  • put them in quotation marks;

  • cite the source precisely (author, year, page).

If you reproduce text without proper attribution, it is plagiarism.

PART E — Writing style, formatting, and presentation

11) Writing style (what I expect)

• Be clear, sober, and precise.

• Avoid “I think / in my opinion” unless explicitly required.

• Prefer short sentences and concrete definitions.

• Every major claim should be backed by a source or by your analysis.

12) Formatting and layout

Good editorial care matters.

• Use consistent margins, font, spacing, headings.

• Keep the structure simple: chapters and sections are enough.

• Avoid excessive sub-subsections.

• Use bullet lists sparingly.

Figures and tables:

• must have titles and notes;

• must be referenced in the text;

• must be readable (not screenshots of spreadsheets).

PART F — Use of AI tools (allowed, but regulated)

AI is not forbidden, but you must use it responsibly.

Allowed uses:

• improving English style and clarity of your text;

• brainstorming structure;

• debugging code you wrote;

• summarizing your own notes.

Not allowed:

• generating entire sections you do not understand;

• producing “fake” citations or references;

• using AI output without verification.

You remain fully responsible for the content.

Recommended practice: keep a short “AI log” (what you asked, what you used, what you verified). If your department requires disclosure, you must comply.

PART G — Working rules with the adviser

13) How we work (practical rules)

• I do not write the thesis for you. I guide, comment, and correct direction.

• Send documents that are clean, organized, and versioned.

• Do not send 80 pages at once as a first draft.

Recommended workflow:

1. Prospectus approved

2. Outline + preliminary bibliography

3. Data section (sources + definitions)

4. First results (tables/figures)

5. Chapter drafts

6. Full draft

7. Final revision (language, formatting, references)

14) Deadlines and response times

Expect feedback only if you:

• respect agreed milestones;

• send material that is readable and structured;

• implement previous feedback.

Last-minute requests are risky. If the timeline is too tight, the project will be scaled down.

Final note

A strong thesis is not necessarily the most ambitious one. It is the one that is well-posed, well-executed, and intellectually honest.

If you follow these guidelines, the process becomes smoother—and the final result is much better.

EXAMPLE THESIS 

Title Page (example)

University of Cassino and Southern Lazio
Department of Economics and Law
Master’s Degree in Global Economy and Business

Geopolitical Distance and Supply-Chain Exposure in Europe:
A Descriptive Assessment (2000–2020)

Student: Jkl Xyz (Matricola: 123456)                                                                  Supervisor: Prof. Raffaele Giammetti
Academic Year: 2025/2026

Abstract (one page, double-spaced — example)

This thesis provides descriptive evidence on how geopolitical frictions may affect the exposure of European economies to external supply-chain disruptions. Building on input–output indicators of global value chain (GVC) integration, the analysis combines foreign input reliance measures with bilateral geopolitical distance between countries to construct a set of “geopolitically-adjusted exposure” metrics for European manufacturing sectors over the period 2000–2020.

The study documents three main findings. First, exposure is not driven by openness per se, but by the composition of foreign sourcing: sectors that rely on inputs from geopolitically distant partners exhibit systematically higher vulnerability profiles. Second, the distribution of exposure is highly heterogeneous across sectors, with a small subset of industries accounting for a disproportionate share of potential upstream risk. Third, the post-2010 period shows a gradual reconfiguration of sourcing patterns that is consistent with a partial regionalization of supply relationships, although the extent of this shift varies markedly by country and sector.

The thesis contributes by offering a transparent measurement framework that links IO-consistent indicators of dependency to the political geography of international economic relations. The results are relevant for the design of resilience-oriented industrial and trade policies aimed at reducing fragility without assuming that de-integration is necessarily welfare-improving. Limitations include the descriptive nature of the evidence and potential measurement error in geopolitical distance proxies.

Keywords: global value chains; supply-chain exposure; input–output analysis; geopolitical distance; Europe; industrial policy.

Acknowledgments (optional)

I am grateful to [...]

Table of Contents (example)

1. Introduction .............................................................................. 1

2. Related Literature ..................................................................... 6
2.1 GVC exposure and vulnerability measures ...............................6
2.2 Geoeconomic fragmentation and “friendshoring” ......................9
2.3 Measuring geopolitical distance .............................................. 11

3. Data and Methods ....................................................................14
3.1 Input–output framework and indicators ....................................14
3.2 Geopolitical distance proxy ......................................................18
3.3 Geopolitically-adjusted exposure metrics ................................ 20

4. Results ..................................................................................... 24
4.1 Country-level patterns ............................................................. 24
4.2 Sectoral heterogeneity .............................................................30
4.3 Trends over time (2000–2020) .................................................35

5. Conclusions and policy implications .................................... 41
References .....................................................................................45
Appendix ........................................................................................49

1 — Introduction 

Over the past decade, international production networks have come under increasing strain. The COVID-19 pandemic, rising geopolitical tensions, and the renewed use of trade and financial restrictions have exposed the extent to which modern economies rely on complex and geographically dispersed supply chains. These events have revived policy debates on economic resilience, strategic autonomy, and the risks associated with excessive external dependence. In this context, global value chains (GVCs) are no longer discussed solely as engines of efficiency and productivity, but also as potential channels through which external shocks can propagate across countries and sectors (Baldwin & Freeman, 2022; OECD, 2023).

A recurring limitation in this debate is the tendency to equate vulnerability with openness. Countries that are more integrated into international trade and production networks are often described as inherently more exposed to disruptions. However, recent contributions suggest that this view is incomplete. What matters is not only the extent of foreign sourcing, but also its structure: dependence on a small number of suppliers, concentration in specific sectors, and, crucially, the geopolitical alignment of partner countries may significantly shape the nature and severity of exposure (Rodrik, 2011; Javorcik et al., 2024).

This thesis builds on the idea that exposure to supply-chain disruptions is fundamentally partner-specific. Two economies with similar levels of foreign input reliance may face very different risk profiles if one sources primarily from politically aligned countries while the other depends on suppliers located in geopolitically distant or strategically rival jurisdictions. From this perspective, openness per se is not the core problem; rather, vulnerability emerges from the interaction between production interdependence and geopolitical fragmentation (Baldwin, 2016; Giammetti et al., 2023).

The central objective of this thesis is to provide descriptive evidence on how the geopolitical composition of foreign sourcing affects measured exposure to upstream supply shocks in European manufacturing. To this end, the analysis combines standard input–output indicators of foreign input reliance with a bilateral measure of geopolitical distance between countries, constructing a set of geopolitically-adjusted exposure indicators for European sectors over the period 2000–2020. The empirical strategy is intentionally descriptive: rather than seeking causal identification, the thesis aims to document patterns, heterogeneity, and trends that are directly relevant for policy discussion and future research.

The contribution of the thesis is twofold. First, it proposes a transparent measurement framework that remains fully consistent with input–output accounting while incorporating a geopolitical dimension that is often treated separately from production data. This approach responds to recent calls in the literature for more integrated measures of economic vulnerability that go beyond trade volumes and capture indirect dependencies along global value chains (Antràs, 2020; Miroudot, 2020). Second, the results speak directly to current policy debates on resilience, diversification, and “friendshoring”. If exposure is concentrated in a limited number of sectors and driven by reliance on geopolitically distant partners, then policy responses may be more effective if they are targeted and selective, rather than based on broad-based de-integration strategies (Rodrik, 2022).

The remainder of the thesis is structured as follows. The next chapter reviews the relevant literature on GVC exposure measures, geoeconomic fragmentation, and the use of geopolitical indicators in international economics. The subsequent chapter describes the data sources and methodological framework, including the construction of geopolitically-adjusted exposure indicators. The empirical results are then presented and discussed, with particular attention to cross-sectoral heterogeneity and changes over time. The final chapter concludes by summarizing the main findings, discussing their policy implications, and outlining directions for future research.

[...]

References (model — APA style)

Antràs, P. (2020). De-globalisation? Global value chains in the post-COVID-19 age (NBER Working Paper No. 28115). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Baldwin, R. (2016). The great convergence: Information technology and the new globalization. Harvard University Press.

Baldwin, R., & Freeman, R. (2022). Risks and global supply chains: What we know and what we need to know. Annual Review of Economics, 14, 153–180.

Giammetti, R., Mancini, M., & Wirkierman, A. (2023). Global production networks and vulnerability to external shocks. Economic Systems Research, 35(4), 567–589.

Javorcik, B. S., Mattoo, A., Rocha, N., & Ruta, M. (2024). The costs of friendshoring. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper.

Miroudot, S. (2020). Resilience versus robustness in global value chains: Some policy implications. VoxEU.org.

OECD. (2023). Interconnected economies: Supply chains and resilience. OECD Publishing.

Rodrik, D. (2011). The globalization paradox. Oxford University Press.

Rodrik, D. (2022). Trade policy and industrial policy revisited. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36(3), 3–28.

HOW TO WRITE REFERENCES AND THE BIBLIOGRAPHY (APA — PRACTICAL RULES)

A) In-text citations (author–date)

Use (Author, Year), and include page numbers for direct quotes.

Examples

Paraphrase: (Rodrik, 2011)

Two authors: (Baldwin & Freeman, 2022)
Three or more authors: (Javorcik et al., 2024)

Direct quote: (Keynes, 1936, p. 244)
Mention in the sentence: Rodrik (2011) argues that…

Multiple citations in one place

Order alphabetically: (Baldwin, 2016; Rodrik, 2011; Stiglitz, 2002)

B) Direct quotes (use sparingly)

If you quote, you must:

1. use quotation marks,
   
   

2. add the page number,
   
   

3. quote only what is necessary.
   
   

“…” (Author, Year, p. X).

C) Reference list (bibliography) formatting rules

Title the section References.

List entries alphabetically by first author’s surname.

Use hanging indent (second line indented).

Every in-text citation must appear in References, and every item in References must be cited in the text.

D) APA templates + examples

Journal article

Template:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Example:
Javorcik, B. S. (2024). Title here. Journal Name, 12(3), 123–145. https://doi.org/xx.xxxx/xxxxx

Working paper

Template:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title (Working Paper No. xxx). Institution.

Example:
Antràs, P. (2020). De-globalisation? Global value chains in the post-COVID-19 age (NBER Working Paper No. 28115). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Book

Template:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Example:
Baldwin, R. (2016). The great convergence: Information technology and the new globalization. Harvard University Press.

Chapter in edited book

Template:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

Institutional report

Template:
Organization. (Year). Title of report. Publisher/Organization.

Example:
OECD. (2023). Interconnected economies: Supply chains and resilience. OECD Publishing.

E) Common mistakes to avoid (and how to fix them)

Missing DOIs: add DOI when available.

Inconsistent style: choose APA and apply it everywhere.

Citing Wikipedia/blogs: don’t. Use academic or institutional sources.

Fake citations: never invent references. If you cannot retrieve it, don’t cite it.