Final theses

Bachelor's and Master's theses

General information

Final theses are allocated via an automated, centralized allocation procedure in the  Online Examination Information and Management System (OPIuM). If you are planning to write your thesis at our department in the coming semester, please register with the Examinations Office using this online registration form. If the demand for places to supervise theses exceeds the department's capacity, places will be allocated by the department according to certain criteria:

  1. number of courses successfully completed in the subject area of International Economic Policy
  2. grade point average of these courses

The department offers a colloquium for final theses. All thesis candidates are entered directly into the event in Stud-IP by the secretary's office. It is called: "Thesis Colloquium International Economic Policy". There you will also find a guide to writing a thesis with further information.

Finding a topic

Possible topics for theses are mainly in the areas of international finance, international trade, European economic policy and development economics. In principle, however, all topics from the field of economics/international economic policy can be worked on.
 

Bachelor topic allocation

Our department will provide you with a list of topics that we consider suitable. You can select topics from this list. The possible topics will be presented at an information event. You inform us of three topic preferences by a fixed date. We will then allocate the topics according to your preferences. If there is an excess demand for individual topics (or if we do not receive a topic request from you), a topic will be allocated by lot.
 

Master's topic allocation

First of all, think independently about two to three topics that you can imagine working on as part of your Master's thesis. Ideally, you will find a related article that has been published in an academic journal (a specialist journal for economics/international economic policy) within the last few years through independent literature research. After you have read this, please come to Mr. Westermann's office hours with the article (after making an appointment with the secretary's office) and discuss a precise formulation of the topic with him.

Example topics - past semester

  1. An economic analysis of the impact of banking crises on income distribution
  2. Government debt and non-cash payments: What drove inflation during the pandemic?
  3. How do import prices react to exchange rate changes? An economic analysis of the Swiss franc's peg to the euro
  4. Does purchasing power parity hold in the long term? Empirical evidence based on historical data
  5. Are there distributional effects of climate change? An economic analysis
  6. The role of the exchange rate in the propagation of macroeconomic shocks in developing countries: An economic analysis
  7. Offshore financing of companies: An economic analysis
  8. Public debt in foreign currency: An economic analysis

  9. The "gig economy": An economic analysis of flexible labor relations

  10. Growth in China: A review from the perspective of regions and cities