Senior Honors Thesis

Writing a senior thesis is an excellent way for students to build upon their economics coursework and pursue research that is meaningful and interesting to them. It also allows students to hone the skills they’ve developed and apply frameworks and knowledge in a way that develops an even greater analytical perspective.

Writing a senior thesis requires organization, planning, and focus. Students interested in writing a senior thesis should consult the Senior Honors Thesis Guidelines. The guidelines document describes the philosophy behind the senior thesis and walks you through the process of selecting a topic, engaging a faculty adviser, and registering for the two-semester senior honors thesis seminar.

Past thesis students have found this experience richly rewarding. Read the testimonials below to learn how the opportunity to work closely with a faculty adviser and to think critically and deeply about a significant intellectual problem of their own selection helped these Ď㽜Đă alumni grow as researchers, analysts, writers and critical thinkers. While a thesis is arguably essential for students who intend to pursue graduate work in economics, it is also incredibly valuable for the majority of thesis students who follow other paths.

Students who are interested in writing a senior thesis should begin the process in the spring of their junior year (identifying a faculty adviser and developing a research idea in late March or early April). 

Thesis Program Co-Directors

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Resources

  • Senior Honors Thesis
  • Senior Honors Thesis (Due April 30 Junior Year)
  • Senior Honors Thesis guide to
  • To see samples of past theses by economics students, please visit the eScholarship page on the .
  • Current and past years’ thesis topics

Student Testimonials

Current and Past Years’ Senior Honors Thesis Topics

Presentations will be in O'Neill 257.  We will meet from 8:30-10:15 a.m.  Advisers are invited to attend.  Each presentation should be about 15-20 minutes in length with some additional time for questions.  

March 26

Braden Kramer: “Assessing Initial Impacts of the Great American Outdoors Act on Gateway Community Demographics” (Murphy)

Grace Naugle: “Supply and Demand Shocks as Drivers of Output and Unemployment:  A Structural VAR Approach” (Murphy)

Matthew Bower: “A New Era of Major League Baseball: How the 2023 MLB Rule Changes are Impacting Player Performance and Team Strategy” (Murphy)

Yuecheng Su: “Impact of Climate Change on Financial Markets” (Xiao)

April 2
Brock Daylor: “Expect The Unexpected: The Impact Of Natural Resource Price Volatility On Governance and Corruption” (Sanzenbacher)

Adalyn Schommer: “The Impact of Test-Optional Admissions Policies for Catholic Colleges and Universities” (Sanzenbacher) 

Liuying Huang: “The Impact of CEO’s Involvement in the Media Industry on Financial Markets: a Case Study on Elon Musk’s Twitter Activity on Asset Prices” (Cox)

Ansel Kufta: “Can Vitamin D and UV-Exposure Explain Opioid Use” (Cox)
April 4Tyler Smith: “Post-Pandemic Inflation: An Analysis of the Causes of the Wide Variety in Inflation Across Countries Following the Covid-19 Pandemic” (Ireland)

Rona Sun: “What is the impact of the banking crisis on society's trust in the banking system?” (Ireland)

Sky Lyu: “Unveiling the Veil of Growth: The Hidden Impact of Neoliberal Economic Reformation on Labor Productivity in Chile from 1973 to 1982” (Guerron)

Ian Leissner: “How Occupational Exposure to Automation Impacts Wages” (Cichello)
April 9Esther An: “Has increased working mobility post-Covid changed companys' hiring preferences of new grads in Tech, Finance, and Healthcare industries?” (Rutledge)

Cooper Mae Cavallo: “Success or Failure:  Effect of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" on Eighth Grade Reading and Mathematics” (Rutledge)

Christian DiBiase: “Healthcare on the Front Lines: Economic Realities for Nurses Pre, During, and Post COVID-19 in the U.S.” (Rutledge)

Garrett Domaratzky: “A difference-in-difference estimate on the effects of ACA medicaid expansion on ER visits for individuals with poor mental health” (Rutledge)
April 11Yixiao Sun: “How did the entry of Japanese cars in the U.S. market change the U.S. automobiles design and consumer welfare from the 1970s to the 1990s?” (Murry)

Yanting Wang: “The Green Initiative: California's success in reducing GHG emissions” (Baum)

Yuhao Wang: “Post-COVID Changes in Means” (McHugh)

Jack Sui: “Assessing the variation in SNAP Participation and Food Insecurity Across States” (Anderson)
April 18Catherine Bennett: “Emergency: RN Staffing Levels, Vacancies, and Work Satisfaction” (Sanzenbacher)

Emily Howell: “Student Loans and Financial Literacy: Set-backs or Tools for Success?” (Sanzenbacher)

Zhichen Zhou: “AI fever and technology companies’ financial performance” (Sanzenbacher)

Duncan Wang: “How social capital affects the overdose death rates in different races/ ethnic groups” (Heyman)
April 23Kevin Lee: “Football coach discount rates and draft pick trading” (Grubb)

Aditya Rao: “Using Green Bond Spreads to Quantify How United States Clean Energy Expansion Policy Shifts Investment in the European Union: A Difference-in-Difference Approach” (Grubb)

Nick Traver: “Learning and Memory Given Most Information is Already Known” (Coffman)

Eamon O'Malley: “Charging Ahead: Exploring the Impact of State Incentives on Electric Vehicle Adoption and Emission Reduction Targets” (Pideret)
April 25Thomas Esterbrook: “Beyond the Debate: A Meta-Analysis on Minimum Wage Effects on Employment” (Quinn)

Laura Lu: “The impact of global conflicts on the ESG performance of companies” (Maxwell)

Ben Ragland: “Overworked and Underloved: Exploring the Relationship Between Overtime Work and Marital Stability” (Venator)

Matthew Sher: “The Impact of Human-Capital Active Labor Market Policies on Unemployment during the 2020 Coronavirus Recession” (Venator)
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