Bachelorabschlussseminar

Topics/Themen of the winter term 2024/2025:

1. Publish or Perish? The Importance of Citations for Academic Careers

2. Birthweight Manipulation and Hospital Reimbursement

3. Voting Conditions and Political Participation

4. Police Violence and Educational Outcomes

5. Surname Initials and Academic Success

6. COVID-19 Mobility Restrictions and Crimes

7. Gender Bias in the Publishing Process

8. Right-Wing Politicians, Discrimination and Hate Crimes

9. Natural Catastrophes and Fertility

10. Social Media and Xenophobia

11. Media and Racial Hate

12. House Prices and Fertility

13. Migration and Political Preferences

14. Additional Demand for Donations and Substitution Effects

15. School Meals and Child Outcomes

16. News Media and Anti-Immigrant Attitudes

17. Naturalization and Child Outcomes

18. Efficacy of Gun Control Laws

19. Determinants of Organ Donations

20. Longer School Days and Educational Attainment

21. Chess and Education Performance

22. Gender and Leadership

23. Immigration and School Performance of Natives

24. Determinants of Judge Decisions

25. Behavioral Impacts of Air Pollution

26. Parenthood and Earnings Penalties

27. Health Effects of Medicaid Expansion

28. Determinants of Opiod Addiction

29. Determinants of Charitable Giving

30. Labor Market Conditions of Sex Workers

31. Bartik Instruments in Migration Research

Suggesting an own bachelor thesis topic-guidelines for the application:

In case you want to write your bachelor thesis on a self-chosen topic, we would ask you to consider the following points in your application:

Provide a (causal) research question for your topic (e.g. "Does an increase in x cause an increase in y?", "Does policy x cause a reduction in y?"...)!

Suggest 2-3 empirical papers that tackle the suggested research question! Look for papers that make use of counterfactual methods i.e. Regression Discontinuity Designs, Difference-in-Differences, Instrumental variables, (Propensity Score) Matching, Synthetic Control Method.

Write a short motivation for the topic: Why is the topic relevant? Provide context on the policy/main explanatory variable you want to investigate! Why is the topic interesting? Four to five sentences should suffice.

In case the suggested topic is not suitable for a thesis at our chair, please signal whether you would be willing to write a thesis on a topic suggested by the chair (see list below) or you would prefer writing your thesis at another chair!