Economics UG Honors Thesis Courses

From the 2023-2024 academic year, we implemented an honors thesis program which provides a wonderful opportunity to develop your academic skills to another level and to work closely with a faculty member on your own research project.

 

Course Structure

Students are required to register for both ECON 3800 UG Honors Thesis I and ECON 4800 UG Honors Thesis II in Fall and Spring, or Spring and Fall (consecutive) semesters. Please note that the presentation will take place in the Spring term regardless of when ECON 3800 is taken. 

  • ECON 3800 UG Honors Thesis I (Fall semester): research idea development and obtain datasets.
  • ECON 4800 UG Honors Thesis II (Spring semester): implementing analysis and write-up a thesis.
    • Taking ECON 3800 is prerequisite

 

Course Credits

  • 2 credits in Fall (pass/fail) and 3 credits in Spring (Letter Grade)
    • The Spring semester course (3 credits) counts as an ECON elective course.
    • Receiving a passing letter grade from ECON 4800 will waive the capstone project which is a requirement for MAEC students.

 

Eligibility

  • Minimum CGA: In principle, a student is expected to have a CGA overall 3.3 (ECON major & elective courses 3.5, preferred)
  • Prerequisite:
    • BBA ECON: Managerial Micro and Macro, Introduction to Econometrics
    • ECOF/MAEC: Micro Theory I, Macro Theory I (Micro Theory II and Macro Theory II recommended), and Introduction to Econometrics
    • Complete at least one 4000-level ECON elective course
    • Note:
      • Students not meeting these requirements can still be enrolled if he/she has a justification and get permission from the honors thesis coordinator.

 

Research Idea Development

  • Track 1: Students could develop his/her ideas.
  • Track 2: The faculty member could propose ideas, students could apply for.
  • Students could choose their track in the beginning of the Fall semester.

 

ECON3800 Timeline (Fall/Spring)

September 3
6:00 pm - 6:50 pm
(LSK G001)		 Information session will be organized by the Thesis coordinator.
September 10 (Fall) / February 10 (Spring)

Honors Thesis Intention Form and CV to be submitted (by the student) to the Online System. The form and CV will be reviewed by the coordinator. Before submission, please be sure to obtain prior approval (signature or email approval) from an Econ professor to supervise the project.

Download: Honors Thesis Intention Form
Before September 13 (Fall) / February 16 (Spring) Students who are approved to enroll in ECON 3800 will submit the "Instructor's Consent" and "Requisites Waiver" requests on or before this day to get the coordinator's approval to enroll in the course. After getting the approval, students will enroll in the course themselves.
November 30 (Fall) / May 8 (Spring) Submit thesis proposal (minimum 7 pages) approved by the thesis supervisor to the coordinator. Proposal will be graded (P/F) and evaluated by a reviewer for feedback.

 

ECON4800 Timeline (Spring/Fall)

April 24 (Spring) / November 16 (Fall)

Submit a draft (approved by advisor) to the Coordinator to be evaluated by a reviewer for feedback.
May 8 (Spring) / November 30 (Fall) Reviewer’s comments are returned to students, advisors, and the Coordinator.
May 28 (Spring) / December 19 (Fall) Thesis Submission
May 31 (Spring)

Honors Thesis Festival: 30-minute presentation in front of students and professors.

Best Paper and Runner-up awards (if there are at least six theses)

Honors Thesis Coordinator

Prof. Qinggong Wu (from Fall 2026)

 

Honors Thesis Supervisor

  • Professor is assigned by Prof. Wu based on the thesis topic and the request made by students.
  • One faculty can supervise at most two theses per year

 

Honors Thesis Certificate

  • A+: With greatest distinction
  • A or A-: With great distinction

 

Best Paper Award

The coordinator will establish a selection committee to determine the best paper. If more than six papers are submitted, both a Best Paper Award and a Runner-Up Award will be presented.

 

Formal Thesis Requirements

  • A title page with an abstract (200 words limits)
  • A detailed table of contents
  • A complete bibliography
  • Adequate documentation of footnotes so that source material can be found. Footnotes should be placed at the bottom of the page. Parenthetical references are acceptable.
  • You must sign the honor code pledge at the end of the thesis
  • The manuscript must be typewritten, font size 12, double-spaced, single-sided, and bound (softcover) with title and author on the cover. Margins should be one inch around except for the binding edge, which should be 1-1/2 inches.
  • Remember to number the pages
  • No explicit length requirement, but typically 50 pages long. Theoretical theses tend to be shorter.

 

Final Grading

  • Letter Grade, not a curve but only based on the quality of an individual thesis
  • Grading is determined by the thesis advisor based on his judgment as well as the input from the faculty reviewer

 

Sample Papers

Reputational Externalities in Housing Markets: Evidence from Evergrande’s Default in China
Yanshuo Hu (BSc ECOF) under the supervision of Prof. Deyu Rao

 

Abstract:

This study investigates reputational externalities in housing markets using the 2021 collapse of China Evergrande Group as a quasi-natural experiment. Leveraging a dataset of nearly 1 million housing transactions across 10 major Chinese cities from 2019 to 2023, we employ difference-in-differences, triple difference, and event study frameworks to examine how developer defaults affect housing prices. We find strong evidence of negative reputational externalities: Evergrande-branded properties suffer substantial price declines of 11.1 to 17.6 percent due to heightened brand exposure, while unbranded Evergrande properties experience minimal impacts, highlighting the role of reputation over physical disruptions. Nearby non-Evergrande properties also experience significant price declines due to unfulfilled amenity commitments by Evergrande, with effects diminishing with distance. Behavioral analysis indicates a temporary increase in buyer bargaining power post-crisis, which normalizes over time as market expectations adjust. Our findings extend hedonic pricing models by incorporating reputational dynamics and highlight the need for gradual deleveraging policies and stronger enforcement of developer amenity commitments to mitigate welfare losses in China’s real estate sector.

 

View PDF File

 

Geopolitical Risk and Global Commodities: an Empirical Study
Yue Chen (BBA ECON) under the supervision of Prof. Byoungchan Lee

 

Abstract:

We study how geopolitical risk shocks propagate to gold markets and macro–financial variables. It combines news-based geopolitical risk indices from Caldara and Iacoviello, 2022—including global, act, threat, and country-specific measures—with data on gold prices, global gold demand, country-level gold production, inflation, monetary policy indicators, real activity, durable goods, oil prices, and equity markets. While prior work examines GPR’s effect on energy and macro aggregates, its impact on safe-haven commodities like gold remains understudied. Methodologically, the analysis adopts a two-step SVARX framework. Geopolitical shocks are first identified using both Cholesky and LASSO-based approaches and are shown to be largely unpredictable. These shocks are then introduced as exogenous linear and quadratic drivers, allowing for nonlinear and magnitude-dependent effects. Single-equation ADL models provide additional robustness. The results reveal a clear distinction between threat-and act-type shocks. Threat shocks operate as expectation-driven uncertainty shocks, raising inflation expectations, policy rates, and gold prices, while depressing equities and durable spending. Act shocks resemble realized negative demand shocks, leading to deflationary pressures and persistent contractions in real activity. Gold consistently acts as a safe-haven asset, though production responses differ across major producers. Cross-country evidence shows broadly similar financial tightening but heterogeneous real-side effects, particularly in economies directly exposed to geopolitical conflict.

 

View PDF File