UNIVERSITÄT HOHENHEIM INSTITUT FÜR VOLKSWIRTSCHAFTSLEHRE Fg. VWL insb. Außenwirtschaft Prof. Dr. Benjamin Jung Universität Hohenheim (520 E)  D - 70593 Stuttgart Schloss Hohenheim Museumsflügel D - 70593 Stuttgart Telefon: 0711 / 459 - 23454 Telefax: 0711 / 459 - 23952 [email protected] www.uni-hohenheim.de January 2014 Master thesis General information The master thesis is an integral part of the M.Sc. program. We strongly recommend students to first complete their course work, before applying for the master thesis. The purpose of a master thesis is to make students familiar with scientific methods used in modern economics. This involves a mixture of model‐based analysis and empirical work, as well as scientific writing/reporting. Students are expected to work independently on the assigned topic for a period of three months. Topics We only supervise theses with topics related to the courses that we teach, i.e. topics in the area of International Economics. More specifically, master theses may focus on any one of the following areas:         Theory of international trade Empirical studies on international trade Trade policy Multinational firms Offshoring Foreign direct investment Empirical studies on international migration Development economics. Application Application for the master thesis requires that you have successfully completed at least one of the following modules: (1) Advanced International Trade: Theory, (2) Advanced International Trade: Empirics. There are three application deadlines in a year:    March 15 May 15 October 15. -2- -2- It is your responsibility to make sure that you meet all examination regulations. The application includes a 1 page proposal of what you intend to do in your thesis. You are also requested to upload a transcript of records. Please upload the transcript of records and the proposal as a single PDF document in the Master thesis section on ILIAS. The name of the document should look like this: <last name>_<student number>.PDF, where last name and student number are replaced accordingly. In your proposal we expect you to spell out where you want to depart from existing literature and what you want to contribute to it. We do expect you to aim for a contribution to the literature, however modest, in either a theoretical or an empirical dimension. This requires that you narrow down your focus early to a specific recent journal article that has caught your attention. A good starting point in the search for your main reference is the literature dealt with in the courses. The supervisor enters the stage after your submission. Jointly with the supervisor your proposal must be developed into a specific research question to be answered in a three months Master thesis. This process also implies involves agreeing upon your main reference. Regarding the mixture of model‐based analysis and empirical work mentioned under general information, we expect that your Master thesis falls in one of the following categories: (1) You review a theory outlined in your main reference and contrast it with empirical evidence discussed in the recent academic literature; (2) you recalculate a theoretical model that you find in your main reference and come up with a reasonable extension; (3) you replicate theory‐based empirical work that you find in your main reference. If the dataset is not made available by the authors, you have to create your own dataset. If you can exploit an existing dataset, you are expected to come up with an extension to the empirical strategy you find in your main reference.