We welcome the opportunity to supervise your thesis, provided the following criteria are met:

1. Relevant Topic

Your thesis should focus on the politics of money—that is, how political processes influence investment, finance, trade, or debt, and how these economic issues, in turn, shape politics.

2. Empirical Component

Your research must include an empirical analysis, such as statistical methods, qualitative interviews, or document coding. Please note that purely theoretical discussions or literature reviews without empirical work will not be accepted.

3. Language Requirement

The thesis must be written in English.

4. Knowledge Sharing

Upon completion, you are required to participate in a post-thesis survey to help pass on insights and guidance to future students.

5. Prior Academic Engagement

You should have attended at least one course with your prospective supervisor. While exceptions can be made, students currently enrolled in the specialization Politics and Money will receive priority consideration.

We invite you to download our comprehensive guideline for writing Bachelor’s and Master’s theses at the Institute for International Political Economy. This document offers detailed instructions, clear guidance on structuring your thesis, and best-practice examples to support you throughout your research and writing process.

Are you still looking for inspiration for your Bachelor's thesis?

We have compiled a list of potential topics and research questions for Bachelor's theses that can help you find your way.

Global financial flows / international questions

• Why has the Minsky scenario of declining credit supply in the context of slower economic growth not yet occurred in China, where some local governments are no longer able to repay current interest claims in the face of high debt, whereas such a Minsky scenario would have occurred by now during the Asian financial crisis of 1997?

• Why did peripheral markets such as India, the Philippines and Indonesia experience an immense capital outflow after the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas China did not see so much capital being withdrawn from its market?

• Why do Ukraine and Romania rank almost equally on the overall fintech activity index, even though countries with higher GDP per capita generally perform better than lower-income countries?

• Considering that fintech activity is positively correlated with the overall level of economic development - why is financial inclusion (and fintech activity) greater in Kenya than in Nigeria, even though economic development in Kenya is lower than in Nigeria?

• Despite being both major discount retailers from the United States, why did "Target" fail to expand successfully in Canada while "J. Crew" adapted well and had a successful expansion into the same market?

• With changes in joint venture opportunities in the Chinese and Indian electronics industries, why is Apple pursuing a plan to move parts of its assembly to India while Samsung is not taking advantage of joint venture opportunities in China and India?

• Why does India succeed in attracting greenfield FDI whereas Indonesia remains an unpopular destination for these projects?

Government policies

• Why does South Korea refuse to supply weapons to Ukraine, while countries like Norway have sometimes already supplied heavy equipment, even though both countries use similar rhetoric?

• Why does Scotland's capital Edinburgh ban the operation of strip clubs under a 2019 regional law change, while the city of Glasgow does not?

• Why do countries like Germany and France welcome the European Union's plan for a global minimum 15% tax on big business, while Poland blocked the formal adoption of the measure?

• Why do some countries, such as the US, keep increasing their debt and take on more and more loans every year that they cannot actually afford, while EU countries, for example, have agreed that their national debt must not exceed 60% of their GDP?

• Why did it take so long for the government to offer a mobile money service in Ethiopia, and why were no private providers allowed, which would improve infrastructure and keep transaction costs low through competition, when countries like Kenya have been doing so for more than a decade?

• Despite the similarity of their highly regulated and complex financial sectors, why have countries like the UK and Singapore had more success in fostering fintech innovation through regulatory "sandbox solutions" than countries like Germany and France, which have been slower to implement this approach?

• Why did India have an all-time high in M&As, while M&A deals in China saw a nine year low in the same period considering that both China's and India's governments want economic expansion, but are considered to have a lower quality of governance compared to states in the west?

• Why have China's newer Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) included more protection to international investors, while India is adopting more protectionist policies that could steer investors away?

• Why is China not providing incentives for "Mergers and Acquisitions" (M&As) like does India, even though China could benefit more from them, considering that the country has a higher level of human capital than India?

• Despite being part of the same coalition government, why does Italy's far-right party Brothers of Italy have a more skeptical position on China's Belt and Road Initiative compared to its coalition partners, the League and Forza Italia, who have a diverse track record of preferences towards China?

• Despite their economic similarities, why does Nigeria adopt protectionist policies that discourage FDI while Ghana implemented a number of policies aimed at reducing protectionism and increasing trade?

• Why are Chinese Special Economic Zones more successful than India’s?

• Why does Togo favor its local companies over foreigners, whereas Benin tries to attract more FDI and therefore risks its own local economy?

Banks

• Why did the Austrian government bail out Hypo Alpe Adria with investments worth billions, but accept the insolvency of Sberbank Europe AG?

• Why was it possible in 2017 to save the Spanish bank "Banco Popular Español" through a symbolic sale to Santander Bank without state aid, while in the same year the bail out of the two Italian banks "Banca Popolare di Vicenza" and "Veneto Banca" was only possible with state aid of over 17 billion euros?

• Why didn't the US government try to support Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) to keep the bank alive and thus calm the market a bit, as it happened in the case of the bank run scenario in Switzerland, where the government financially supported the takeover of the ailing Credit Suisse by its competitor UBS?

Stock exchange and stock market

• Why did the stock exchange or the respective authority not act in 2020 and immediately exclude the shares of "Wirecard AG" from trading despite serious rumours and a high risk for investors, whereas they did so in 2010 with the Austrian multimedia company "webbfreetv.com"?

• Why did the speech of the then British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Tory Conference on the party's Brexit course on the 5^th of October, 2016, have such a big impact on the stock markets, but her speech on immigration two days later (one of the main arguments in the Brexit campaign) did not?

• Why did Turkey massively support its stock markets after the devastating earthquake in February 2023, while Japan did not do so after the earthquake disaster in 2011?

• Why do some of the large state-owned oil companies, which have much more market power than the large private energy companies, invest in renewable energies, but others do not?

• Why does Singapore still allow a dual-class share system, potentially eroding minority shareholder protection through unequal voting rights, whereas Taiwan has banned dual-class share systems?

• Why did the American stock market perform badly in 2022 while the German stock market performed well, even though their economies are both Western and industrialized and correlate with each other?

• Why are the fines for Congressmen in the U.S. who violate the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK Act) so low at $200, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fine for insider trading can be up to $5 million?

• Why are the United States’ insider trading laws so weak compared to many other countries like Canada or the United Kingdom, despite the United States being the international trading and financial hub?

Exchange rates

• Why did the Bank of England intervene massively in the bond market from autumn 2022 by buying British government bonds, while the FED in the USA did not purchase Treasury Bills?

• Why did the International Monetary Fund (IMF) help Bangladesh 2023 unconditionally, while requiring Pakistan to meet several tough conditions?

• Why did the so-called "Asian crisis" in 1997 lead to a drastic decline in the value of the Indonesian currency, the rupiah, while the Singapore dollar remained reasonably stable?

• Why does Brazil have a fixed exchange rate, but neighbouring Guyana has a floating exchange rate regime?

• Why has Argentina been suffering from immense inflation for a long time (most recently 102.5% year-on-year), while Brazil is experiencing only moderate price increases, most recently around 5.6%?

• Why has Russia managed to keep its national currency stable despite the severe economic sanctions imposed during 2022, while the value of Iran's currency, the rial, has recently plummeted?

Find selected proposals which we can make available to you as examples of best practice with the consent of the respective colleagues.

Find current Bachelor's theses which we can make available to you as examples of best practice with the consent of the respective colleagues.