Economics, B.S.
Undergraduate Research
Capstone Project
Advanced students in economics have many opportunities to carry out research as part of their capstone projects. Typically, students do a capstone project in one of the 200-level capstone-elegible courses of their choice. In the capstone projects, students do theoretical and/or empirical research related to the course topics under the guidance of the instructor. At the end of the semester, they draft the poster and showcase the results in front of Economics faculty and students. The topics of capstone project presented in the recent years are listed below.
Topics of Capstone Project
AY 2025-2026
- Gravity Analysis: The Effect of BRI Investments on Primary Good Trade Flow Between China and Latin America
- Shifting Patterns of Comparative Advantage and Employment in Automobile Industry Since Emergence of Electric Vehicles
- Foreign Competition and Falling Prices: The Trade Drivers of US Solar Adoption
AY 2024-2025
- Measuring the Hidden Cost of Fashion: Carbon Efficiency and the Role of Sustainability Certifications
- Replication and Extension of “Cash Transfers, Behavior Changes, and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Evidence from Randomized Experiment in Nicaragua”
- How do erosion risk, property characteristics, and shoreline protection measures affect house prices on Cape Cod?
- The Impact of Information about Financial Aid on Returns to Higher Education in Chile
- The Extended Faustman Model
- Parental Aspirations for Children’s Education
- Impacts of Statistics on Players Compensation/Wage Distribution
- Macroeconomic Drivers of Housing Prices
- Political Partisanship and Urban Growth: An Analysis from 1940 to 1975
- The Impact of Racial Segregation on Violent Crime Rates
- The Economic Influence of New England Cities Resulting from the Presence of Universities
- NBA Player Wages
- Transportation Improvements and Housing Costs: Sustaining Growth in the Greater Boston Area
- The Impact of Labor Market Policies
- Unskilled vs. Skilled workers: The Effect of Education in Unions
- Economic Impacts of Sports Entering an Urban Economy
- Determining Salaries in the NBA through Performance Measures
- Gravity Analysis: The Effect of BRI Investments on Primary Good Trade Flow Between China and Latin America
Honors Program
Students who excel in academic work (at least a 3.5 average in economics courses and a 3.0 overall GPA) may apply to our Honors Program, allowing them to work closely with faculty on in-depth research. Honors Program is the year-long course (ECON 297), doing empirical research and writing up of results under the supervision of a thesis advisor. You will begin your thesis research during the fall and complete the research and thesis-writing during the spring semester. After completing the thesis, you will share the results of your research to the Economics faculty and also prepare a poster describing your research at Academic Spree Day. The topics of honors thesis in the last few years are listed below.
Honors Thesis Topics
2025-2026
- “The Effect of the ACA Medicaid Expansion on Involuntary Part-Time Employment”
- “Decomposing the University Premium: Parcel-Level Evidence on Building and Land Value Capitalization in Worcester, MA”
- “Priced In? Foreign Direct Investment and the Indian Equity Market”
- “Running a Non-Profit in a Recession: Analysis of Countercyclical Financial Practices”
2024-2025
- “Salary Determinants of Players in the NBA: The Effects of League Changes”
- “Analyzing Migration Flows of Skilled Migrants In the U.S. vs Europe”
- “Determinants of Children’s Educational Outcomes in Tanzania”
- “Where Campaign Dollars Go, And What They Do: Strategic Behavior and State-Level Outcomes, 2008–2024 (Presidential Elections)”
- “The Cryptocurrency Market May Not Be Weak-Form Efficient”
- “Measuring the Effects of the 2000s Manufacturing Shock and Resiliency in American Counties”
- “Who Benefits? Analyzing the Economic Impact of H-1B Visa Holders on the U.S. Labor Market”
Professional Conferences
Some students attend professional conferences where they present their research and network with other economics professionals. Example include the Association for Public Policy and Management Conference, the Eastern Economic Association, and the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting.
Economics Department Seminar
The Economics Department sponsors a seminar series where economics majors, doctoral students, and faculty come together to learn about and discuss research trends in the field.
