EXAMPLES of TOPIC AREAS ======================= Prottoy Akbar Transportation economics Residential sorting and segregation Urban amenities Ciprian Domnisoru Job search and skill mismatch Social mobility Education and human capital Daniel Hauser Multi-unit (Combinatorial) Auctions Learning and Information Seppo Honkapohja Unconventional monetary policy during the recent crisis Recent developments in macroeconomics Kristiina Huttunen Labor Economics Economics of Crime Family Economics Labor markets and Health Antti Kauhanen Personnel economics Collective bargaining Adult education Matti Liski Energy markets Regulation and market design Environmental economics Pauli Murto Auctions: theory and applications Economics of networks Industry studies: pricing, competition Real options Alina Ozhegova Retail market structure and pricing strategies Consumer demand estimation in retail markets Ritva Reinikka Development economics Market and Government Failures in Health Care (and other sectors) in Developing Countries Tuukka Saarimaa Housing economics Local public finance Political economy Matti Sarvimäki Economics of migration Social mobility Economics of education Field experiments in economics Miri Stryjan Development Economics Microfinance Political economy of development Economics of inequality Marko Terviö High-skill labor markets Urbanization and housing markets Occupational choice Otto Toivanen Regulations, prices and entry in Nordic pharmaceutical markets Patent portfolio management by SMEs Juuso Välimäki Economics of information Game theory Applied microeconomic theory Pablo Warnes International Trade Transportation Economics Urban Economics EXAMPLES of THESIS TOPICS ========================= Prottoy Akbar Mass transit expansion and neighborhood gentrification The value of access to clean air: Evidence from the housing market Effect of road construction on short- and long-term road congestion Ciprian Domnisoru How do parental networks impact job search? How do teacher characteristics impact student outcomes? Evaluation of (historical) reforms (in the Finnish education system) The effect of occupational licensing laws on social mobility Daniel Hauser Comparison of different auction rules/formats Economic models of behavioral biases Seppo Honkapohja Effects of large-scale asset purchases and forward guidance in financial markets or real economy Incorporating credit market frictions into macroeconomic models Central features of selected behavioral approaches to macroeconomics Kristiina Huttunen Payroll tax cuts for older workers Family policies and gender differences in labor market outcomes Education and fertility Crime and punishments Antti Kauhanen Economic costs of strikes: Event-study analyses of publicly listed firms. Incidence of incentive pay: Empirical analysis using European company survey. Who are offered firm-sponsored training: Empirical analysis using European working conditions survey. Why have time wages become the prevalent form of pay for blue-collar employees? Empirical analysis using EK wage data 1985-2023. Matti Liski Energy subsidies and economic development. A descriptive analysis Demand responsiveness in electricity markets. An empirical analysis Nuclear power phase-out in the Nordics. A policy evaluation Pauli Murto Design of auctions to allocate [insert application: e.g. radio spectrum] An analysis of airline pricing policies: theory and practice Economic models of herd behavior Prices vs. quantities in climate change policy: emission taxes and tradable permits Alina Ozhegova Uniform pricing strategies in retail markets Left-digit pricing and consumer bias The role of private labels in shaping consumer demand and retail competition Ritva Reinikka Teaching and Learning in Mozambican Schools: An Empirical Analysis of Service Delivery Indicator data Public health in low-income countries: Principles of Public Economics and Service Delivery on the Ground State capacity in poor countries: What Can We Learn from the Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators? Tuukka Saarimaa Are homeowners better citizens? Political economy of zoning and land use regulation Effects of land use regulation and building codes Does subsidized housing construction crowd-out private construction? Matti Sarvimäki Running a field experiment: a how-to guide for [insert case] Social mobility [over time/across locations/among a subgroup/…] (literature review) The impacts of integration policies (literature review) The impacts of forced migration (literature review) The effect of [policy reform/natural experiment] on [income/education/migration/…] (empirical) Miri Stryjan How does access to health services affect take up and use of microfinance? Characterizing patterns in repeat borrowing, evergreening and default using data from a large microfinance organization The impact of COVID-19 on small enterprises/intra household bargaining/mental health(and more) in low income counties Decision making and influence in community groups Marko Terviö What are the returns to advertising at [insert company / media]? A case study Student housing and graduation times Extension of mandatory driver's education in Finland. A policy evaluation Occupational mobility in Finland Otto Toivanen The effect of reference price – regulation on [product availability / prices] in the Nordic pharmaceutical markets The effect of generic substitution – regulation on [product availability / prices] in the Nordic pharmaceutical markets Iivo Vehviläinen Have the new incentives made electricity networks more weather proof? Impact of changes in local electricity distribution prices to local retail tariffs Pass-through of electricity tax to consumer electricity retail prices Pass-through of fuel tax to district heating prices Market for CO2 removals Juuso Välimäki Designing new markets: [case, e.g. economics of kidney exchange} Understanding choice: new developments [e.g. stochastic choice] in decision theory (literature survey) Revenue management: understanding the new pricing model of [case, e.g. Onnibus] Pablo Warnes Evaluating gender differences in commuting The effects of Chinese import competition on firm-level labor market outcomes in Finland The effects of mass transit expansion on economic activity Commissioned work at Aalto Economic Institute, ============================================== only available for students with strong credentials A market design for district heat Procurement auctions at the City of Espoo Procurement auctions at KELA Incentive systems at Aalto University ============================= ## Last updated: April 2025