Miami University and the Farmer School of Business are committed to facilitating and supporting undergraduate research, and the economics department achieves this goal largely through its departmental honors program. Recent honors theses have addressed a variety of topics, including:

• Effectiveness of state laws on child obesity.
• Pay and performance in the NBA.
• Movie box office success on amusement park attendance.
• Needle exchange programs and health outcomes.
• The business cycle and college enrollment.
• The Bakken oil fields and education.
• Guns and crime.

For the departmental honors program, high-achieving students are identified in the spring of their junior year, and interested students are matched with advisors appropriate for their topics. Research starts in the summer and continues through the fall semester. Students conclude by presenting senior theses in the middle of the spring semester at our honors conference.

An original undergraduate research experience showcases both the analytical abilities and empirical skills of a student, attributes that are highly valued by many prospective employers and graduate schools. It also offers a rare chance to work closely and at length with a faculty member. As former honors students attest, though, the greatest payoff is the growth that comes in the transition from being a consumer to a producer of knowledge.

• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012

The program runs parallel with the University Honors program, and successful completion of departmental honors typically satisfies requirement for Honors with Distinction.

For additional information on the departmental honors program or to review past honors theses, please contact our Honors Coordinator Professor Jing Li at lij14@miamioh.edu.