COURSE OFFERINGS

Fall Semester 2015:
Advanced Microeconomics II 

Spring Semester 2016:
Microeconomics III
Mikroökonomik III
The Economics of Strategy 

THESIS SUPERVISION (BACHELOR AND MASTER)

Topics and Requirements

Our chair welcomes proposals for supervision of Bachelor’s and Masters’ theses which fall into our chair’s area of specialization. Methodologically, our chair specializes in microeconomic theory, and more particularly game theory, information economics, and incentive theory. In terms of topics and applications, primary applications of these tools at our chair include the areas of industrial organization, competition policy, and regulation. You will find a list of sample theses written at our chair further below.

Please note that, for successful supervision, we also require a complementary methodological specialization on your behalf as far as your studies are concerned. More specifically, beyond the core microeconomics courses, we will usually require you to have completed “Game Theory” or “Industrial Organization” at the Bachelor level (preferably both). If you are applying for supervision of a master thesis, you should have chosen a similar area of specialization during your Masters’ studies.

Application

If you have a proposal for a thesis topic which plans to use the aforedescribed methodological toolkit, and if you have chosen relevant specialization courses in your studies, then we will be happy to receive your application. Your application should include a proposal of about one page and a recent transcript of records.

Please make sure that your proposal describes not only the proposed research question itself, but also how and why this fits into our chair’s methodological focus (i.e., how you plan to use microeconomic theory, game theory, etc. to answer your question).

Please make sure that your transcript of records documents the aforedescribed specialization in your chosen elective courses.

Please send your application to dennis.gaertner@unisg.ch.

Examples of theses written at our chair:

• “Collusion in repeated auctions and the role of communication” (M)
• “The effect of antitrust policy on innovation rates” (B) 
• “An economic analysis of ‘drip pricing’” (B) 
• “On the nature of private information in corporate leniency” (B) 
• “How the music industry has reacted digitalization in audio media” (B) 
• “Collusion under private monitoring with communication” (M) 
• “The effects of joint and several liability rules on collusion and antitrust settlement” (B) 
• “Eine Analyse der Horizontal Merger Guidelines im Hinblick auf George Stiglers `A Theory of Oligopoly'” (B) 
• “Kollusion bei Multi-Unit und wiederholten Auktionen im Vergleich” (B) 
• “Preisdiskriminierung bei Fluggesellschaften und die Auswirkungen auf die Wohlfahrt” (B) 
• “Incentives and asset backed securities” (M) 
• “Gemischtes Duopol in der Ölindustrie: Theorie und Praxis am Fallbeispiel Taiwan” (B) 
• “Innovationsbremse Patentschutz? Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der traditionellen Sichtweise” (B) 
• “International Mobile Roaming – War das Eingreifen der Europäischen Union berechtigt?” (B) 
• “Verhaltensanomalien bei Versicherungsentscheidungen - Erklärungsansätze und Grenzen der Prospect Theorie” (B)