Enjoy the posts below and chat with thesis writers via Zoom on Monday, May 25, 1-2pm ET! Links available in each post and also here.
2020 Senior Theses
The Impact of Free Primary Education on Women’s Knowledge of Contraception in Kenya
By Paula Chappel Motivation In my thesis, I investigate the impact of women’s education on their contraceptive knowledge and intent to use contraceptives. I exploit a Kenyan education policy change in January 2003 that made education free and compulsory. This is an important topic because better educated women are often healthier, and are more likely Read More
Beyond Banking the Unbanked: The Effects of India’s Demonetization on Financial Inclusion and Consumption Smoothing
By Aakanksha Vora Banking serves as a gateway into the formal financial system, which can decrease inequality of outcomes and opportunity for the 1.7 billion unbanked adults globally. Building a financially included economy, by banking the unbanked, can alleviate poverty and reduce wealth disparities. However, there are several barriers to access, and ownership of a Read More
The Causal Effect of Chinese Foreign Aid on Child Labor Practices in Developing Countries
By Wesley Cash The recent proliferation of Chinese foreign aid in Africa has raised many concerns about China’s potentially exploitative economic and political intentions. This paper empirically tests the effectiveness of Chinese foreign aid by measuring its effect on child labor participation in developing countries. Using a difference-in-differences-like identification strategy at the subnational level, I Read More
Is Our World More Integrated? The Feldstein Horioka Puzzle Revisited
By Juan Crestanello My thesis revisits the relationship between a country’s domestic saving and its investment, a link first explored by Feldstein and Horioka (1980). I show that the once strong relationship between domestic saving and investment waned over time and essentially disappeared in the years before the financial crisis, followed by some reemergence more Read More
Aiding Legitimacy: A Model of Foreign Aid, Legitimacy and Conflict
By Elizabeth Herington “Fazlullah (local militant leader) was particularly popular in remote areas where people remembered how TNSM (militant-affiliated aid organization) volunteers had helped during the earthquake when the government was nowhere to be seen.” -Malala Yousafzai, global education activist and survivor of Taliban violence, 2013 Civil violence has become the most prevalent form of Read More
“Take Me to Church”: Religious Membership as a Determinant of Intergenerational Mobility
By Elizabeth Morrissette Both Suffolk County and Norfolk County, Massachusetts are part of the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area and are adjacent to one another, but the counties have vastly different expected economic outcomes for the children who are raised there. Children who grow up in Norfolk County have average expected incomes that are $12,000 higher Read More
Riding with Charlie: Public Transportation Policy and its Impact on Businesses and Road Safety in Massachusetts
By Pedro Farias Can public transportation help local businesses and save lives and costs? My thesis seeks to understand this dual question by considering a natural experiment in Boston. From March 2014 to March 2016, the MBTA expanded public transportation service on weekends from 12:30am to 2:30am for certain routes. With data on MBTA service, Read More
The Promise of a Cure: Measuring the Welfare Gain to Hemophilia A Patients from Gene Therapy
By Julian Ubriaco US Prescription Drug Spending is on the Rise Growing prescription drug spending is a core driver of rising healthcare costs in the US. Given that prescription drugs now make up nearly 15% of total healthcare spending, calls for price controls have become increasingly intense from the US Congress. However, as a student Read More
Changing Climate, Changing Behavior: Evaluating the Impact of Observability and Framing on Carbon Offset Donations
By Anli Chen Climate change is an urgent global issue that requires collective effort from organizations and individuals alike to overcome. Carbon offsets, while an imperfect solution, are one of the most high-impact and low-barrier ways every individual can contribute. Yet, they are relatively unknown and extremely underutilized. My behavioral economics thesis tackles that challenge Read More