Honors Program
The honors program challenges students of exceptional achievement to do extended original research during senior year. Honors students usually spend the first term of their senior year engaged in research and the second term writing and revising their papers. The final step in the process is an oral examination conducted by the adviser and two other examiners. Successful completion of an honors project is noted on the student’s transcript following graduation.
2027 Honors Day Schedule
The date and schedule for the 2027 honors day will be announced early in the spring semester.
Past Honors Students
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2026 Maia Lemov ’26 (Delmar, NY), “Losses and Labor: Experimental Insights into Effort supply and Behavioral Biases”
Bailey Lengfelder ’26 (Seattle, WA), “From Coverage to Care: Evaluating the Effects of ACA Medicaid Expansion on Birth Outcomes”
Sean Maxfield ’26 (Washington, D.C), “The Impact of Monetary Policy Announcements on Trading Reactions to Earnings Reports”
Adaye S. Yvan N’guettia ’26 (Abdijan, Côte d’Ivoire), “The Lottery You Do Not Want to Win: The Role of Local Institutional Quality in Brazil’s Fight Against the Persistent Transmission of Poverty”
Linh Nguyen ’26 (Dak Lak, Vietnam), Intrahousehold Allocation of Domestic Work Between Mothers and Daughters: Evidence from a Cash Transfer Program in Malawi”
Anna Settels Palacios ’26 (Washington, D.C.), “Investigating Non-Farm Enterprises in Nigeria: What Influences Their Survival and Function in the Face of Droughts?”
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2025 Mathilda Barr ’25 (Los Angeles, CA), “Did the Minnesota Buffer Law Improve Water Quality?
Faye Dingle ’25 (Manchester, MA), “Industrial Parks and Domestic Power: An Analysis of Work, Industrialization, and Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria”
Gavin Engelstad ’25 (Denver, CO), “Cross-Sectional Household Heterogeneity in the Business Cycle”
Minseo Kim ’25 (Woodbury, MN), “Breaking the Barrier: The 2024 NAR Ruling’s Implication for Home Prices and Market Quality”
Owen Lindstrom ’25 (Hanover, MN), “The Effect of School Shootings on Academic Outcomes for Students of Varying Socioeconomic Status”
Giovanny A. Martinez Rodriguez ’25 (Caracas, Venezuela), “The Effect of Employment Shocks on Earnings: Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic”
Minh Nguyen ’25 (Hanoi, Vietnam), “Peer Effects in Electric Vehicle Adoption: Evidence from the State of Washington”
Bram Nutt ’25 (Portland, OR), “Capturing Non-linearity between Household Debt and GDP: A Deep VAR Approach”
Christine Oduor ’25 (Saiya, Kenya), “The Employment Effects of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Economic Support Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States”
Ashlyn Ryan ’25, (Seattle, WA), “Corporate Social Responsibility: Are there Financial Incentives?”
Christina Spicher ’25 (Eden Prairie, MN), “Risk, Routes, and Media Reports: The Impacts of Perceptions of Crime on Bus Ridership in Minneapolis and Saint Paul”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Second PlaceSamina Stack ’25 (Minneapolis, MN), “An Overlapping Generations Approach to the Burden of Knowledge”
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2024 Ghaicha Aboubacar Ahe ’24 (Niamey, Niger), “Crisis Unearthed: Unraveling Resilience in the Face of Natural Disasters – Impact on Global and Domestic Firms in India”
Anna Durall ’24 (LaCrosse, WI), “Partisan Perspectives on Inflation: Exploring the Influence of Political Alignment on Inflation Expectations”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Second PlaceMahmoud Majdi ’24 (Morocco), “What Is the Impact of an Anti-Poverty Program on Resilience to Negative Shocks? Evidence from Bangladesh.”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceBobbie Pennington ’24 (Mbabane, Eswatini), “Prescription for Prosperity: The Dual Miracle of Antiretroviral Therapy and African Growth”
Mateo Useche ’24 (Quito, Ecuador), “What is the Effect of Mental Health on Labor Outcomes? Evidence from Colombia”
Zak Yudhishthu ’24 (Portland, OR), “Supply and demand in my backyard: how new affordable housing affects nearby rental prices”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third Place -
2023 Mason Bosley ’23 (Amery, WI), “The Giannis Effect: How Celebrities Impact Prejudice in Their Communities”
Xueyan (Liz) Cao ’23 (Hefei, China), “Market Concentrations and Political Outcomes”
Ryan Dodds ’23 (Arlington, VA), “Right-to-work laws and workplace safety”
Cheikh Fall ’23 (Dakar, Senegal), “Desert Locust Invasions and Farmers’ Adaptation”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceJonah Klein-Collins ’23 (Naperville, IL), “Zooming Out: A Retrospective Analysis of Nontraditional Learning Modes’ Effect on High School Graduation and Dropout during the 2020-2021 Covid-19 School Year”
Abbie Natkin ’23 (Hummelstown, PA), “The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Crime”
Paige Stevenson ’23, (Raleigh, NC), “Collateralizing Ideas: Intangibles in the Credit Market”
Sariya Stowers ’23 (Ponder, TX), “Power without Borders: Analyzing the Interplay of State Trading, Renewable Portfolio Standards, and Electricty Prices”
Yike Zhou ’23 (Hangzhou, China), “The Effect of the China Shock on the 2016 and 2020 US Presidential Elections”
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2022 Nicholas Di ’22 (Saratoga, CA), “Gendered Labor Market Outcomes During COVID-19: Evidence from Early Withdrawal of Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation”
Alexander Hopkins ’22 (Boston, MA/Randburg, South Africa), “How Does the Crowd Affect Home Field Advantage? Evidence from COVID Affected Seasons in the Top 5 European Soccer Leagues”
Jared Jaegler ’22 (Barrington, RI), “Did the Clear Air Act Improve Environmental Justice Disparities?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third PlaceKian Sohrabi ’22 (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), “An Application of Prospect Theory: The Effect of Trailing at Halftime on Winning NFL Games”
Xinyi Wang (Nanjing, China) ’22, “Did K-12 School Closure and Reopening Policies in Response to COVID-19 Enlarge the Gender Employment Gap?”
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2021 Federico Chung ’21 (Buenos Aires, Argentina), “The Power of Information: Information, Leak Notices, and Water Conservation in Edina, MN”
Coco Li ’21 (Shanghai, China), “College Enrollment Decisions: An International Perspective”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third PlaceTianrui Liu ’21 (Beijing, China), “The Effect of Agricultural Productivity in Labour Migration: Evidences from Indonesia”
Liam Purkey ’21 (Portland, OR), “Gentrification and Neighborhood Employment Outcomes”
Aidan Toner-Rodgers ’21 (Sebastopol, CA), “Collective Bargaining and Police Use of Force”
Hannah Whipple ’21 (Corvallis, OR), “The Effect of Racial Covenants on Modern Day Foreclosures: Evidence from Hennepin County”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceKaichong Zhang ’21 (Guangdong, China), “Demand Shock on Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect on Chinese Export”
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2020 Camillle Baker ’20 (Chicago, IL), “The Effects of the Minimum Wage on Social-Safety-Net Dependence Over Time”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Second PlaceAndra Boca ’20 (Galati, Romania), “Does Female Control of Resources Influence Remittance Response to Income Shocks? The case of Albania”
Claire Buehler ’20 (Houston, TX), “Refusing Welfare Gains: A study of FDA refusal practices in the United States”
Jasmine Davidson ’20 (Redwood City, CA), “Time to Play: The Relationship Between Time Spent Playing and Educational Outcomes in Peru”
Jennifer Eng ’20 (San Francisco, CA), “Does the Ethnic Enclave Economy Influence Business Formation and Closure? A Look at Asian Enclaves in San Francisco and Los Angeles”
Vincent Mougin ’20 (Seattle, WA), “The Impact of the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Location of Fracking in North Dakota”
William Sandy ’20 (Shorewood, WI), “When the Trade War Hits Close to Home: A GVC Analysis of the U.S.-China Trade War”
Esther Swehla ’20 (Claremont, CA), “How Does an Increase in the Minimum Wage Affect High School Enrollment?”
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2019 Jed Buchholz ’19 (McFarland, WI), “The Gretzky Externality: An Analysis of the Superstar Effect and Age Curves in the National Hockey League”
Euijin Kim ’19 (Seoul, South Korea), “Does a Change in Floodplain Designation Affect Property Value? Evidence from Miami-Dade County.”
Harrison Mitchell ’19 (Knoxville, TN), “The Effects of Conflict on Household Agricultural Investment in Nigeria”
Khadidja Ngom ’19 (Kaolack, Senegal), “The Effects of Land Inheritance Laws on Agricultural Investment in Polygynous Households: Evidence from Uganda”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third PlaceJi Sue Song ’19 (Seattle, WA), “Does Family Size Negatively Affect Child Health Outcomes in the United States?”
Matthew Steele ’19 (Newton, MA), “Box Office Showdown: How Does Movie Market Saturation Affect First Weekend Box Office Revenues?”
Jensen Vu ’19 (Hanoi, Vietnam), “Does Consolidation Improve Quality of Care in the U.S. Hospital Market?”
Alice Qingyu Zhu ’19 (Nanjing, China), “The Impact of Immigrants’ Entries on Destination Countries’ Economies”
Noah Zwiefel ’19 (Rochester, MN), “What is the impact of a Medicaid expansion on the bankruptcy rate? Evidence from the ACA”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First Place -
2018 Genevieve Gregorich ’18 (Boulder, CO), “How Deep is Your Love? Loss Aversion in Dating Markets”
Van Anh Le ’18 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), “Does Agglomeration Account for Process Innovation in Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises?”
Nadia Mezic ’18 (Huntington, NY), “Are Peer Effects Present in Residential Solar Installations? Evidence from Minnesota and Wisconsin”
Trung Nguyen ’18 (Hanoi, Veitnam), “Are Female-owned Enterprises More Targeted for Bribery Than Male-owned Ones?
Nicoletta Peters ’18 (Mason City, IA), “Do Business Cycles Make Babies? The Impact of Business Cycle Fluctuations on Fertility”
Annalivia Robinson ’18 (Brookline, MA), “Testing Option B+: Measuring the Impact of PMTCT Programming on Human Capital Investment in Malawi”
James Spector-Bishop ’18 (Northbrook, IL), “Food Deserts or Food Desserts? An Examination of Whether Food Deserts Matter”
Ellen Tyler ’18 (Genesee Depot, WI), “Committed Women: Explaining Rising U.S. Female Imprisonment 1990-2010″
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2017 Nicole Caicedo `17 (Clinton Township, MI), “Emotion and Decision Making: Effects of Anxiety on the Parameterization of the Decision Weight Function”
Megan Davitt `17 (Albany, NY),“To What Degree do Retail Electricity Prices Inform Residential Solar Energy Investment Decisions?”
Ibrahima Dieye `17 (Dakar, Senegal), “Food Crises and Asset Liquidation: Household-level Evidence from Tanzania”
Stefan Faridani `17 (Philomath, OR), “Can the Rise of Dual-Earning Households Explain Gentrification of US Central Cities?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third PlaceKevin Fortune `17 (Milwaukee, WI), “The Good Guy Game: When Firms Reduce Carbon Emissions, Do Profits Increase?”
Eleanore Fuqua `17 (Bloomington, IL), “Doubling Up: Does the Adoption of Long-Term Contraception Reduce Condom Usage?”
Yifan Gong `17 (Qingdao, China), “How Does Technology Affect Skill Demand? Technical Changes and Capital-Skill Complementarity in the 21st Century”
Natalie Kronebusch `17 (St. Cloud, MN), “The Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Nutrition: Evidence from Mexico”
Karlyn Russell `17 (Madison, WI), “Do Payday Lending Bans Harm Consumers? Evidence from the Pawn Market”
Jessica Timerman `17 (Stevens Point, WI.), “Loans and Fertilizer Use: The Effect of Timing in Pineapple Production in Southern Ghana”
Chunyu Yi `17 (Jinan, China), “Did Single Stock Circuit Breakers Reduce Market Volatility?”
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2016 Lauren Beatty ’16 (Kennebunk, ME), “How Does Information in Fuel Economy Labels Affect Consumer Choice?”
Benny Goldman ’16 (Goldens Bridge, NY), “The War on Error: An Estimation of Air Strike Efficacy and Boomerang Effects”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Second PlaceCaroline Johns ’16 (Mattapoisett, MA), “Determining Household Health Care Spending: An Analysis of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform”
Kim Eng Ky ’16 (Sisophon, Cambodia), “How do Changes in Gasoline Prices Affect Bus Ridership in the Twin Cities?”
Kyoko Sakai ’16 (Tokyo, Japan), “Hurricanes and Long-term GDP Growth: The Role of Institutional Quality”
Cory Stern ’16 (Chicago, IL), “Is the Affordable Care Act’s Individual Mandate a Certified Job-Killer?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third PlaceQuinnie Yuzhu Xiang `16 (Lanzhou, China), “International Online Retailing of Ikea Products: An Analysis of the Law of One Price and Pass Through”
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2015 Pukitta Chunsuttiwat ’15 (Nonthabun, Thailand), “Did the Change in the Minimum Wage Decrease the Share of Formal Employment in Thailand?”
Marko Martinovic ’15 (Belgrade, Serbia), “Benefits of EU Membership for Transition Countries: The Case of Latvia”
Clemens Pilgram ’15 (Munich, Germany), “Public Transit and Property Values: Did the Metro Blue Line Affect Home Prices in Minneapolis?”
Charmaine Runes ’15 (U.A.E./Philippines), “Making Connections: How do Immigrants’ Social Networks Influence their Employment Outcomes?”
Iris Vrioni ’15 (Tirana, Albania), “Marriage and Money: Do Women Earn More When they Marry?”
Yingtong Xie ’15 (Chengolu, China), “Does `Lumpiness` Affect the Skill Intensity of Exports?”
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2014 Vidarith Chan ’14 (Pursat, Cambodia), “What is the Relationship Between Labor Law Compliance and Employment Growth in the Cambodian Garment Exporting Factories?”
Kyle Coombs ’14 (Scotia, NY), “Do U.S. Border Enforcement Operations Increase Human Smuggling Fees along the U.S.‒ Mexico Border?”
Alison Goodrum ’14 (Bloomington, MN), “Trading on the Margins: To What Extent Do Developing Countries Benefit from WTO Membership?”
Disa Hynsjo ’14 (Lerum, Sweden), “Does Bilingual Education Improve Peruvian Indigenous Students’ Academic Achievement?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceAnna Jacob ’14 (Chicago, IL), “Do Workforce Development Programs in Minnesota Increase Wages?”
Jiaying Wang ’14 (Chengdu, China), “State-to-State Migration Cost: A Structural Empirical Approach”
Olivia Warner ’14 (Little Falls, MN), “How Much of the Heterogeneity in Returns to College Major Can Be Explained by Institution Type?”
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2013 Chioma Yvonne Chukwumah ’13, “Do User Fees Increase the Notifications of Tuberculosis?”
Natalie Camplair ’13, ‘’Do Wind Turbines Affect Property Values?’’
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceHao Ding ’13, “Is U.S. Stock Market Sufficiently Efficient Around Hurricanes?”
Sasha Indarte ’13, ‘‘Financial and Sovereign Debt Crises in Spain: Fiscal Limits and Spillovers”
Emma Kalish ’13, “How Race Matters: The Parental and Neighborhood Determinants of Child Protective Services Involvement”
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2012 Devon Kristiansen ’12 (Dousman, WI), “Does Information Lead to Household Electricity Conservation?”
Rosamond Mate ’12 (Champagne, IL), “What Factors Influence a Consumer’s Decision to Purchase Energy Star Appliances?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Third Place (tie)Yan Huang ’12 (Shanghai, China), “How does the U.S. Stock Market Affect the Stocks of Chinese State-owned Companies?”
Adam Freedman ’12 (Glencoe, IL), “Mud on Your Face, Big Disgrace vs. the Wisdom of Crowds: Macroforecasters’ Herding Behavior Over Time”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceJose Ricardo Rubio ’12 (Quito, Ecuador), “How has the Introduction of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Affected the Dynamics Between HIV and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa?”
Molly Frean ’12 (Bedford, MA), “What is the Optimal Subsidy for Exercise? Informing Health Insurance Companies’ Fitness Reimbursement Programs”
Wanyi Li ’12 (Shanghai, China), “Does School Quality Affect Real Estate Prices? The Effect of Top-Tier Elementary Schools on Property Prices in Shanghai”
Evan Hewitt ’12 (Mound, MN), “Examining Market Response Following Hurricane Landfall: Does the U.S. Stock Market React Efficiently to Hurricanes?”
Lauren Martinez ’12 (Redmond, WA), “The Country-Specific Nature of Apparel Elasticities and Impacts of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement”
Qianyi Yang ’12 (Nanjing, China), “U.S. Monetary Policy Announcements and Foreign Exchange Market Behavior”
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2011 Jimerson J. Asencio Ferrufino ’11 (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) “What is the Effect of Trade on the Gender Wage Gap in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: First PlaceNeedham B. Hurst ’11 (Needham, IN), “How Does Light Rail Transit Affect Urban Land Use?”
Minnesota Economics Association Undergraduate Student Paper Contest Award Winner
Senior Thesis: Second PlaceBenjamin Langworthy ’11 (Tuscon, AZ), “The Effects of Parental Migration on Child Nutrition”
Elizabeth K. Vermann ’11 (Bronx, NY), “How Do 100% Smoke-Free Bans Affect Smoking Behavior?”
Nina Wellander ’11 (Mt. Vernon, WA), “How Does Average Protein Consumption Affect Happiness?”
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2010 Alice M. Anigacz ’10 (Brooklyn, NY), “Are Residents Who Are Displaced by Gentrification Better or Worse Off After Relocating?”
Joseph Glatman Zaretsky ’10 (New York, NY), “Are Major League Baseball Starting Pitchers Compensated for Stadium Risk?”
Erica B. Graboyes ’10 (Thiensville, WI), “What is the Effect of Product Market Competition on Chief Executive Officer Compensation?”
Simeng Han ’10 (Bejing, China), “How valuable is a firm’s patent? A New approach from Patent Citations Data”
Rudy Herrera Mármol ’10 (Guatemala City, Guatemala) “The Effects of Returns to Education on the Decision to Stay or to Leave Secondary School?: An Empirical Study of Brazil”
Zachary McDade ’10 (Boulder, CO), “Are Conditions on Cash Transfers Necessary to Improve Rural Education Outcomes? Evidence from Nicaragua”
Iryna Postolovska ’10 (Kyiv, Ukraine), “What is the Impact of Income on the Demand for Bushmeat?: a study of the relationship between income and bushmeat near the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania”
Jeremy Roth ’10 (Nyack, NY), “How Does Income Inequality Affect the Growth of U.S. Counties?”
Hao Zou ’10 (Suzhou, China), “Did the Electronic Trading System Make the Foreign Exchange Market More Efficient?”
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2009 2009
Todd Copenhaver ’09 (Wellesley, MA), “Does NBA Attendance Respond to Increased Offensive Quality and Production?”
Benjamin Torres Galick ’09 (Oakdale, MN), “Does Unemployment Decrease Cancer Mortality?”
Jayant Gokhale ’09 (Pune, India), “Why Do Macroeconomic Forecasters Forecast Inaccurately?”
Colin Hottman ’09 (Arden Hills, MN), “Does Violent Crime Cause Individuals To Join Gangs?”
Yuen Ting Liu ’09 (Hong Kong, China), “Does Sorting Make a Difference in the SAT’s Prediction of Course Grades and Cumulative GPA at Macalester College?”
Nick A. Marchio ’09 (West St. Paul, MN), “Are Credit Unions in Ecuador Achieving Economies of Scale?”
Maximilian Sirianni ’09 (Mahwah, NJ), “Vertical Integration and Wage Inequality in Mexico in the NAFTA Era”
Cael Warren ’09 (Stevens Point, WI), “Globalization and the Wage-Working Conditions Relationship: A Case Study of Cambodian Garment Factories”
Keaton C. White ’09 (Denver, CO), “Is There Country-of-Origin Bias in the Video Game Market?”