To earn Honors in Economics, students must have an Economics GPA of at least 3.5 and satisfactorily pass (see below) ECON 4900 and ECON 4910 (formerly 300). ECON 4900 counts as one of the four 4000-level (formerly 200-level) course requirements. ECON 4910 does not count as an elective but is required as an additional course to be awarded honors. Consequently, honors majors have 11 economics course units, plus 2 course units of calculus for a total of 13 cu. (The Economics GPA is based on all courses taken toward the major.)
Enrollment in ECON 4900 is only possible with the permission of the instructor. As a guideline for admission, students should have taken ECON 2100 (formerly 101), 2200 (formerly 102), 2300 (formerly 103), 2310 (formerly 104) (ECON 2310 may be taken concurrently in the Fall), and two 4000-level economics courses with an Economics GPA of at least 3.5.
Enrollment in the Honors Seminar is during the Fall semester only. Credit is awarded only upon completion of both semesters of ECON 4900 and 4910. Students who do not enroll in and complete the second semester of the Honors Seminar do not receive credit for the first semester.
Assignments for ECON Honors 4900 and 4910 include the completion of a research paper to be supervised by faculty. Grades of B- or higher must be earned on the research paper and in the Honors Seminar itself for the student to graduate with Honors.
Interested students should request the course on PATH when registering for classes. At the end of preregistration we will decide on who is admitted to the course, based on economics GPAs if the course is oversubscribed.
Examples of Honors Theses in Economics:
- Hess, Peter (2015): "The Dynamics of Art Demand: The Interaction Between Monetary and Non-Pecuniary Drivers in the Art Auction Market"
- Berez, Julie (2014): "The Diffusion of Abandonment Decisions: An application to pulmonary artery catheters"
- Pollack, Seth (2013): " The Role of Retail Investors in Book Built IPOs: Evidence from India"
- Qian, Kathy (2012): "Quality Disclosure, Limited Attention and the Availability Heuristic: The Influence of College Rankings on Student Demand"
- Lazarus, Eben (2011): "It's the Economy Stupid: How Economic Growth Predicts Social Tolerance"