Emnekatalog

Transcription

Emnekatalog

Academic Study Board of Business Administration, Odense
Academic Study Board of Economics
17-11-2015
TOPIC CATALOGUE
2016
BACHELOR PROJECT
This topic catalogue is produced for bachelor students in
 Economics and Business Administration (BSc.merc.)
 Economics (BSc.oecon.)
General information in the catalogue will be presented in English only.
Some topics will be presented in Danish and some in English.
For all English topics, the project can be written in English, with English
supervision and English oral examination.
Please note: Some Danish topics may also be given an English speaking
supervisor, which means that the project must be written in English and
supervision and oral examination will be in English.
In the table of contents on page 2 you can see, which topics are suited for
Economics and Business Administration students and for Economics students.
If you have a specific interest in a topic not listed for your study, you can
register for a topic of your choice making sure that your project is still in
accordance with the requirements stated in the bachelor project course
description for your particular study.
Page 1 of 50
Academic Study Board of Business Administration, Odense
Academic Study Board of Economics
17-11-2015
Table of contents (subject area)
(1). Finance .................................................................. page 3
Economics and Business Administration students
Economics students
(2). Accounting ............................................................ page 10
Economics students
(3). Marketing .............................................................. page 12
(4). Optimization and Logistics ................................... page 22
(5). Organization and Management ............................. page 28
(6). Econometrics .......................................................... page 30
Economics students
(7). Macroeconomics and International Economics ...... page 34
Economics students
(8). Microeconomics ..................................................... page 42
Economics students
Page 2 of 50
Topic Catalogue, Bachelor Project, 2016
(1).
FINANCE
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Finance should be directed to:
Linda Sandris Larsen, Department of Business and Economics, e-mail: lsn@sam.sdu.dk
Please note: It is recommended to write the project in groups of 2 students.
All topics in this subject area can be written in English or Danish.
1.1 Topics in asset pricing
What determine the prices of financial assets? An equilibrium view will give that the price of
an asset is determined by supply and demand. Based on a specific problem statement a topic
in asset pricing will clarify which factors affect the pricing of the financial assets. A wellknown example is the classical CAPM, which implies that the expected excess return on a
given asset is determined by the asset’s systematic risk relative to the market portfolio. Since
the CAPM cannot explain all empirically observed phenomena this give rise to study other
equilibrium models.
1.1a A discussion of CAPM
Make a careful discussion about CAPM and its theoretical and empirical foundation and use
this to make a critical discussion of the limitations of the model and its applications for
various participants at the financial markets. The discussion could be based on modern
literature about CAPM and its extensions related to the simple static version. Alternatively,
the project could clarify (part of) the extensive literature on tests of the CAPM and discuss
some of the methodology problems associated with these tests.
Literature (suggestions):
M. Brennan, ”Capital market equilibrium with divergent borrowing and lending rates”, Journal of Financial and
Quantitative Analysis 6, 1971.
W. Ferson and C. Harvey, “The variation of economic risk premiums”, Journal of Political Economy 99, 1991.
Prerequisites: “Finance” for Economics and Business Administration students. This topic
cannot be chosen by students having followed the course “Finansiering, investering og
virksomhedsstrategi”.
1.1b An analysis of the market’s ”discount” on conglomerates
The activities in Mærsk are spanned over an abundance of completely independent industries
such as container shipping, oil extraction, supermarkets, etc. The company is in other words a
so-called conglomerate. It is argued that the company for this reason is traded with a market
discount compared to the sum of comparable independent activities in the market – a socalled diversification discount. The purpose of this project is to discuss the financial reasons
for a diversification discount on conglomerates and also to assess the magnitude of this
discount through analysis of comparable companies’ beta-values, industry-beta, price-earning
values and potential adjustments for credit-ratings ect. Alternatively, other conglomerates
than Mærsk could be considered.
B. Rosenberg and J. Guy, “Beta and investment fundamentals”, Financial Analysts Journal (May-June) 1976.
S. Schaefer and I. Strebulaev, “Risk in capital structure arbitrage”, Stanford GSB working paper, 2009.
Diverse regnskaber
Prerequisites: ”Finance” for Economics and Business Administration students.
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1.1c The consumption based CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model)
When individuals and households invest in financial assets it is primarily to move
consumption possibilities either between different points in time (e.g. for pension savings) or
from some economic scenarios to others (e.g. by investing in assets, which give a high return
when the households labor income is low). The demand for financial assets is thereby closely
connected to the consumption pattern of households, providing a link between prices of
financial assets and the consumption of households – this is the so called consumption based
CAPM. The student is asked to derive the consumption based CAPM (CCAPM), discuss its
ability to describe the actual changes in the stock prices and aggregated consumption, as well
as a comparison between the consumption based CAPM and the classical CAPM.
Cochrane, J. (2005). Asset Pricing. Princeton University Press. Dele af kapitel 1 og 21.
Munk, C. (2005). Asset pricing modeller. Kapitel 2 i bogen Udviklingslinier i finansiering redigeret af M.
Christensen, Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag.
Munk, C. (2013). Financial Asset Pricing Theory. Oxford University Press.
Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi".
1.1d Empirical test of the CAPM model
The CAPM is one of the most important tools for pricing an individual security or a portfolio.
The purpose of this project is to help you to understand how to use this model to describe the
relationship between the risk and return. You will be asked to run the OLS regression and test
the significance of the model parameters, i.e., the intercept (alpha) and the slope of the market
premium (beta). The data can be any single stock price series that you are interested in. You
can use any statistic packages for OLS regression (e.g., Excel, R/S, Eviews, Stata, SPSS,
Matlab, etc.). Finally, you need to give some economic explanations of the model parameters.
Campbell, J. Y., Lo, A. W. and MacKinlay, A. C., 1997, The Econometrics of Financial Markets, Princeton
University Press, Chapter 5.
Sharpe, W., 1964, Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk, Journal of
Finance 19, 425-442
Prerequisites: "Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi" and "Økonometri".
1.1e Empircal models in asset pricing
The 3-factor model of Fama and French is probably the most influential empirical asset
pricing model in the last 30 years. The purpose of this project is to help you to understand
how to use this model to empirically describe asset returns. You will be asked to run an OLS
regression and test the significance of the model parameters, i.e., the intercept (alpha) and the
slope/”loadings” on the market, size, and value premiums. The data can be any return series
that you are interested in. You can use any statistic packages for OLS regressions (e.g., Excel,
R/S, Eviews, Stata, SPSS, Matlab, etc.). Finally, you need to give some economic
explanations for the parameters in the model. Alternatively, you may want to use the 4-factor
Carhart model, especially explaining mutual funds performance.
Fama, E. and K. French (1996) “Multifactor Explanations of Asset Pricing Anomalies”, Journal of Finance, 51,
55-84.
Carhart, Mark M. "On persistence in mutual fund performance." The Journal of finance 52.1 (1997): 57-82.
Campbell, J. Y., Lo, A. W. and MacKinlay, A. C., 1997, The Econometrics of Financial Markets, Princeton
University Press, Chapter 5.
Sharpe, W., 1964, Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk, Journal of
Finance 19, 425-442
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1.1f Liquidity, hedging, and crashes
On October 19th 1987 the American Dow Jones index went down with $500 billion. What can
explain such a crash? One explanation can be based on an equilibrium model, where rational
agents have asymmetric information about the supply of financial assets.
Gennotte, G. og H. Leland (1990). Market Liquidity, Hedging, and Crashes. The American Economic Review,
vol. 80, no. 5, s. 999-1021.
Christensen, P.O. og G.A. Feltham (2003). Economics of Accounting, Volume 1, Kluwer. kap. 11.
Prerequisites: Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi.
1.2 Topics in corporate finance
Corporate finance deals with the understanding of a firm’s financial issues. For example, how
to evaluate a real investment (e.g., a drug of biotech product), and when to initiate the
investment. One can also consider how much debt a firm should have, what is the market
value of the debt, how to signal the quality of a product or new investment to the financial
market, and how to pay the executives in a firm. Some of these aspects have been touched
upon in the standard undergraduate course Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi,
for example, the conflict between shareholders and creditors, when a firm makes an
investment decision, but there are plenty of other aspects which a project can focus on.
1.2a Real options analysis – capital budgeting, capital structure, agency problems
How does production flexibility impact the value and timing of a firm’s investments? What is
the impact on the value of a firm’s debt, if the firm acts strategically to transfer value from the
creditors to the equity holders? Real options analysis is an eminent method to address
questions like these. Specifically, real options analysis is a fundamental method to handle
optimal decision making under uncertainty for so-called irreversible decisions. A Bachelor’s
project should first consider how to handle real options analysis. Subsequently, the student
can use this method to analyze various problems, e.g., valuation effects of production
flexibility, how a firm’s debt and equity values are affected by the equity holders’ incentive to
exploit opportunities, and do these incentive effects also impact the firm’s investment policy?
Can debt covenants mitigate such agency problems?
Dixit, A.K. and R.S. Pindyck (1994). Investment under Uncertainty, Princeton University Press. Chapters 1, 2, 5,
6.
Schwartz, E. S. and C. Zozaya-Gorostiza (2003, January). Investment Under Uncertanty in Information
Technology: Asquisition and Development Projects. Management Science 49 (1), 57–70.
Carlson, M., A. Fisher, and R. Giammarino (2004). Corporate Investment and Asset Price Dynamics:
Implications for the Cross-section of Returns. Journal of Finance LIX, no. 6, 2577-2603.
Myers, S. (1977). Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics 9, 147-176.
Gertner R. and D. Scharfstein (1991). A Theory of Workouts and the Effects of Reorganization Law, Journal of
Finance 46, 1189-1222.
Kahl, M. (2002). Economic Distress, Financial Distress, and Dynamic Liquidation. The Journal of Finance LVII
(1), 135-168.
Anderson, R. and S. Sundaresan. (1996). Design and Valuation of Debt Contracts, Review of Financial Studies
9(1), 37-68.
Mella-Barral, P. and W. Perraudin (1997). Strategic Debt Service, Journal of Finance 52, 531-556.
Leland, H. (1998). Agency Costs, Risk Management, and Capital Structure, Journal of Finance 53, 1213-1243.
Fan H. and S. M. Sundaresan (2000). Debt Valuation, Renegotiation, and Optimal Dividend Policy, Review of
Financial Studies, 13, 4, 1057-1099.
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1.2b Signaling using financial decisions
How can a firm’s financial decisions (e.g., using debt instead of equity) reveal the
management’s information to the financial market? Demonstrate, for example, how an
entrepreneur can signal the quality of his project to the financial market when choosing the
funding of the project. Alternatively, students interested in game theory can try to connect
some of the papers mentioned below to signaling models.
Leland, H.E. and D.H. Pyle. (1977). Informational asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial
Intermediation, Journal of Finance 32, 371-387.
Myers S.C. and N.S. Majluf. (1984). Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions when Firms have
Information that Investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics 13, 187-221.
Christensen, P.O. and G.A. Feltham (2003). Economics of Accounting, Volume 1, Kluwer. kap. 13.
Koracjzyk, R., D. Lucas and R. McDonald (1992). Equity issues with time-varying asymmetric information,
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 1992, vol. 27, no. 3, 397—417.
DeAgenlo, H., DeAngelo, L. and Skinner, D. (2000). Special dividends and the evolution of dividend signalling.
Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 57, 309-354
1.2c Mergers and acquisitions – why and when?
Why are some firms buyers, while other firms are sellers or targets for a takeover? Some
firms consider acquisitions as an opportunity to grow, while other firms acquire a target firm
to avoid being taken over in the future. Apparently, there is a relationship between general
movements in the market and takeover activity. What causes this?
Gorton, G., Kahl, M. and Rosen, R.J. (2009). Eat or Be Eaten: A Theory of Mergers and Firm Size, The Journal
of Finance, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 1291-1344.
Harford, J. (2005). What drives merger waves? Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 77, pp. 529-560.
Lambrecht, B.M. (2004). The timing and terms of mergers motivated by economies of scale. Journal of
Financial Economics, Vol. 72, pp. 41-62.
Rhodes-Kropf, M. and Viswanathan, S. (2004). Market Valuation and Merger Waves. The Journal of Finance,
Vol. 59. , No. 6, pp. 2685-2718.
1.2d Evaluating banks before, during, and after the financial crisis
The aim of the bachelor thesis is to compare how financial organizations (banks) differ
before, during and after the recent financial crisis. The starting point of this thesis is the paper
by Andrea Beltratti and René Stulz "The credit crisis around the globe: Why did some banks
perform better?" The student is first asked to independently review the related literature and
briefly describe how the financial crisis affected different financial institutions. Moreover, the
student is asked to choose a certain “focus area” and discuss this area in detail. Examples of
such focus area might be: What is the role of excessive leverage in the financial sector and
how it could be avoided in the future? What is the role of capital regulation, which regulation
exists, why, and how has it changed? What is the role of stress-testing subsequently to the
financial crisis, what is stress testing, how it is done, what are possible costs and benefits.
Beltratti, Andrea and René Stulz (2012). "The credit crisis around the globe: Why did some banks perform
better? Journal of Financial Economics 105, 1-17.
Gropp, Reint and Heider, Florian (2010). The determinants of bank capital structure. Review of Finance 14, 587622.
Admati, Anat R., Peter M. DeMarzo, Martin Hellwig, and Paul Pfleiderer (2013). Fallacies, Irrelevant Facts, and
Myths in the Discussion of Capital Regulation: Why Bank Equity is Not Socially Expensive. Working Paper.
Berger, Allen N., and Christa H. S. Bouwman (2013). How does capital affect bank performance during
financial crises? Journal of Financial Economics 109, 146-176.
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1.2e Equity valuation
The final result of this project will consist on an “equity research” type of document. You
should value a company applying one or more valuation methods. You may obtain an
intrinsic valuation, relating the value of the company to its intrinsic characteristics, its
capacity to generate cash flows and the risk in the cash flow; relative valuation, estimating the
value of the company by looking at the pricing of “comparable” companies relative to a
common variable like earnings, cash flows, book value or sales; and/or contingent claim
valuation, using option pricing models to measure the value of the company that share option
characteristics. You should be comfortable retrieving information from financial statements,
making sensible analysis assumptions, understanding the underlying business/environment
that affects the value of the asset chosen. You should also be willing to deepen your
understand about valuation based on one or more of the books/webcasts below, for example.
Damodaran, Aswath. Investment valuation: Tools and techniques for determining the value of any asset. John
Wiley & Sons, 2012.
Damodaran, Aswath. The dark side of valuation: Valuing young, distressed, and complex businesses. Ft Press,
2009.
Damodaran, Aswath. Damodaran on valuation. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Pinto, Jerald E., Elaine Henry, Thomas R. Robinson, and John D. Stowe. Equity asset valuation. Vol. 27. John
Wiley & Sons, 2010.
Online webcasts:
http://people.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/New_Home_Page/webcastvalonline.htm
1.3 Topics in derivatives
Derivatives have become increasingly important in finance. Futures and options are actively
traded on many exchanges throughout the world, and many different types of forward
contracts, swaps, options, and other derivatives are entered in by financial institutions, fund
managers, and corporate treasurers in the over-the-counter market. In particular, derivatives
are widely used to control a company’s financial risk. For example, an international company
can hedge its earnings in a foreign country against an unfavorable change in the exchange rate
by the use of derivatives. A Bachelor project about derivatives should have a focus on the
theoretical valuation of such products under different conditions.
1.3a The link between the Binomial model and the Black-Scholes model
Is there a theoretical link between the Binomical model and the Black-Scholes model?
Whereas the Binomial model models the price of the underlying asset at a finite number of
times, the Black-Scholes model models the price of the underlying asset at any point in time.
That is, the Binomial model is a discrete-time model, whereas the Black-Scholes model is a
continuous-time model. Is it possible by increasing the number of time-periods in the
Binomial model to get the same results as in the Black-Scholes model? It could be interesting
to compare different approximations of the Binomial model to analyze the speed of converges
to the Black-Scholes model.
Cox, J.C., Ross, S.A. og Rubinstein, M. (1979). Option Pricing: A Simplified Approach. Journal of Financial
Economics 7, 229-263.
Leisen, D. og Reimer, M (1996). Binomial Models for Option Valuation - Examining and Improving
Convergence, Applied Mathematical Finance 3, 319-346.
Hull, J.C. (2009) Options, Futures, and other Derivatives, kapitlerne 11-13, 17.
Page 7 of 50
1.3b Monte-Carlo-valuation of options
The well-known Black-Scholes model builds on a number of simplifying assumptions. How
do you value options under more realistic assumptions? Often it is not possible to find a
“nice” close formed solution, and you have to turn to numerical solution techniques. One
example of a numerical solution procedure is Monte-Carlo simulation, where the valuation
builds on a number of simulations of the price of the underlying asset. This method can e.g.
by used to value options with stochastic volatility, American options, and more exotic
options.
Glasserman, P. (2004). Monte Carlo Methods in Financial Engineering. Springer.
Hull, J. (2012). Options, Futures, and other Derivatives. 8. udgave, Pearson.
Hull, J. og A. White (1987). The Pricing of Options on Assets with Stochastic Volatilities. The Journal of
Finance, vol. 42, no. 2, s. 281-300.
Longstaff, F.A. og E.S. Schwartz (2001). Valuing American options by simulation: a simple least-squares
approach. The Review of Financial Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, s. 113-147.
1.4 Topics in asset allocation
Probably one of the most important decisions many people face is the choice of a portfolio of
financial assets for retirement savings. We have studied the mean-variance analysis by
Markowitz in the undergraduate finance course “Finansiering, Investering og
Virksomhedsstrategi”. The analysis is however based on some critical assumptions, which
the interested student can take a closer look at. For example, the mean-variance analysis is a
one-period model, which does not seem realistic. Investors live in a dynamic world, and
hence take dynamic decisions. This is the topic in 1.4b. Another critic is that the results in the
mean-variance analysis are based on the assumption that the investor knows the true model
describing his investment opportunities as well as the true set of parameter estimates. In
reality no one knows the either the true model or the true set of parameter estimates. What one
knows is an approximation of the model and some parameters, which are estimated with
estimation error. How can we deal with this type of uncertainty when modelling the investor’s
optimal investment strategy? This is the topic in 1.4c.
1.4a Efficient stock portfolios
What is the theoretical foundation of Markowitz’s portfolio choice model? The purpose of
this project is to derive the efficient frontier together with a description of how investors with
different types of utility functions choose their optimal portfolio of financial assets at the
efficient frontier.
Huang, C. og R.H. Litzenberger. (1988). Foundations for Financial Economics, North-Holland, kapitel 3.
Ingersoll, J.E. (1987). Theory of Financial Decision Making, Rowman & Littlefield. Kapitel 1-4.
Prerequisites: “Finance” for Economics and Business Administration students as well as
knowledge about linear algebra. This topic cannot be chosen by students having followed the
course “Finansiering, investering og virksomhedsstrategi”.
Page 8 of 50
1.4b Optimal portfolio choice
What is the utility maximizing dynamic investment strategy of an individual investor? How is
financial investments optimally allocated to different asset classes, e.g. stocks and bonds?
How are financial investments optimally allocated to single securities within each asset class?
And how does the answers to the former questions depend on e.g. risk aversion, time horizon,
initial wealth, labor income, and asset price dynamics? In particular, it could be interesting to
analyze if the recommendations of investment advisors are consistent with the theory of
optimal investments.
Munk, C. og C. Sørensen (2001). Skal investorer med lang investeringshorisont have større aktieandel?
Finans/invest 7, 10-17.
Munk, C. (2012). Dynamic Asset Allocation. Undervisningsnote. Kapitel 6.
Grosen, A. og P.H. Nielsen (2006). Livsindkomsttankegangen vinder frem. Finans/invest 6, 2-3.
Møller, M., C. Sørensen og J.P. Nielsen (2006). Er opsparing simplere end din investeringsrådgiver tror – eller
mere indviklet end lærebogen tilsiger? Finans/invest 8, 4-8.
Grosen, A. og P.H. Nielsen (2007). Human kapital – en overset post på den privatøkonomiske balance.
Larsen, A.L. (2007). Lønindkomstens betydning for porteføljevalget – Er du en aktie eller en obligation?
1.4c Optimal portfolio choice with parameter and model uncertainty.
Classical theories about the optimal portfolio strategy of an individual investor assume that
the true model as well as the true set of parameter estimates describing the investors
investment opportunities are known. I reality none of these are known. What we know is an
approximation of the model and some parameters which are estimated with an error. For
example, the expected returns, variances, and covariances are the key inputs of every portfolio
selection model. These parameters are not know a priori and are usually estimated with an
error. The interested student could extend the classical mean-variance analysis to take these
facts into account. In connection with this it could also be relevant to make a discussion about
the Ellsberg paradox.
Garlappi, L., R. Uppal og T. Wang (2007). Portfolio Selection with Parameter and Model Uncertainty: A MultiPrior Approach, The Review of Financial Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, 41—81.
Ellsberg, D. (1961). Risk, Ambiguity and the Savage Axioms, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 75, 643—
669.
Flor, C.R. og L.S. Larsen (2014). Indledende Porteføljevalgsteori. Undervisningsnote, SDU.
Page 9 of 50
(2).
ACCOUNTING
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Accounting should be directed to:
Mogens Nielsen, Department of Business and Economics, e-mail: mni@sam.sdu.dk
2.1 Strategy and management accounting
How does a company use its financial management system to facilitate the company's overall
strategic decisions and how can financial system subsequently support to achieve these
strategic goals?
Relevant topics in this area could be:
a. Building and using the Balanced Scorecard as a financial basis.
b. Target pricing and target costing.
c. Performance evaluation and compensation of top management.
2.2 Activity Based Costing
A number of business operation decisions rely on the quality of cost accounting information,
since the cost accounting information are mainly related to the cost of products, branches and
customers. The quality of the cost information depends on the accounting system's ability to
provide such relevant information. ABC is one of the most widely used modern accounting
systems, and is designed to provide decision-relevant information.
Possible topics in this area could be:
a. Design and implementation of an ABC accounting system
b. The use of ABC in pricing decisions
c. Time-Driven ABC
d. Use of the ABC and/or TD-ABC within a given industry (eg. service companies,
hospitals and other public companies)
2.3 Valuation of assets in the financial statements
What criteria should the value measurements of financial statement use and how should
company value different type of assets in their financial statements.
a. Valuation and recognition of research and development
b. Valuation and recognition of lease assets
c. Valuation and recognition of investment properties
d. Valuation and recognition of subsidiaries
e. Valuation and recognition of contractual rights (eg. for football player)
2.4 Determination of a company's profits
The recognition of income and expenses is central to determine a company's profits. There are
a number of potential issues related to how a company may recognize its income.
a. Construction Contracts
b. Sales of software with continuous upgrades (eg. anti-virus programs)
Page 10 of 50
2.5 Company Analysis
The company's ability to create value for shareholders is a key issue for external investors. So
measurement of a company's value and growth is important in many contexts.
Considers possible within this range could be:
a. Analysis and valuation of a selected company.
b. Alternative models for valuing a company
c. The valuations related to M&A (merger and acquisitions).
2.6 Regulation of financial reporting
Since companies are responsible to provide necessary financial information to external users,
such as investors, it is impossible to ensure the quality of these information, without certain
accounting regulation or watchdog such as auditors. Because there is an information
asymmetry between managers and outside investors, legislation and other regulations
(accounting standards) are used to mitigate such issue. Auditors also have a significant role in
this process. But the question is whether these measures are appropriate and / or sufficient.
Considers possible within this range could be:
a. Why should financial reporting be regulated, and what ways can and should this be
done?
b. What are the objectives of the audit of company accounts, and what are the methods
to be used to verify the accuracy of financial statements?
c. Considering the ongoing discussion on audit market reform, what role of
auditor/audit firms should be considered to strengthen the quality of auditing?
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(3).
MARKETING
3.1 Topics in Internationalization
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Internationalization should be directed
to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, e-mail:
mhk@sam.sdu.dk
3.1a Digital internationalization
As more and more industries become digitalized in sale, marketing, co-operation,
procurement etc. the companies will have new tasks in a world still more agile and online.
How can firms solve these problems and how is it possible to find the right employees?
The assignment can focus on one firm, a group of firms or an industry – or be theoretical.
3.1b Foundation of a new, global firm
More and more companies in Denmark and abroad start with sale, marketing, procurement
etc. on a global scale from the foundation. How is this possible for a newly founded firm and
what are the challenges the firms face? What type of employees do the firms need and how do
they find them?
3.1c Business-to-business and the social media
A lot of firms that are active on the business-to-business markets have become very active on
the social media as Facebook and LinkedIn. What is the purpose of these activities and what
are the challenges the firms are facing?
3.1d New technology
New technology and innovations like e.g. 3.D printers, online data and programs,
digitalization of service is changing the way in which many industries are working and the
firms are becoming still more virtual, global and agile. This typically takes place in a global
context of highly complex patterns of relations. What are the consequences for the firms –
both seen from the perspective of established (small or large) firms and for newly established
firms?
Page 12 of 50
3.2 Markedsføring på Business-to-Business markedet
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Markedsføring på Business-to-Business
markedet should be directed to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and
Management, e-mail: mhk@sam.sdu.dk
All topics in this subject area can be written in Danish.
3.2a Relationsmarkedsføring
En meget stor del af de danske virksomheder arbejder primært med at sælge produkter og
services til andre virksomheder. Her kan man arbejde med f.eks., hvordan markedsføringen af
denne type af kunder kan tilrettelægges. Eller man kan arbejde med segmentering af kunder
på det industrielle marked. Ofte vil man på dette marked bruge mange ressourcer på
opbygning af relationer og netværk til kunder og leverandører – en opgave vil kunne være at
se på, hvordan virksomhederne arbejder med disse relationer og netværk (f.eks. også i forhold
til ’Customer Relationship Management’). Det vil også være en mulighed at arbejde med
branding på det industrielle marked. Opgaven kan afgrænses til en bestemt type af
virksomhed/kunder eller til evt. kun én virksomhed.
3.2b Outsourcing og valg af organisationsform
For mange virksomheder er beslutningen om ’make or buy’ helt afgørende. Det vil sige
beslutningerne om, hvorvidt man selv skal producere eller outsource til andre. Samtidig skal
man også træffe beslutning om, hvordan en evt. outsourcing skal organiseres. Opgaven kan
både besvares teoretisk ifht. disse overvejelser eller praktisk ifht. en konkret virksomhed.
3.2c Alliancer og tætte samarbejder
Udviklingen på mange markeder betyder at virksomhederne i stadigt større omfang etablerer
tæt samarbejde eller alliancer med andre virksomheder. Men hvad er egentlig fordelene ved
strategiske samarbejder, hvad er omkostningerne, hvordan udvælger man ”de rigtige” partnere
og hvad er de strategiske beslutninger? Er der yderligere begrænsninger i forhold til danske
virksomheder?
Page 13 of 50
3.3 Internationalionaliseringsprocesser
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Internationaliseringsprocesser should be
directed to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, e-mail:
mhk@sam.sdu.dk
3.3a Internationaliseringsprocesser i danske medicinalvirksomheder
Den danske medicinalindustri har en række markante farmaceutiske virksomheder, der alle
blev internationaliseret tidligt: Novo Nordisk, LEO Pharma, Lundbeck, ALK-Abello m.fl.
Hvilke internationaliseringsvalg har danske medicinalvirksomheder gjort over tiden i forhold
til valg af afsætningsmarkeder (lande, kundesegmenter?) og forsyningskanaler (råvarer,
arbejdskraft etc.?), entry-modes (eksport-, licens- og investeringsformer?) etc., samt hvorledes
har virksomhederne investeret i bearbejdningen af de udenlandske markeder? Er det muligt at
udlede bestemte internationaliseringsmønstre, som nogle teorier mener at påvise? Hvilke dele
af medicinalvirksomhedernes værdikæde er blevet inddraget i denne internationaliseringsproces – hvorfor og hvordan - samt hvilke økonomiske konsekvenser har disse valg medført?
Hvilken betydning har omgivelsesforholdene (sundhedspolitiske, økonomiske, legale etc.)
haft for internationaliseringsvalgene? Dette er blot nogle af de spørgsmål et BA-projekt om
medicinalvirksomhedernes internationalisering kan kaste sig ud i.
3.3b Styring og ledelse af udenlandske datterselskaber – Centers of Excellence
Traditionelt har udenlandske datterselskaber haft en udførende (”implementator”-) rolle i
internationale koncerndannelser (MNC’s), hvor hovedparten af aktiviteterne inden for FoU,
produktudvikling, konceptudvikling inden for markedsføring etc. almindeligvis har ligget i
moderselskabet. I det seneste årti har flere og flere multinationale selskaber henlagt særlige
udviklingsbærende aktiviteter i ”Center of Excellences”, hvor bestemte udenlandske
datterselskaber har fået en særlig rolle eller funktion i den internationale koncerndannelse i et
tæt, horisontalt samspil med andre udenlandske enheder eller alliancepartnere. Litteraturen
inden for området er i en rivende udvikling og der findes en lang række casestudier om
emner.
Page 14 of 50
3.4 Service management
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Service management should be directed
to: Martin Hannibal Knudsen, Department of Marketing and Management, e-mail:
mhk@sam.sdu.dk
3.4a Værdiskabelse
Ud fra moderne service tankegang kan man argumentere for, at alle virksomheder er
servicevirksomheder. Serviceledelse kræver fokus på brugeren, på processen og på evnen til
at skabe værdi for og med kunden. En opgave kan være at undersøge udfordringer og
muligheder i at involvere kunden i værdiskabelsesprocessen. En anden mulighed er at
fokusere på virksomhedens service system og betydningen af dette i forhold til, hvordan
kunderne oplever kvalitet og/ eller i forhold til virksomhedens indtjening.
3.4b Omstilling fra produktions- til servicevirksomhed
For en række produktionsvirksomheder ligger der et indtjeningspotentiale i at tilbyde
serviceydelser i tilknytning til eller som en integreret del af en vareleverance. Forudsætningen
for, at det giver et positivt afkast, er, at virksomheden formår at kombinere produktionslogik
og servicelogik i et attraktivt og profitabelt tilbud til kunderne. En opgave kan være at
analysere, hvordan forskellige virksomheder har løst denne opgave. En anden mulighed er at
undersøge en enkelt virksomheds kombinerede service- og produktydelser (hybrid offerings)
og se på, hvad der skal til for at få succes på markedet.
3.4c Internationalisering af servicevirksomheden
Serviceydelser produceres og leveres oftest tæt på og/eller i samarbejde med kunden. Derfor
står virksomheder, som sælger serviceydelser overfor en række særlige udfordringer i
forbindelse med internationalisering. Opgaven kan belyse en konkret virksomheds eller en
branches udfordringer i forhold til internationalisering. Eller opgaven kan løses teoretisk.
Page 15 of 50
3.5 Sundhed og forbrug
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Sundhed og forbrug should be directed
to: Dorthe Brogård Kristensen, Department of Marketing and Management, e-mail:
dbk@sam.sdu.dk
Inden for dette emne kan du skrive om forholdet mellem sundhed og forbrugeradfærd.
Opgaver inden for emnet undersøger forbrugeradfærd ud fra et identitetsmæssigt,
kommunikativt og/eller praksisorienteret perspektiv. Ved opgaver der arbejder empirisk
forventes det, at der lægges vægt på kvalitative metoder. Ideer til emner der kunne skrives
om:
3.5a Sundhed og forbrugeradfærd
Hvordan agerer moderne borgere og forbrugere i forhold til sundhed? Hvilke tiltag, produkter
og services finder vi i samfundslivet, som knytter sig til forbrugernes sundhedsrelaterede
forbrugeradfærd, og hvordan tilskyndes forbrugeren ifl. disse til at handle på sundhed på en
særlig måde? Her kan man eksempelvis kigge på forbrugernes holdning og praksis i forhold
til private sundhedsforsikringer, mærkningsordninger (eks. nøglehul & økologimærket) og
sundhedskampagner. En anden mulighed er at kigge på sociale medier og teknologier til at
monitorere og optimere sundhedstilstanden, eller udvalgte produkter, services og
sundhedsbrand. Et centralt fokus er her de processer, der er i spil, når forbrugernes træffer et
valg, ”afkoder” sundhedsbudskaber og omsætter det til praksis. Derved kan man afdække
hvorledes forbrugerne forstår og håndterer udfordringen om at skulle leve og tage ansvar for
et sundt liv.
Litteratur:
Cederström, C. (2009). Fit for everything: Health and the ideology of authenticity. Ephemera. Theory & Politics
in Organization, 11(1): 27-45.
Crawford, R. (1980). Healthism and the medicalization of everyday life. International Journal of Health
Services 10(3):365-88.
Lupton, D. (2013). The digitally engaged patient: Self-monitoring and self-care in the digital health era. Social
Theory & Health 11(3):256-270.
Forudsætning: Faget ”Forbrugeradfærd”.
Page 16 of 50
3.6 Globalisering
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Globalisering should be directed to:
Thomas Gulløv Longhi, Department of Marketing and Management, e-mail: tgu@sam.sdu.dk
3.6a Think global, act local
Virksomheder har et stadigt stigende krav om at være globalt efficiente og lokalt effektive.
Hvor stammer disse krav fra, og hvad kan virksomhederne gøre for at imødekomme disse
udfordringer?
Hollesen, S. (2014) Global Marketing 6th edt. Pearson: London
Segal-Horn, S. (2002) Global firms: heroes or villains? How and why companies globalize, European Business
Journal, 14(1), pp. 8-19
Seth, J.N and Parvatiyar, A. (2001) The antecedents and consequences of integrated global marketing,
International Marketing Review, 18(1), pp. 16-29
3.6b Global konkurrenceevne
En klassisk måde at analysere global konkurrenceevne på, er ved at foretage en ”outside-in”
analyse, hvor virksomheden analyserer makro, meso og mikro niveau. Emnet tager udgangspunkt i en kritisk/konstruktiv analyse af ”outside-in” perspektivet.
Litteratur:
Porter, M.E. (1980) Competitive Strategy. The Free Press: New York
Porter, M.E. (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. The Free Press:
New York
Porter, M.E. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations. The Free Press: New York
3.6c Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Ifølge Porter og Kramer (2006), skal CSR aktiviteter bidrage til at forbedre virksomhedens
konkurrenceevne. Ved at koble CRS til virksomhedens værdikæde, skal CSR enten bidrage til
virksomhedens primære aktiviteter og/eller supplerende aktiviteter. Med udgangspunkt i en
analyse af CSR og virksomhedens værdikæde, behandler emnet mulige tilgange til en global
CSR strategi.
Litteratur:
Porter, M.E. and Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and society:the link between competitive advantage and
corporate social responsibillity, Harvard Business Review, 84(12), pp. 56-68.
Weber, M. (2008) The business case for corporate social responsibillity: a company-level measurement approach
for CSR, European Management Journal, 26, pp. 247-261.
3.6d Kultur og globalisering
Betydningen af kultur er vigtig for den globale virksomhed. Med udgangspunkt i begrebet
national kultur, behandler dette emne tilgange til at analysere kultur samt søger at belyse,
hvordan virksomheden bør håndtere kulturel diversitet.
Litteratur:
Hall, E. T. (1960) The Silent Language. Garden City, New York
Hoefstede, G. (1980) Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values, Sage: London
Schein, E. H. (2010) Organizational Culture and Leadership, 4th edt. Wiley & Sons: San Fransisco.
Page 17 of 50
3.6e Globalisering og virksomhedsstørrelse
I globaliserings og internationaliserings strategi skelner man mellem SME (small and
medium-sized enterprises) og LSE (large-scale enterprises). Dette emne tager udgangspunkt i
størrelsens betydning for globaliseringsstrategien. Hvad er fordelene/ulemperne ved
henholdsvis SME og LSE, og hvordan bør de gribe globalisering an?
Litteratur:
Andersen, O. And Buvik, A. (2002) ”Firms” internationalization and alternative approaches to the international
customer/market selection. International Business Review, 11, pp. 347-363
Andersen, P.H. and Strandskov, J. (1998) International market selection. Journal of Global Marketing, 11(3), pp.
65-84
Brewer, P. (2001) International market selection: developing a model from Australian case studies. International
Business Review, 10, pp.155-174
Johanson, J. And Vahlne, J.E. (1977) The internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge
development and increasing foreign market commitment. Journal of International Business Studies, 8(1), pp. 2332
Sylvest, J. And Lindholm, C. (1997) Små globale virksomheder. Ledelse og Erhvervsøkonomi, 61 (april), pp.
131-143
3.6f Entry Mode
Hollesen (2014) beskriver 3 tilgange til internationalisering (hierarchical mode, intermediate
mode og export mode). Med udgangspunkt i faktorer der påvirker graden af
internationalisering, vil dette emne belyse fordele og ulemper ved forskellige entry modes.
Litteratur:
3.6g Acquisition versus Greenfield investering
Globalisering hvor virksomheden ejer og kontrollerer selskabet i det nye land, kaldes også for
”hirarchical mode”. I forbindelse med at bygge et nyt selskab op fra bunden versus at købe et
eksisterende selskab, er der forskellige faktorer der bør indgå i analysen og valget.
Eksempelvis kan det være hensigtsmæssigt at gennemføre en ”Due Diligence” i forbindelse
med et opkøb. Dette emne tager udgangspunkt i en analyse af de forskellige faktorer en
virksomhed skal være opmærksom på i forbindelse med at købe (aquisition) et selskab i
udlandet versus at starte et nyt selskab op fra bunden af (greenfield investment).
Litteratur:
Harvey, M. G. And Lusch, R.F (1995) Expanding the Nature and Scope of Due Diligence. Journal of Business
Venturing, 10, pp. 5-21.
Marks, M.L, Mivis, P.H. and Brajkovich, L.F. (2001) Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work: Strategic and
Psychological Preparation. The Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 15, No.2, pp. 80-94
Page 18 of 50
3.7a Visual rhetoric in advertising on digital media
Questions about this topic should be directed to: Jannek Sommer, e-mail:
jannek.sommer@gmail.com.
This project is written in English with English examination.
The topic is allocated to groups of 2-3 persons
Advertising has become a ubiquitous form of cultural and economic expression, and on digital
media platforms consumers can not only watch, but also engage and discuss the commercial
message. The project aims at analysing advertising with visual rhetoric on digital media, such
as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., and critically asses their commercial intent and strategic
importance from a marketing perspective. Projects should approach ad-reception as well as
the advertisements themselves.
Literature:
Scott, L. M. (1991). “For the rest of us”: A reader-oriented interpretation of Apple’s “1984” commercial. Journal
of Popular Culture, 25(1), 67–81.
Scott, L. M. (1994a). Images in advertising: The need for a theory of visual rhetoric. Journal of Consumer
Research, (21), 252–273.
McQuarrie, E. F., & Mick, D. G. (1996). Figures of rhetoric in advertising language. Journal of Consumer
Research, 424–438.
McQuarrie, E. F., & Mick, D. G. (1999). Visual rhetoric in advertising: Text-interpretive, experimental, and
reader-response analyses. Journal of Consumer Research, 26(1), 37–54.
Murray, C., Schrøder, K., Drotner, K., & Kline, S. (2003). Researching audiences: A practical guide to methods
in media audience analysis. Bloomsbury USA.
Prerequisites: None beyond the regular competences from compulsory coursework. Interest in
visual persuasion and new media is an advantage.
3.7b Perspectives commercial surveillance, the human body, and wearable technology
consumption
Questions about this topic should be directed to: Jannek Sommer, e-mail:
jannek.sommer@gmail.com.
The topic is allocated to groups of 2-3 persons
Wearable technology, that is smart devices that attach to the human body like trackers or
watches, have attracted both discussions about commercial surveillance and the nature of
human-machine relations. How does marketing pursue to shape public opinion? Who is the
posthuman consumer and why is surveillance an issue? This project aims at investigating how
marketing frames wearable technology and the forms of consumption it motivates.
Literature:
Haraway, D. (1991). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth
century. In Simians, cyborgs and women: the reinvention of nature (pp. 149–181). New York, NY: Routledge.
Giesler, M. (2004). Consuming cyborgs: Researching posthuman consumer culture. Advances in Consumer
Research, (31), 400–02.
Balsamo, A. (1995). Forms of Technological Embodiment: Reading the Body in Contemporary Culture. Body &
Society, 1(3-4), 215–237.
Buchanan-Oliver, M., & Cruz, A. (2009). The body and technology: Discourses shaping consumer experience
and marketing communications of technological products and services. Advances in Consumer Research, 36,
367–371.
technology consumption is an advantage.
Page 19 of 50
3.8a Hunting and ecology
Questions about this topic should be directed to: Julie Emontspool, Department of Marketing
and Management, email: juli@sam.sdu.dk
How do hunters and rangers co-create European forests and ecological systems in the context
of increased animal rights discourses? (Method: in-depth interviews + (participant)
observation).
3.8b Consumer globalization in rural environments
Questions about this topic should be directed to: Julie Emontspool, Department of Marketing
and Management, email: juli@sam.sdu.dk
How do consumers living in rural contexts live a cosmopolitan lifestyle? (Method: Qualitative
study (interviews and observations), investigating whether cosmopolitanism is really mainly
an urban trend).
Page 20 of 50
3.9a Organisationel effekt af mangfoldighed
Questions about this topic should be directed to: Søren Askegaard, Department of Marketing
and Management, email: aske@sam.sdu.dk
This project is written in Danish or English.
Projektet er igangsat af Odense Kommune i samarbejde med de virksomheder, der er
indmeldt i Odense Kommunes mangfoldighedscharter. Der ønskes en diskussion af de
teoretiske indsigter i og analyse af praktiske erfaringer med effekterne af kulturel
mangfoldighed for organisationers innovation og performans.
Litteratur:
Konrad, A. M., Prasad, P., & Pringle, J. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of workplace diversity. Sage.
McMahon, A. M. (2011). Does workplace diversity matter? A survey of empirical studies on diversity and firm
performance, 2000-09. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 5(2).
Stevens, F. G., Plaut, V. C., & Sanchez-Burks, J. (2008). Unlocking the benefits of diversity all-inclusive
multiculturalism and positive organizational change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44(1), 116-133.
Forudsætninger: Ingen faglige forudsætninger udover de obligatoriske fag på uddannelsen.
3.9b Mapping possibilities and problems for consumer information on human rights
Questions about this topic should be directed to: Søren Askegaard, Department of Marketing
and Management, email: aske@sam.sdu.dk
This topic is only allocated to groups of 2-3 persons.
We already know several types of information and performance labelling systems available to
consumers, for example the distinction between A, B, C etc. levels of energy consumption in
household consumer electronics. This project aims to map the literature discussing human
rights as a parameter in international business and possibilities and problems for a similar
“scaling” of the degree to which production processes violate human rights in order to obtain
a better informed consumer choice.
Literature:
Cottier, T., Pauwelyn, J., & Burgi, E. (2005). Human rights and international trade. Oxford University Press.
Micheletti, M., & Follesdal, A. (2007). Shopping for human rights. An introduction to the special issue. Journal
of Consumer Policy, 30(3), 167-175.
Moncrieffe, J., & Eyben, R. (2013). The power of labelling. Earthscan.
international trade and human rights is an advantage
Page 21 of 50
(4). OPTIMIZATION AND LOGISTICS
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Optimization and Logistics should be
directed to Ole B. Olesen, Department of Business and Economics, e-mail: ole@sam.sdu.dk
4.1 Supply Chain Management
4.1a Aggregated Planning
When a company sets up an aggregated plan, it, among other things, tries to get an overall
picture of its future need for labor over the next 4-12 months based on forecasts of the total
demand for its products. The plan furthermore specifies the link between the necessary
inventory throughout the period and the extent of any subcontracting that may have been
planned. Different strategies can be pursued in the forming of an optimal plan. Furthermore,
special problems are linked with the choice of how to implement an aggregated plan in a
specification of actual production plans (when what is produced and in which sequences).
Literature:
C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management", (2005),
chapter 12.
Chopra and Meindl: ”Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation”, chapters 8-9.
Prerequisite: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management".
4.1b Aggregated Planning for a small manufacturing company
Students are asked to draw up various suggestions for an aggregated plan for the next 12
months based on historic data about demand and technical issues linked to the production.
Disaggregated data are available for 27 item numbers, which are to be aggregated to a
standard product (top-down analysis). The average consumption of labor for each item
number will be provided. The company’s products are characterized by being perishable, and
therefore the storage costs have to be modelled in a somewhat untraditional way.
Furthermore, the company is located in an area where it is difficult to attract qualified labor,
but at the moment the company has a well-educated labor force.
Literature:
chapter 12.
Chopra and Meindl: ”Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation”, chapters 8-9.
4.1c Optimal Invetory planning
This topic is relatively broad, and models and methods from production and inventory
planning can be used. One possibility is to work with dynamic, deterministic stock
management problems. Another possibility is to look at stochastic, static inventory problems.
A third possibility is to look at variations of the EOQ formula. Finally, it is also a possibility
to look at what optimal stock management means for the entire or parts of the supply chain
which the company/organization is part of. It is also possible to use software for these
analyses, for example Excel/VBA, Arena or other software.
Literature: C. C. Bozarth and R. B. Handfield: "Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management",
(2005), chapter 13.
Chopra and Meindl: ”Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation”, chapter 10.
Page 22 of 50
4.1d Material Requirement Planning
MRP deals with the tools which a company can use for production planning when the
manufacturing process is dependent on deliveries from supply chain partners. These deliveries
must be ordered, so that they are delivered at exactly the time when the part is needed in the
manufacturing process.
Literature:
chapter 14.
4.1e Forecasting
Every single day, businesses make decisions about future undertakings, without knowing
exactly what the future brings. For example, businesses have to order supplies for their
inventories without precise knowledge of future demand. Likewise, investments are made by
the businesses without exact knowledge about how large the resulting profits will potentially
be. There are many ways of forecasting the future. Some businesses use subjective processes,
such as experience and intuition, while the approach of others is based on quantitative
forecasting. Some of the more quantitative methods are moving average models, trend
projections and regression, to mention but a few. It is of course possible to use IT for these
estimations.
Literature:
chapter 9.
Chopra and Meindl: ”Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation”, chapter 7. John E. Hanke
and D. W. Wichern ”Business Forecasting” (2005).
4.1f Forecast of the demand for product from a small manufacturing company
Day-to-day demand data for three years disaggregated on 27 item numbers will be provided.
Students are asked to make a forecast analysis based on the first two years and validated on
data from the third year. The demand is influenced by seasonal variations and campaign
offers. Students are asked to make both a forecast analysis based on the individual item
numbers but also based on “aggregated products”. Information about which item numbers
refer to products with high substitutability will be provided.
The data were originally part of a master’s thesis in Economics & Business Administration,
so the performance of the best forecasting model can potentially be compared to the
forecasting model that was used in the master’s thesis. Data will be provided in Excel sheets,
so it is possible to use IT for these estimations.
Literature:
chapter 9.
Chopra and Meindl: ”Supply Chain Management. Strategy, Planning and Operation”, chapter 7. John E. Hanke
and D. W. Wichern ”Business Forecasting” (2005).
Page 23 of 50
4.1g Project Planning
In many companies, ongoing projects take up the majority of a company’s resources. It is
therefore important that the company keeps tabs on these projects, both with respect to time
and the resources that the project consumes. There are many solution methods that the
company can use for monitoring its projects – some use mathematical formulations, while
others are more algorithm-oriented.
Literature:
chapter 5.
A. Shtub, J. F. Bard and S. Globerson: ”Project Managemetn: Processes, Methodologies and Economics.”
(2005).
4.1h Facility Layout
Facility Layout is, for example, how to optimize the layout of a shop or production area. In
many stores, there is competition for the best shelves or display areas that will catch the
attention of the customers. Likewise, it is important for manufacturing companies to design
their production areas, so that, for example, transportation times between the production sites
are as short as possible. This topic gives students an opportunity to work further with Jensen’s
add-ins or perhaps even create their own solution routines.
4.1i Capacity Management
This topic has to do with the problems which a business faces when the demand for its
products/services is higher than expected. For example, it deals with evaluation of capacity
alternatives and with identifying procedures that can increase the company’s throughput.
Students can include a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of a classic inflexible
batch production with large intermediate inventories versus a “leaner” design with a flexible
technology.
Literature:
Fisher, Marshall L. 1997. “What Is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product?” Harvard Business Review, 75
(2/4), pp. 105-116.
4.1j Supply Chain Management
This is a broad topic, and models and methods from e.g. production planning or inventory
planning can be used. It may be useful to choose a specific problem as the starting point. For
example, students can analyze how information and decision-making in a distribution channel
can be coordinated, so that the individual decision makers act optimally from the point of
view of the supply chain.
Page 24 of 50
4.2 Lean Manufacturing/Value Stream Mapping
4.2a Pull versus Push – what is Lean Manufacturing?
The advantages of Lean Manufacturing are emphasized in many contexts, but often there are
different explanations of what exactly characterizes Lean. In some contexts Lean is presented
as “Make to Order”, while in other cases pull production is identified as the determining
characteristic. This topic invites students to discuss and clarify what actually characterizes
Lean. The project can take several directions. For example, the focus can be on pullproduction design, such as the Kanban system, originally used in the Toyota Production
Model, or the more recent concept of CONWIP control. The link between throughput and
variability is another important area. Furthermore, the focus can be on the part of a Lean
implementation, which is called “Value Stream Mapping”, and which deals with identifying
“imbalances” in a production design (see, e.g., the book “Learning to See: Value Stream
Mapping to create value and eliminate muda”). Finally, the focus can be on simulation, since
many of the aspects of Lean can be “tested” in simple simulation models. Access to the
simulation tool ARENA will be provided. The tool is fairly easy to use, as models are
formulated by setting up and connecting graphic modules, exactly as when setting up a flow
chart.
Literature:
Fisher, Marshall L. ( 1997): “What Is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product?” Harvard Business Review,
75 (2/4), pp. 105-116.
W. J. Hopp (2003): Supply Chain Science, free download.
W. J. Hopp and M-.L. Spearman (2004): To Pull or Not to Pull: What is the Question? Manufacturing and
Service Operations Management 6(2), pp. 133-148.
M. Rother and J. Shook: Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to create value and eliminate muda.
4.2b Simulering af TWI’s produktionsproces af traktor komponenter før og efter en
Lean implementering
In the book “Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to create value and eliminate muda”
Value Stream Mapping, which is an important part of a Lean implementation, is discussed
and illustrated. Specifically, the book contains information from a case dealing with TWI’s
manufacturing process of tractor components. This topic invites students to carry out a closer
analysis of how appropriately this manufacturing process has been organized (utilization,
throughput, cycle-time, amount of work in process, etc.). Furthermore, the described
manufacturing process should be analyzed by means of simulation, and the effect of different
changes in the production design should be tested. The simulation tool ARENA is fairly easy
to use, as models are formulated by setting up and connecting graphic modules, exactly as
when setting up a flow chart. Different suggestions for a Lean implementation must be
discussed and analyzed based on how the production process behaves in simulations. More
theoretical aspects of what characterizes Lean can also be included in the project. Access to
the simulation tool ARENA will be provided. The tool is fairly easy to use, as models are
formulated by setting up and connecting graphic modules, exactly as when setting up a flow
chart. Students should discuss and analyze various suggestions for a Lean implementation,
according to how the manufacturing process behaves in simulations. More theoretical aspects
of what characterizes Lean can also be included in the project.
Literature: Fisher, Marshall L. ( 1997). “What Is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product?” Harvard
Business Review 75 (2/4), pp. 105-116.
W. J. Hopp (2003): Supply Chain Science, free download.
W. J. Hopp and M-.L. Spearman (2004): To Pull or Not to Pull: What is the Question? Manufacturing and
Service Operations Management 6(2), pp. 133-148.
M. Rother and J. Shook: Learning to See: Value Stream Mapping to create value and eliminate muda.
Page 25 of 50
4.3 Routing and Localization
4.3a Routing models
The routing problem focus on how a number of customers can be serviced from a warehouse..
The demand from each customer is known. This demand has to be met using deliveries from
the warehouse. This is done by letting vehicles carry the goods from the warehouse to the
customers. Each vehicle has limited capacity. The problem is now how to serve the customers
and minimize the transportation cost. This problem can be formulated and solved as a
mathematical optimization problem. Students are asked to provide an overview and make a
comparison of models for solution of one or more of these kinds of problems. The models can
be implemented in GAMS/VBA, but it is also possible to make a purely theoretical project
within this topic.
4.3b The Traveling Salesman Problem
A salesman is currently in his home town, and on the next day he will be visiting a fixed
number of customers. The salesman’s problem is to plan a coherent route of the shortest
possible length, so that he can visit all customers exactly once on the route. This is a classical
combinatorial optimization problem. For example, one could imagine that the salesman has to
visit 20 customers. There are 20 possible choices for the first customer on the route, 19 for the
second, etc. This means that the shortest route of the possible 20*19*...*1 routes must be
identified. This can of course be done by calculating the lengths of all possible trips, but the
number of trips is very high. Alternatively, the problem can be formulated as a binary
optimization problem and can be solved by means of, for example, Branch & Bound. The task
is to explain a number of mathematical formulations of the problem and implement one or
more of these. It is possible to work on practical datasets, for instance by having the
customers live in different towns.
Prerequiste: "Ressourcestyring og Supply Chain Management".
4.3c Metaheuristics for solving combinatorial optimization problems
A number of logistical problems, for example within the field of routing can be solved using
mathematical modeling, typically by building a binary optimization model, which is
subsequently solved using, for example, the Branch & Bound algorithm. But new methods for
solution of these problems have been developed, and they have proved very effective in
practice, e.g. Simulated Annealing and Tabu Search. Simulated Annealing and Tabu Search
do not necessarily result in identifying an optimal solution to the problem at hand, but
typically in a ‘good’ solution. Students are asked to make a presentation of one of these
methods and its use for solution of, for example, the type of problem described above.
4.3d Planning of mail delivery routes
In Odense, mail is delivered daily by a number of mailmen, who each deliver mail to a fixed
district. A mail delivery route is a specification of the order in which the individual roads in
the district are being serviced. It is possible to plan the route, so that the total distance, which
the mailman travels, will be as short as possible. This can be formulated as a mathematical
optimization model. Students should provide an overview of methods and models that can
solve of this type of problem. It is possible to work with small datasets, but also to make a
purely theoretical project within this topic.
Page 26 of 50
4.3e Localization of a business
A business manufactures goods for a reasonably fixed group of customers. At present, the
business is for example located in the Triangle Region (Kolding, Vejle, Fredericia), but in
recent years more and more of the customers have been based on Zealand. This means that an
increasing part of the goods have to be transported from Jutland to Zealand, which entails
quite high transport costs. The business is therefore considering whether it should move to
another location. Problems of this type can be solved using optimization methods. The project
involves a presentation of some of these methods and an implementation of one or more of
them in, for example, Excel/VBA or other software.
4.4 Benchmarking/Productivity Analysis
4.4a Productivity and Efficiency Measurement
A financial institution considers a redistribution of resources, for example in connection with
the staffing of its branches. Students are therefore asked to indicate whether a given branch
currently has too many or too few resources in relation to its revenue and the amount of
services it has delivered. This question can be answered by performing a productivity
analysis. There are several methods available for performing a productivity analysis. The
DEA method is based on the use of linear programming. This topic is well suited for the use
of DEA for productivity evaluation based on real-life datasets. The practical uses can for
example be based on datasets from the library sector, police districts, ambulance/fire stations
and chief administrative authorities (statsamter), but students may also choose their own area
for analysis.
4.4b Benchmarking of Danish state schools (folkeskoler)
Which Danish state schools/private schools perform best in the much debated OECD PISA
survey of the performance of pupils? In this topic, students are asked to make an analysis of
this problem based on the Danish PISA data. A starting point for such an analysis could be an
estimation of the schools’ production function based on linear programming with resource
consumption as input and the number of pupils taught and their performance in various PISA
tests as output. It is also possible to formulate a statistical model with focus on the correlation
between resource consumption and the number of students and their performance. Datasets
for the Danish school sector will be provided, including various background data for the
pupils in the form of data on parental background.
4.4c Krevi’s benchmarking of Danish state schools (folkeskoler)
In June 2011, Krevi published a report entitled ”Effektivisering i folkeskolen, Muligheder og
metoder” [Efficiency improvement in Danish state schools, Opportunities and methods”]. The
report presents analyses of the productivity in Danish schools based partly on the DEA
method and partly on statistical analyses of parental background in the form of socioeconomic characteristics. The report attempts to determine which influence school choice has
on learning. The university has access to most of Krevi’s data, and these data can for example
be used in a project, where the focus is on Danish schools in selected parts of Denmark, or
where other DEA models are used to investigate whether the results change. Another angle
could be to study the significance of parental background for the performance of schools.
Page 27 of 50
(5).
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Organization and Management should
be directed to: Bo Eriksen, Department of Marketing and Management, e-mail:
bo@sam.sdu.dk
5.1 Strategic Human Resource Management
The theory of human capital argues that employees' efficiency increases, the more human
capital they possess. Human capital can be defined as the economic value of the individual's
abilities and is a result of properties that can be congenital or acquired through experience,
education and training. Please provide an analysis of how human capital affects the company's
competitiveness. More specifically, how human capital creates value for the company and the
factors that determine who gains a share of this value. When employees' skills are central to
how the company is doing, and yet are mobile, this issue is a great challenge (Barney &
Wright, 1998; Coff, 1997, 1999; Coff & Kryscynski, 2011).
The analysis may include consideration of options for the "resource-picking" (Barney, 1986;
Makadok, 2001, 2002), effects of limited and asymmetric information (Gibbons & Katz,
1991; Mortensen, 2005; Stiglitz, 2000) and the importance of employee specialization of its
human capital to the company's specific circumstances (Parsons, 1972; Williamson, Wachter,
& Harris, 1975). In addition, the analysis should include consideration of how companies can
develop effective HR policies-often referred to as HR systems (Arthur, 1994; Bloom and Van
Reenen, 2007; Pfeffer, 1994; Wright & Boswell, 2002).
Literature:
Arthur, J. B. 1994. Effects of Human Resource Systems on Manufacturing Performance and Turnover. The
Academy of Management Journal, 37(3): 670-687.
Barney, J. B. 1986. Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy. Management Science,
32(10): 1231-1241.
Barney, J. B., & Wright, P. M. 1998. On Becoming a Strategic Partner: The Role of Human Resources in
Gaining Competitive Advantage. Human Resource Management, 37(1): 31-46.
Bloom, N., & Van Reenen, J. 2007. Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and
Countries*. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(4): 1351–1408.
Coff, R. W. 1997. Human Assets and Management Dilemmas: Coping with Hazards on the Road to ResourceBased Theory. The Academy of Management Review, 22(2): 374-402.
Coff, R. W. 1999. When Competitive Advantage Doesn’t Lead to Performance: The Resource-Based View and
Stakeholder Bargaining Power. Organization Science, 10(2): 119-133.
Coff, R., & Kryscynski, D. 2011. Drilling for Micro-Foundations of Human Capital–Based Competitive
Advantages. Journal of Management.
Gibbons, R., & Katz, L. F. 1991. Layoffs and Lemons. Journal of Labor Economics, 9(4): 351-380.
Makadok, R. 2001. Toward a Synthesis of the Resource-Based and Dynamic-Capability Views of Rent Creation.
Strategic Management Journal, 22(5): 387-401.
Makadok, R. 2002. A Rational-Expectations Revision of Makadok’s Resource/Capability Synthesis. Strategic
Management Journal, 23(11): 1051-1057.
Mortensen, D. T. 2005. Wage Dispersion: Why Are Similar Workers Paid Differently? Cambridge, MA: The
MIT Press.
Parsons, D. O. 1972. Specific Human Capital: An Application to Quit Rates and Layoff Rates. The Journal of
Political Economy, 80(6): 1120-1143.
Pfeffer, J. 1994. Competitive Advantage Through People. California Management Review, 36: 9-28.
Stiglitz, J. E. 2000. The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics. The
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(4): 1441-1478.
Williamson, O. E., Wachter, M. L., & Harris, J. E. 1975. Understanding the Employment Relation: The Analysis
of Idiosyncratic Exchange. The Bell Journal of Economics, 6(1): 250-278.
Wright, P. M., & Boswell, W. R. 2002. Desegregating HRM: A Review and Synthesis of Micro and Macro
Human Resource Management Research. Journal of Management, 28(3): 247-276. , Juni 11, 2010.
Page 28 of 50
5.2 Recruiting, employee turnover and efficiency
It is said that the employees are the company's most important resource. While slightly
polemic, it is undeniable that employees' expertise and motivation are of great importance for
the company’s effectiveness. When the company experiences high employee turnover, the
consequence is turbulence in the organization that affect the ability to perform activities
effectively and appropriately. But staff turnover also allows you to sort recruitment errors out
and thus get rid of unproductive employees.
Please provide an analysis of the relationships between recruitment, employee turnover and
efficiency as well as how the company's management should use recruitment and employee
turnover strategically.
Literature:
Abelson, M. A., & Baysinger, B. D. 1984. Optimal and Dysfunctional Turnover: Toward an Organizational
Level Model. The Academy of Management Review, 9(2): 331–341.
Baron, J. N., Hannan, M. T., & Burton, M. D. 2001. Labor Pains: Change in Organizational Models and
Employee Turnover in Young, High-Tech Firms. The American Journal of Sociology, 106(4): 960–1012. ,
January 14, 2010.
Greenwald, B. C. 1986. Adverse Selection in the Labour Market. The Review of Economic Studies, 53(3): 325–
347.
Hausknecht, J. P., & Holwerda, J. A. 2013. When Does Employee Turnover Matter? Dynamic Member
Configurations, Productive Capacity, and Collective Performance. Organization Science, 24(1): 210–225.
Hausknecht, J. P., & Trevor, C. O. 2011. Collective Turnover at the Group, Unit, and Organizational Levels:
Evidence, Issues, and Implications. Journal of Management, 37(1): 352 –388.
Lazear, E. P. 2000. Performance Pay and Productivity. The American Economic Review, 90(5): 1346–1361.
Shaw, J. D. 2011. Turnover rates and organizational performance: Review, critique, and research agenda.
Organizational Psychology Review, 1(3): 187–313.
Staw, B. M. 1980. The Consequences of Turnover. Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 1(4): 253–273.
5.3 The Role of Business Development in the organization
What is business development (not) and how is business development organized in
preparation and implementation of the company's growth opportunities?
Literature:
Barki, H., & Pinsonneault, A. (2005). A model of organizational integration, implementation effort, and
performance. Organization Science, 16(2), 165–179.
Brinckmann, J., Grichnik, D., & Kapsa, D. (2010). Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle? A metaanalysis on contextual factors impacting the business planning–performance relationship in small firms. Journal
of Business Venturing, 25(1), 24–40.
Burgelman, R. A. (1983). A process model of internal corporate venturing in the diversified major firm.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 223–244.
Davis, C. H., & Sun, E. (2006). Business development capabilities in information technology SMEs in a regional
economy: an exploratory study. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 31(1), 145–161.
Delmar, F., & Shane, S. (2003). Does business planning facilitate the development of new ventures? Strategic
Management Journal, 24(12), 1165–1185.
Kind, S., & Knyphausen-Aufseß, D. zu. (2007). What is ‘Business Development’? - The Case of Biotechnology.
Schmalenbach Business Review, 59(2), 176–199.
Klein, K. J., & Sorra, J. S. (1996). The challenge of innovation implementation. Academy of Management
Review, 21(4), 1055–1080.
Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Differentiation and integration in complex organizations.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(1), 1–47.
Noda, T., & Bower, J. L. (1996). Strategy Making as Iterated Processes of Resource Allocation. Strategic
Management Journal, 17, 159–192.
Sørensen, H. E. (2012). Business Development: A Market-Oriented Perspective. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Uittenbogaard, B., Broens, L., & Groen, A. J. (2005). Towards a Guideline for Design of a Corporate
Entrepreneurship Function for Business Development in Medium-Sized Technology-Based Companies.
Creativity and Innovation Management, 14(3), 258–271.
Page 29 of 50
(6).
ECONOMETRICS
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Econometrics should be directed to:
Christian Møller Dahl, Department of Business and Economics, e-mail: cmd@sam.sdu.dk
6.1 Inequality in life quality, health and health behavior – a geographical perspective
Denmark is known to be one of the most equal countries in the world when it comes to
income. Therefore, it is quite intriguing to realize that the social inequality in health is very
high in Denmark. While this topic has been investigated extensively in literature,
geographical aspects alike potential geographical inequality has been much less investigated.
To our knowledge, no such studies considered the Danish case.
The purpose of the suggestion could be to investigate inter alia:
- To which extent is there geographic inequality in life quality, health or health
behavior
- To which extent may such inequality be ascribed to geographic variation in
economy, demography, policy etc?
- Are the present policy initiatives appropriate?
The empirical investigation can be based on a rich source of data, aggregated to the municipal
level.
The project can be written in Danish or English. However, a basic ability in reading Danish is
highly recommendable, as some of the data sources and references are in Danish.
Literature: Ulighed i sundhed – årsager og indsatser. Sundhedsstyrelsen 2011.
Equity, Social Determinants and Public Health Programmes. WHO 2010
Michael Bech, Jørgen Lauridsen: Exploring spatial patterns in GP expenditure. European Journal of Health
Economics, 10, 2009, 243-54.
Data bases: Sundhedsprofil 2010, Indenrigsministeriets Kommunale Nøgletal, Statistikbanken
6.2 Social inequality in health – can it be measured, and how?
Denmark is known to be one of the most equal countries in the world when it comes to
income. Therefore, it is quite intriguing to realize that the social inequality in health is very
high in Denmark. While this topic has been investigated extensively in literature, the
empirical approaches have been quite rudimentary in certain dimensions: Income has
generally been used as a measure for socioeconomic status, even though severe endogeneity
may exist between income and health; health has been measured using simple and subjective
measures like self-assessed health, the development over time is less investigated etc.
The purpose of the suggestion could be to investigate inter alia:
- Can we suggest and apply improved measures of social status?
- Can improved results be obtained by using objective health measures?
- What happens over time with health inequality in DK?
- Are the present policy initiatives appropriate?
The project may conveniently be carried out as an empirical investigation, based on the
Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which enables comparison
across countries, but different Danish sources are also available.
The project can be written in Danish or English. However, a basic ability in reading Danish is
helpful, as selected relevant references are in Danish.
Literature: Ulighed i sundhed – årsager og indsatser. Sundhedsstyrelsen 2011.
Equity, Social Determinants and Public Health Programmes. WHO 2010
Terkel Christiansen and Jørgen Lauridsen: Determinants of inequality in health with focus on retired Danes.
SDU 2009. Data bases: The SHARE survey
Page 30 of 50
6.3 Estimating Functions in Econometrics
In statistics there is a large literature on so-called "estimating functions" and optimal
estimation (Godambe optimality), for which many interesting results exist. To what extent are
these results used in econometrics, and how do they relate various estimation techniques
common to econometrics? Related to this topic is that of \generalized estimating equations".
Literature:
"Estimating Functions and Equations: An Essay on Historical Developments with Applications to Econometrics"
(Bera et al. 2005), \Using Godambe-Durbin Estimating Functions in Econometrics" (Vinod, 1997).
6.4 Generalized Estimating Equations
In statistics there is a large literature on so-called "generalized estimating equations" and their
use in analyzing logitudinal/panel data. How do these methods relate to those used in
econometrics? Related to this topic is also the one on "estimating functions".
Literature:
"Longitudinal data analysis for discrete and continuous outcomes" (Liang and Zeger, 1986), "Models for
longitudinal data: a generalized estimating equation approach" (Zeger and Liang, 1986).
6.5 Computational econometrics
Computational econometrics is the essential means by which most econometric studies take
place. It has several main subfields including the development of computational techniques
for carrying out econometrics, such as estimation or numerical methods and Monte Carlo
simulation experiments. It is therefore a broad topic and has many possible specialized topics.
Literature:
"Handbook of computational econometrics" (Belsley and Kontoghiorghes, 2009).
6.6 Quantile Regression
Quantile regression has become a very popular estimation technique in econometrics. What
are the newest developments within this literature and how do the techniques help researchers
answer relevant economic questions over the more conventional methods?
Literature:
"Quantile regression" (Koenker, 2005).
6.7 Factor Analysis
Factor analysis is a statistical technique commonly used in the social sciences to explain the
common factors that affect certain variable. There are two main approaches: exploratory
factor analysis (EFA) and principal components analysis (PCA). We will learn how to obtain
results in R. What would your work consist of?
1. Find a suitable data set in your field of interest: health economics, socio-economics,
applied economics, survey data, etc.
2. Decide whether you want to use EFA or PCA and state your reasons for it.
3. Apply factor analysis using R
4. Write your results.
Literature: There is a lot of literature in the web about this topic and you are encouraged to find the best
suitable text for you. Some examples:
Statistical theory:
Ledyard Tucker and Robert MacCallum (1993). "Exploratory Factor Analysis". Publicly available at
http://www.unc.edu/ rcm/book/factornew.htm
Applied to economics:
Seema Vyas and Lilani Kumaranayake (2006).\Constructing socio-economic status indices: how to use
principal components analysis". Health Policy and Planning, 21, pp. 459-468.
David Morelli (1999): "Tests of structural change using factor analysis in equity returns". Applied
Economics Letters, 6, pp. 203-207.
Falk Brauning and Siem Jan Koopman (2012). "Forecasting macroeconomic variables using
collapsed dynamic factor analysis". Publicly available at
http://www.tinbergen.nl/discussionpapers/12042.pdf
Page 31 of 50
6.8 Nonparametric vs. Parametric Volatility Estimation
Financial market prices have complicated distributions with strong skewness and fat tails.
One important step in forecasting tomorrow's price is to estimate the volatility, also known as
conditional heteroskedasticity or conditional variance. Basically, the volatility tells us how
much tomorrow's price is expected to differ from today's price. Many authors consider a
certain parametric form to model this volatility, imposing strong assumptions on the
distribution of the data set. However, these assumptions may be relaxed when nonparametric
techniques are applied.
The aim of this project investigate and critically review different non-parametric techniques to
estimate the volatility of financial returns, starting from the simplest one, going through the
most popular ones and ending with the latest estimation techniques.
Literature:
-
Black, F. and Scholes, M. (1973). The pricing of options and corporate liabilities. Journal of Political
Economy 3, 637{654.
Bollerslev, T. (1986). Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity. Journal of
Econometrics 31, 307{327.
Cai, Z. (2001). Weighted Nadaraya and Watson regression estimation. Statistics and Probability
Letters 51, 307-318.
Chance, D. M. (2004). An Introduction to Derivatives and Risk Management. Thomson/South
Western, Ohio.
Fan, J., and Yao, Q. (1998). Effcient estimation of conditional variance functions in stochastic
regression. Biometrika 85, 645-660.
Merton, R. C. (1973). The theory of rational option pricing. Bell Journal of Economics 4, 141-183.
Merton, R. C. (1990). Continuous time finance. Blackwell, Oxford.
Phillips, P. C. B., and Xu, K. L. (2007). Tilted nonparametric estimation of volatility functions.
Cowles foundation discussion paper no. 1612.
Ziegelmann, F. A. (2002). Nonparametric estimation of volatility functions: the local exponential
estimator. Econometric Theory Economics 18, 985{991.
6.9 Økonometrisk analyse af en makroøkonomisk eller finansieringsproblemstilling
Formålet med dette emne er at belyse en makroøkonomisk eller finansieringsproblemstilling
ved hjælp af moderne tidsserie-økonometriske metoder. Valget af teoretisk emneområde til
empirisk belysning afhænger af opgaveskriverens eget valg, men kan f.eks. være emner i
- forbrugs-teori
- rentestruktur-modeller
- købekraftsparitets-teori
- arbejdskraftsefterspørgsel
- eksport-, import-, og handelsbalancemodeller
I opgaven bør lægges vægt på både det teoretisk fundament såvel som den empiriske analyse.
Ligeledes vil det være en integreret del af opgaven at fremskaffe de relevante data.
Metodemæssigt vil blive lagt vægt på moderne tidsserie-metoder så som (afhængigt af
problemstillingen) integrations- og kointegrationsanalyse, ARCHmodellering, ikke-lineære
tidsserie-metoder m.v. I det omfang det af vejlederen skønnes nødvendigt at afholde
supplerende forelæsninger til indlæring af det teoretiske stof vil dette blive arrangeret.
Litteratur:
Litteraturgrundlaget vil afhænge af det konkrete emne og vil blive aftalt i samarbejde med vejlederen.
Page 32 of 50
6.10 Topics in Financial Volatility
Volatility is at the foreground of financial analysis and has wide applications in the fields of
risk management, portfolio management and asset pricing. Recently large datasets with data
recorded at the highest possible frequency – on a transaction by transaction basis – have
become available. Volatility and correlation analysis with high-frequency financial data is
currently one of the most lively research areas in financial econometrics.
The students will be given a problem in the field of risk management (e.g. a hedging problem)
or asset pricing (e.g., application of the CAPM) and will provide an application and
evaluation of a high-frequency data based volatility model possibly in comparison to standard
volatility models. Suggesting new ideas and approaches to the problem at hand will be
particularly welcomed.
The students will be expected to have some skills in a statistical software package, such as R,
Ox, Matlab, Gauss or similar.
Literature:
Literature for the project will be given from the instructor after topics have been discussed with the student.
Page 33 of 50
(7).
MACROECONOMICS AND
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Macroeconomics and International
Economics should be directed to: Peter Sandholt Jensen, Department of Business and
Economics, e-mail: psj@sam.sdu.dk
7.1 Den store depression
Den store depression i 1930’erne står som den vel nok mest centrale makroøkonomiske
begivenhed i det 20 århundrede. Depression kan faktisk siges at have givet anledning til
fremkomsten af makroøkonomi som en selvstændig disciplin. Desuden var læren fra
depression helt afgørende for udformningen af krisepolitikker i forbindelse med krisen i 2008;
direktøren for den amerikanske centralbank, Ben Bernanke, var netop også ekspert på
depressionen. De store spørgsmål som kan danne ramme for et BA projekt er følgende: Hvad
forårsagede krisen, hvorfor blev den så dyb og langvarig, hvorfor spredte den sig globalt, og
hvad afsluttede den?
Litteratur:
Romer, C., 1993. The Nation in Depression. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(3), 19-39
7.2 Årsagerne bag langsigtet økonomisk udvikling
Forskellen i indkomster per indbygger på tværs af lande er et velkendt faktum. Men hvorfor
der er disse forskelle er en kilde til debat mellem økonomer. Nogle økonomer har peget på
institutioner som en afgørende forklaring bag disse forskelle, hvorimod andre peger på
geografiske og kulturelle forskelle. Et projekt inden for dette emne kan fokusere på f.eks.
institutioner eller geografis rolle. Eksempler på mere konkrete opgaver inden for dette emne
kunne undersøge sammenhængen mellem beskyttelsen af ejendomsret og økonomisk
udvikling eller historiske institutioner som stavnsbånd der begrænser mobiliteten af
arbejdskraft.
Litteratur:
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., Robinson, J.A., 2001. The colonial origins of comparative develop-ment: an
empirical investigation. American Economic Review 91, 1369-1401.
Weil, D., 2009 Economic growth. Pearson.
7.3 Demokrati, ulighed og økonomisk udvikling
Hvordan hænger demokrati og ulighed sammen? Er demokratier mere lige via omfordelende
politikker? Hvordan påvirker dette et lands institutioner og økonomiske performance? Dette
emne kan tage et af disse spørgsmål op. Fokusset kan også være mere på ulighed og dens
effekter.
Litteratur:
Acemoglu, D., Robinson, J.A., 2006. Economic origins of dictatorship and democracy. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, UK.
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., Robinson, J.A., Yared, P., 2008. Income and democracy. American Economic
Review 98(3), 808-842.
Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Harvard University Press.
Page 34 of 50
7.4 Geography of artistic activity: Searching for determinants
Artistic activity has seen remarkable geographic clustering throughout history. Little is
however known on the determinants of these clustering patterns. Why was, for example, Paris
so important for classical composers in the 19th century, whereas Amsterdam, an equally
wealthy, large city, played hardly a role within the field of music. For a sample of European
cities, student’s research should explore the extent and variety of:
 relevant cultural infrastructure (e.g. concert halls),
 related supply industries (e.g. sheet music producers),
 educational facitilites (e.g. music conservatories), etc.
Literature:
Birth Location, Migration and Clustering of Important Composers: Historical Patterns, joint with John O'Hagan,
Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 2010, 43(2): 81-91.
Historical Patterns Based on Automatically Extracted Data: the Case of Classical Composers, joint with John
O'Hagan (TCD), Historical Social Research (Section 'Cliometrics'), 2012, 37(2): 298-314.
7.5 The role of taxation on the arts and cultural sector across European countries
Recently, in several countries taxation of cultural goods and services has been increased.
Little is however known on the possible consequences for the arts and cultural sector. In a
cross-country research project, the student should analyse whether and to what extent:
 Higher direct public support of cultural production leads to higher indirect public
support (i.e. VAT deduction).
 Higher public support of cultural production leads to higher private support.
 Tax incentives stimulate consumption of cultural goods and services.
 Tax incentives stimulate employment within the arts sector.
 Countries focus only on certain types of cultural products and provide support to those
products/services at the cost of other products/services (specialisation hypothesis).
Literature:
O’Hagan, J. (1998), The State and the Arts: An Analysis of Key Economic Policy Issues in Europe and the
United States, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
O’Hagan, J (2011). ‘Tax Expenditures’ in R Towse (editor), A Handbook of Cultural Economics (second
edition). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
7.6 Agriculture, Development, and the Industrialization Process
To look at the role of agriculture for development, and in particular the industrialization
process. Agriculture’s role here is usually considered to be to: 1) Increase productivity, so
workers can move to the towns; 2) Provide capital for urban occupations through saving; 3)
Earn foreign currency, so machines etc. can be bought from abroad; and 4) Provide a market
for domestic manufactures. The project might for example examine those claims and look at
examples of countries that have broken the mold by developing with agriculture leading the
way. Denmark is of particular interest here.
Literature:
Broadberry, S. and K.H. O’Rourke eds. (2010). The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Volume
1: 1700-1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Chapter 6
Henriksen, I. (1993). ‘The transformation of Danish agriculture’ in K.G. Persson (ed.). The Economic
Development of Denmark and Norway since 1870. Aldershot: Edward Elgar
Papers by Paul Sharp and others on Denmark’s economic history, see: www.keynes.dk
Page 35 of 50
7.7 Wine Economics
The project might look at any of the topics within the emerging field of wine economics. The
focus can be on the microeconomic level, for example regarding the organizations involved in
producing and marketing wine, and what determines the price and consumption of wine. It is
often the case that the price of a bottle of wine is determined by much more than its physical
qualities. Often the reputation of a wine is just as important. Moreover, a consumer’s utility
from a glass of wine, as reflected by the ratings given by tasters, often depends very much on
what information they have about the wine. On the macroeconomic level, it is possible to
work on the international market for wine, for example. Much interesting work has been done
recently on the economic history of wine markets. The modern day regulation of wine
industries is another possible topic.
Literature:
See the Journal of Wine Economics.
Duncan, A. & Greenaway, D. (2008). The Economics of Wine – Introduction. Economic Journal 118:529, pp.
F137-F260 (This special edition of the Economic Journal contains several other papers on wine economics.)
Nye, J.V.C. (2007). War, Wine, and Taxes: The Political Economy of Anglo-French Trade, 1689-1900.
Princeton University Press
Persson, K.G. & Sharp, P.R. (2007). The Cost of Ignorance: Reputational Rents in the Market for Tuscan Reds.
Department of Economics Discussion Paper No. 07-11
7.8
Economic Growth and Income Convergence: Combining a Theoretical Modelling
Perspective with an Application
The economic growth performance of a single country or region vis-à-vis a larger benchmark
group of countries or regions is typically seen as a key structural indicator for assessing longrun development and national or regional competitiveness. This poses the question: Which
factors actually drive economic growth and development in the long-run? The purpose of this
project is of a dual nature: Firstly, the bachelor student is expected to classify and describe the
different theories of economic growth, which have been proposed in the field of
Macroeconomics. To this end, the student shall be able to identify the specific driving forces
of growth, which are highlighted by the different theories such as the neoclassical and
endogenous growth model, and shall also make statements about the different model
predictions with regard to the degree of income convergence across the set of countries or
regions. Secondly, the bachelor student shall apply these growth theoretical foundations to an
empirical application of own choice. An example for such an application may be the
assessment of growth and convergence for a large data set of national economies throughout
the last century. Alternatively, the project may analyse regional growth and convergence
within a large economic area such as the European Union. To this end, also the role of
policies (such as the EU structural funds) aiming at fostering interregional income
convergence may be assessed empirically.
Literature
Barro, R.; Sala-i-Martin, X. (2003): “Economic Growth”, 2 nd Edition, MIT Press.
Mankiw, G.; Romer, D.; Weil, D. (1992): „A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth“, in: Quarterly
Journal of Economics, 107(2): 407-437.
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7.9 Sundhed og langsigtet økonomisk udvikling
Er sundere befolkninger også lig med rigere befolkninger? Projektet kunne indeholde en
undersøgelse af sammenhængen mellem mål for sundhed som forventet levetid og BNP capita
eller undersøge indførslen af medicinske teknologier på sundhed og udvikling. Konkrete
eksempler ville inkludere sammenhængen mellem fremkomsten af moderne medicin og
uddannelse og udvikling. Alternativt kunne man kigge på indførslen af offentlige goder som
påvirker sundhed som f.eks. hospitaler, rent vand osv.
Litteratur:
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. (2007). Disease and development: The effect of life expectancy on economic growth.
Journal of Political Economy 115(6), 925-985.
Cutler, D., Miller, G. (2005). THE ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS IN HEALTH
ADVANCES: THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY UNITED STATES. Demography.
Weil, D.N. (2009). Health and Economic Growth. Durlauf, S.N., Aghion P. (eds.) Handbook of Economic
Growth, North-Holland, Netherlands.
7.10 Economic Development by Decentralizing Government Employment
One of the current issues often debated is how to ensure economic development across the
different geographies of a country. A suggested policy measure in that regard is the
decentralization of government employment. This has been argued to result in possible
crowding-out and multiplier effects for studies based in the UK. A series of review in the UK
have resulted in decentralization of a large number of government employed particularly
following the most recent Lyons Review. The extent to which this is an effective policy
measure to secure regional development remains a concern. On concern is whether impacts
remain purely local or spreads to a wider geography securing economic development in a
broader regional context. This intersects with the issue of the predominance of crowding-out
or multiplier effects. Most recently, the Danish government has suggested a decentralization
of about 3900 government jobs proposing that this might be a first step to secure economic
development across Danish regions (see e.g. http://politik.tv2.dk/2015-10-01-faa-det-fuldeoverblik-her-er-de-statslige-job-der-skal-flyttes). This asks the question, to which extent the
lessons from UK studies can be implied directly into a Danish context to assess the policy of
the Danish Government. One aspects of this question is e.g. to which extent a general
equilibrium approach that identifies effects running through housing markets can be applied
directly to a Danish context. Other aspects relate to commuting propensities, labor market
regulations and etc. Uncovering the answers to such aspects and assessing the expected
effects in a Danish context will therefore be essential to make the current debate. What can be
expected from an ex ante perspective from such policies in a Danish context?
Literature:
Faggio, G., 2015. Relocation of Public Sector Workers: Evaluating a place-based policy. SERC Discussion
Paper 155, http://www.spatialeconomics.ac.uk/textonly/SERC/publications/download/sercdp0155.pdf
Faggio, G., Overman, H., 2014. The Effect of Public Sector Employment on Local Labour Markets, Journal of
Urban Economics 79, 91–107.
Page 37 of 50
7.11 Mest Begunstigelsespricippet (Most favored Nation Principle) i GATT/WTOsystemet
Et bærende princip for handelsliberalisering i WTO er ’mest begunstigelsespricippet’, der
forpliget medlemslande til at udstrække bilaterale toldnedsættelser til alle medlemslade af
WTO. Derved undgås diskriminerende handelsliberalisering. Princippet kan gøres til genstand
for flere interessante økonomiske analyser f. eks af princippets velfærdsteoretiske aspekter,
’free rider’ problemet for de lande, der uden modydelser kan eksportere til lavere toldsatser.
På det adminitrative plan kan analyseres landes muligheder for manipulation med princippet
gennem afgrænsningen af varebegrebet.
Litteratur:
Horn H., og P.C Mavroidis (2001), ‘Economic and Legal Aspects of the Most-Favored Nation Clause’,
European Journal of Political Economy, 17, pp. 233-279.
Schwartz W.F. og A.O. Sykes, (1996), ‘Towards a Positive Theory of the Most Favored Nation Obligation and
its Exceptions in the WTO/GATT system’, International Review of Law and Economics, 16, pp. 27-51.
Forudsætter: Det vil være en fordel at have fulgt faget ”International Økonomi”.
7.12 Handel med service
Serviceaktiviteter udgør omkring 70 procent af værditilvæksten i udviklede økonomier. På
den baggrund er det overraskende, at den økonomiske litteratur af international handel med
service er forholdsvis sparsom. Der er derfor oplagte BA-projekter, der kan kaste lys over
dette område. Projektet kan ’drejes’ i forskellige retninger, og den endelige titel på kan
således tilpasses. Elementer i en analyse kunne være:
a. Økonomisk teori for services
b. Producer services og international arbejdsdeling
Der er nyere litteratur om specielt betydningen af handel med producer services
(Francois, Venables og andre).
c. Service Direktivet i EU
Fri mobilitet af services er en af de ’fire friheder’ i EU’s Indre Marked. Det er
imidlertid åbenbart at barrierne for handel med services har været langt størrre end for
manufactures. Til fremme af mobiliteten af services har EU derfor for få år siden
gennemført det såkaldte ’service direktiv’. Det kunne godt fortjene en nøjere analyse også ud fra en en ’law and economics’ synsvinkel.
d. Deskriptiv analyse af handelen med service
Analyse af udviklingen i samlet omfang af handel med services. Inter- versus intraindustri handel med services.
Litteratur:
Et nyere bidrag til den teoretiske litteratur er J.F. Francois og B. Hoekman, 2009, ’Sevices, Trade and Policy’,
Working Paper 2009-03. Department of Economics, Johannes Keppler Univetsity, Linz, Austria. EUKommissionen har ligeledes analyseret emnet i rapporter med hovedvægt på policy aspekter, specielt vedrørende
service direktivet.
Page 38 of 50
7.13 Told og velfærd ved industrispecifikke shock og omkostninger ved re-allokering af
ressourcer
I den traditionelle analyse af told og handelsrestriktioner er told i almindelighed forbundet
med et velfærdstab bortset fra eventuelle bytteforholdsgevinster for store økonomier, jævnfør
teoruien om optimal told. Dette resultat beror dog på, at resourcerne kan reallokeres
omkostningsfrit, ved shock. Hvis det ikke er tilfældet, kan en midlertidig told bidrage til at
afdæmpe virkningerne af shock med en positiv effekt velfærden sammenlignet med frihandel.
BA-projektet kan fokusere denne problemstilling.
Litteratur:
Et udgangspunkt kunne være pioneer artiklen Neary, P. (1978): ’Short-run Capital Specificity and Pure Theory
of International Trade’, Economic Journal, 88:488-510.
7.14 Flervareproduktion og international handelsteori
Det er åbenlyst, at mange virksomheder producerer mere end en vare. På den baggrund er det
forbavsende, at flervare-producerende virksomheder kun har en ringe plads i literaturen om
internationale handelsteori. I de senere år er der dog kommet interessante bidrag med
flervareproduktion og handel baseret på modeller med ojligopol eller monopolistisk
konkurrence. En fremstilling og analyse af ene eller flere af dedisse modeller kunne være et
velegnet tema for et BA projekt. Projektet kunne enten have hovedvægt på en teoretisk
modellering eller alternativt på en empirisk analyse af graden af flervarefabrikation i en stadig
mere globaliseret økonomi.
Litteratur:
En indgangsvinkel til literature kunne være artiklen Bernard, A.B., S., Redding and P. Schott (2010), ’Multipleproduct Firms and Product Switching’, American Economic Review, 100 (1), 70-97 samt artiklen Eckel, C. And
P.J. Neary (2010), Multi-product Firms and Flexible Manufacturing in the Global Economy’, Review of
Economic Studies 77, (1) 188-217.
7.15 Er globaliseringsprocessen gået i stå?
Globalisering er et mangesidigt fænomen, der bredt udtrykker, at de enkelte landes økonomier
blevet mere interdependente. Drivkræfterene bag globaliseringen er et fald i barrierne for
mobilitet af varer, tjenester, serviceydelser og finans- og realkapital. Globaliseringsprocessen
har historisk forløbet uenst med perioder af tilbageslag. Der er tegn på, at den financielle krise
og recessionen i årene efter 2007 har bremset globaliseringen sammenlignet med årene forud.
Flere BA-projekter kan skrives inden for dette område. Temaerne for det enkelte projekt
kunne bl.a. være: (1) ’Udviklingen i verdenshandelen fra 1945’, (2) ’Eurokrisen og
kapitalmobiliteten i EU’, (3) ’Migrationen i EU’ og (4)’Nyprotektionismens instrumenter’.
Litteratur:
Subramanian A. og M. Kessler (2013): ’The Hyperglobalization og Trade and Its Furure’, Working Paper 13-6,
Washington, Peterson Institute for International Economics. Er frit tilgængeligt på nettet.
7.16 Perspektiver for udkants Danmark i lyset af teorien ’den ny økonomiske geografi’
Det skæve Danmark bliver skævere og skævere. Kan nyere økonomisk teori bidrage til
forklaringen af den regionale udvikling i Danmark? Projektet kan sigte på at beskrive og søge
at forklare den faktiske udvikling. I analysen af drivkræfterne for den regionale udvikling vil
det være nærliggende at inddrage modelleringerne omkring den ny økonomiske geografi.
Litteratur:
Et udgangspunkt for den teoretiske analyse er lærebogen af Marrewijk (2007), International Economics: Theory,
Application, and Policy, Chapter 13. Oxford
Page 39 of 50
7.17 Tekniske handelsbarriere i international handel
Der har igennem lang tid været politisk fokus på international markedsintegration og
handelsliberalisering. Det er formaliseret og institutionaliseret i regionale handelsaftaler som
f.eks. det indre marked i EU, NAFTA men også i verdensomspændende aftaler i regi af f.eks.
WTO. Fokus har været på eliminering af told og kvantitative restriktioner og de er i de sidste
50 år faldet betydeligt til et lavt niveau i dag. Samtidig er der en øget fokusering og
opmærksomhed på tekniske handelsbarrierer (eller som de også benævnes ”Non-tariffbarriers”) i international handel. Tekniske handelsbarrierer udgør en betragtelig og stigende
omkostning og udgør på mange områder en større barriere for international handel end de
tilbageværende toldbarrierer. I de aktuelle forhandlinger mellem EU og USA om et
frihandelsområde (TTIP forhandlingerne) er tekniske handelshindringer en væsentlig del.
Indførelse af specifikke produktstandarder er en måde at opstille tekniske handelshinderinger
på. I EU opereres med to typer: ”Harmonized standards” og ”Mutual recognition”.
Bachelorprojektet kan fokusere på forskellige aspekter af problemstillinger tekniske
handelshindringer og nedenfor gives eksempler på litteratur, der tager fat på emnet på
forskellig vis.
Litteratur:
Jacques Pelkmans (2012), “Mutual Recognition: economic and regulatory logic in goods and services”, Bruges
European Economic Research Papers 24/2012.
Limao, Nuno and Patricia Tovar (2011), “Policy choice: Theory and evidence from commitment via
international trade agreements”, Journal of International Economics, Vol. 85(2).
Chen, Maggie X. and Aaditya Mattoo (2008), “Regionalism in standards: good or bad for trade?”, Canadian
Journal of Economics, Vol. 41(3).
Felbermayr, Gabriel J. and Benjamin Jung (2011), “Sorting It Out: Technical Barriers to Trade and Industry
Productivity”, Open Economic Review Vol. 22.
Orefice, G., R. Piermartini and N. Rocha (2012), “Harmonization and mutual recognition: What are the effects
on trade?”, Conference Paper, 15th Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis, Geneva, Switzerland.
Edwards, Huw and Joanna Poyago-Theotoky (2013), “Regulatory Protection When Firms Decide First on
Technical Collaboration and R&D”, Review of International Economics, Vol. 21(4).
7.18 Har den fælles mønt stimuleret handelen mellem eurolandene?
Den fælles mønt fjerner valutakursusikkerheden i samhandelen mellem eurolandene. Da
virksomhederne er riskoaverse, skulle man forvente at euroen har stimuleret handelen
mellem eurolandene. Spørgsmålet er imidlertid, om en sådan effekt kan spores i årene efter
introduktionen af euroen. BA-opgaven kan søge at afklare denne problemstilling.
Udgangspunktet for fremstillingen kan være en analyse af det teoretiske grundlag for en
sammenhæng mellem valutakursusikkerhed og handel. Dernæst kan anlyseres empirisk,
hvorvidt der kan spores en effekt på handelen mellem eurolandene af den fælles mønt. En
ramme for den empiriske analyse kan være gravitstionsmodellen med en dummy variable for
medlemskab af euroen.
Litteratur:
Frankel, J. and Rose, A. (1998) ‘The endogeneity of the Optimum Currency Area Crteria’ Economic Journal ,
108, pp. 1009-1025.
De Grauwe, P. and Mongelli, F. (2005), Endogeneities of Optimum Currency Areas: What Brings Countries
Sharing a Single Currency Closer Together?’ Working Pape, no. 468, European Central Bank, April.
Page 40 of 50
7.19 Inter- versus intra-industry trade in the European Union
Lærebøger i international økonomi fremhæver, at graden af intra-industri handel varierer
positivt med landets velstandsniveau. BA-projektet kan bestå i en analyse af denne
problemstilling såvel teoretisk som empirisk på grundlag af data for EU-landene. Den
empiriske analyse kan bestå dels af en sammenligning graden af intra-industri handel mellem
lande og dels af en dynamisk analyse af graden af intra-industrihandel for de enkelte lande
over tid. Den empiriske fremstilling lægger ligeledes op til, at andre forklarende vaiable for
graden af intra-industrihandel inddrages analysen.
Litteratur:
Udgangspunktet for litteratur kan være tekstbogsfremstillingersåsom: Van Marrewijk C. (2007): International
Economics: Theory, Application, and Policy, Oxford University Press, Chapter 10.
7.20 Den demografiske udfordring i EU
Fertiliteten er i bund i EU-landene, og før den seneste migrationsbølge fra lande uden for EU
peger udviklingen mod en betydelig befolkningstilbagegang i flere medlemsstater.
Aldersfordelingen vil samtidig forskydes mod en mindre andel af befolkningen i de
aldersklasser, der traditionelt er i arbejde, og dermed er der en voksende bekymring over
udsigten til et svindende skattegrundlag. Skulle disse forventninger blive til virkelighed, vil
det få vidtrækkende følger for landenes økonomier. Især må der forudses negative virkninger
på den generelle vækst samt den offentlige sektors muligheder for at finansiere sine
aktiviteter.
Det vil være interessant, at få belyst disse spørgsmål omkring perspektiverne for den
demografiske udvikling og de økonomiske konsekvenser, der kunne følge af den beskrevne
udvikling. BA-projektet kan udvikles med tyngdepunkt i en kritisk analyse af
forudsætningerne om bl.a. migration for de seneste demografiske prognoser eller alternativt
med fokus på de økonomiske konsekvenser den demografiske udvikling givet de foreliggende
prognoser.
Litteratur:
EU-Commission (2015): ‘The 2015 Ageing Report: Economic and Budgetary Projections for the 28 Member
States‘, European Economy, No.3.
7.21 Balassa-Samuelsen effekten i eurolandene
Balassa-Samuelson effekten foreskriver, at i en vækstproces, hvor fattige lande konvergerer
mod rigere lande i velstand, vil de reale valutakurser for fattige lande appreciere i forhold til
rigere lande. Med andre ord i et sytem med faste valutakurser eller en fælles valuta vil fattige
lande opleve en stærkere inflation end rigere uden at det vil give anledning til
konkurrenceevneproblemer.
I euroområdet er der betydelige forskelle i velstandsniveau mellem medlemsklandende og den
økonomiske vækst udviser ligeledes store forskelle mellem landnene Temaet i et BA-projekt
kan være at analysere, om Balassa-Samuelsen effekten kan identificeres for eurolandene.
Fremstillingen kan indeholde en teoretisk analyse af vækstteorien om Balassa-Samuelsen
effekten, oversigtsfremstilling over tidligere empinske undersøgelser af effekten samt egen
empirisk analyse af vækst og inflation i udvalgte eurolande med henblik på at få kvantitaive
skøn over effekten.
Litteratur.
Balassa, B. (1964): ’The Purchasing Power Parity Doctrine: A Reappraisal’, Journal of Political Economy, 584596.
Page 41 of 50
(8).
MICROECONOMICS
Questions about the topics within the subject area of Microeconomics should be directed to:
Christian Kronborg, Department of Business and Economics, e-mail: cka@sam.sdu.dk
8.1 Behavioural and Experimental Economics
Understanding individuals’ behaviour and knowledge of their preferences are highly relevant
in many contexts – e.g. in implementing public interventions or in companies’ sales decisions.
Empirical studies and experiments in individuals’ behaviour often show disagreements
between the actual behaviour of an individual and what is expected, given the assumptions
from neoclassical economic theory about the rational human, homo-economicus. Within the
last few years the interest of explaining these irrational behaviour patterns by psychological
theories has increased – hence the name behavioural economics. By taking results from
economic experiments and measures of willingness-to-pay as a starting point, it is attempted
to explain individual behaviour by psychological theories of human behaviour and it is
subsequently introduced in the economical (and theoretical) instruments.
Within this subject the following topics are relevant:
8.1a Heuristics and bias in hypothetical measures of willingness-to-pay
It will be possible to receive a data set from existing questionnaire surveys for the students
own analyses if the student is interested.
8.1b Regulating individual behavior
Why and does it work? Focus could be on lifestyle and behaviour that affect our health.
8.1c Experimental economics
Taking previous studies as starting point or by carrying out your own experiment, individual
behaviour in a given economic context is investigated.
Literature:
Wilkonson, N. and Klaes, M.: An Introduction to Behavioral Economics. Palgrave MacMillan.
Prerequisites: A basic knowledge within microeconomic theory is required, corresponding to
the courses “Mikroøkonomi”, “Virksomhedens økonomi” or similar courses.
8.2 Labour Market Economics/-policies
The conditions on the labour market are extremely important both for the individual and the
society as a whole. On a micro level the individual participation in or exclusion from the
labour market can be seen as a function of both the individuals’ and the companies’ behaviour
taking the restrictions of the market into account. It applies both for the market form and the
economic and political instruments. On a macro level the functions of the labour market are
important for the unemployment rate and hence for the production resources that are available
in the economy.
Within this subject the following topics are relevant:
Page 42 of 50
8.2a Labour standards/ Employment protection legislation
Literature:
See e.g. Destefanis, S., & Mastromatteo, G. (2015). The OECD beveridge curve: Technological progress,
globalisation and institutional factors. Eurasian Business Review, 5(1), 151-172. Skak, M. (2005). Economic
Integration, International Capital Movements, and Labour Standards. LABOUR: Review Of Labour Economics
& Industrial Relations, 19(2), 273-301.
8.2b Does minimum wages reduce employment?
Literature:
See e.g. Ropponen, O. (2011). Reconciling the evidence of card and krueger (1994) and neumark and wascher
(2000). Journal of Applied Econometrics, 26(6), 1051-1057. Clain, S. H. (2015). Variation in job creation and
destruction across the states through boom and bust: Could minimum wage matter? Eastern Economic Journal,
41(2), 183-199.
8.2c Does hysteresis still exist on the European labour markets?
Literature:
See e.g. Mathy, G. (2015). Hysteresis and persistent long-term unemployment: Lessons from the great
depression and world war II American University, Department of Economics, Working Papers: 2015-02. Gali, J.
(2015). Hysteresis and the european unemployment problem revisited C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers, CEPR
Discussion Papers: 10745.
8.2d Insider-outsider theories
Literature:
See e.g. Bentolila, S., Dolado, J. J., & Jimeno, J. F. (2012). Reforming an insider-outsider labor market: The
spanish experience. IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, 1 Boeri, T., Conde-Ruiz, J., & Galasso, V. (2012).
The political economy of flexicurity. Journal of the European Economic Association, 10(4), 684-715.
8.2e Outsourcing and wage levels
Literature:
See e.g. Goldschmidt, D., & Schmieder, J. F. (2015). The rise of domestic outsourcing and the evolution of the
german wage structure National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, NBER Working Papers: 21366. Parteka, A.,
& Wolszczak-Derlacz, J. (2015). Integrated sectors--diversified earnings: The (missing) impact of offshoring on
wages and wage convergence in the EU27. Journal of Economic Inequality, 13(3), 325-350.
8.2f Optimal choice of education
Literature:
See e.g. Huntington-Klein, N. (2015). Subjective and projected returns to education. Journal of Economic
Behavior and Organization, 117, 10-25. Wendelspiess, C. J. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of education:
The relative importance of transmission channels. Latin American Economic Review, 24(1), 1-44.
8.2g Unemployment benefit and cash benefit
Literature:
See e.g. Yakut, A. M. (2015). Labor supply and welfare benefits in turkey. Iktisat Isletme Ve Finans, 30(347), 935. Fernandez, F., & Saldarriaga, V. (2014). Do benefit recipients change their labor supply after receiving the
cash transfer? evidence from the peruvian juntos program. IZA Journal of Labor and Development, 3
8.2h Active labour market policy
Literature:
See e.g. Andersen, T. M. (2012). A flexicurity labour market in the great recession: The case of denmark. De
Economist, 160(2), 117-140. Berry, C. (2014). Quantity over quality: A political economy of 'active labour
market policy' in the UK. Policy Studies, 35(6), 592-610.
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8.3 Housing and Urban Economics
Housing economics is based on the households’ choice of optimal housing, conditional on the
restrictions that the housing market, the financial markets and the economic policy define.
Within some areas open competition exists but most housing types involve regulations and
restrictions. This is also true for the financing of housing. Urban economics deal with the
structure and development of the cities and rural areas as a function of the optimal choice of
location for companies and dwellings. Within this area regulation can affect the functions of
the market as well.
Examples of relevant topics within this subject:
8.3a Housing and welfare since World War II
Literature:
See e.g. Strange, W. C. (2011). Review of: Triumph of the city: How our greatest invention makes us richer,
smarter, greener, healthier, and happier. Journal of Economic Literature, 49(4), 1310-1313. Glaeser, E. L.,
Gottlieb, J. D., & Tobio, K. (2012). Housing booms and city centers. American Economic Review, 102(3), 127133.
8.3b The relation between the housing sector and the cyclical movements
Literature:
See e.g. Leamer, E. E. (2015). Housing really is the business cycle: What survives the lessons of 2008-09?
Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, 47, 43-50. Christelis, D., Georgarakos, D., & Jappelli, T. (2015). Wealth
shocks, unemployment shocks and consumption in the wake of the great recession. Journal of Monetary
Economics, 72, 21-41.
8.3c Rent control and distribution
Literature:
See e.g. Glaeser, E. L., & Luttmer, E. F. P. (2003). The misallocation of housing under rent control. American
Economic Review, 93(4), 1027-1046. Skak, M., & Bloze, G. (2013). Rent control and misallocation. Urban
Studies, 50(10), 1988-2005.
8.3d Choice of optimal housing type
Literature:
See. e.g. Andersen, H. Skifter (2011). Motives for Tenure Choice during the Life Cycle: The Importance of
Non-Economic Factors and Other Housing Preferences. Housing, Theory and Society 28 (2) 183-207.Hansen, J.
D., & Skak, M. (2008). Adaptation investments and homeownership. Journal of Housing Economics, 17(1), 102115. Brown, W. M., & Lafrance, A. (2013). Trends in homeownership by age and household income: Factors
associated with the decision to own, 1981 to 2006 Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch, Economic
Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series.
8.3e Financial restriction and housing types
Literature:
See e.g. Aarland, K., & Nordvik, V. (2009). On the path to homeownership: Money, family composition and
low-income households. Housing Studies, 24(1), 81-101. Ferreira, F., Gyourko, J., & Tracy, J. (2010). Housing
busts and household mobility. Journal of Urban Economics, 68(1): 34–4.
8.3f Housing areas and crime
Literature:
See e.g. Strange, W. C. (2011). Review of: Triumph of the city: How our greatest invention makes us richer,
smarter, greener, healthier, and happier. Journal of Economic Literature, 49(4), 1310-1313. Wan, G., & Wang,
C. (2014). Unprecedented urbanisation in asia and its impacts on the environment. Australian Economic Review,
47(3), 378-385.
Page 44 of 50
8.4 Pharmaceutical Economics
Pharmaceuticals play an important role in the treatment that the health care system offers and
they impact the productivity of the health care system. Furthermore, a lot of people are
dependent on effective pharmaceuticals to control chronic conditions. Hence, the
pharmaceutical industry is of vital importance for the society. Today research, development
and production of pharmaceuticals are handled by large companies that supply many
countries. Moreover many pharmaceuticals are protected by patents which give the producers
of these pharmaceuticals monopoly for several years. On the other hand patents and the
prospect of having a monopoly on a pharmaceutical are important factors of giving incentives
to develop new pharmaceuticals. These and a number of other factors impact the
pharmaceutical market and hence the prices of pharmaceuticals. It also affects both the
consumers’ (i.e. the patients’) costs and the public expenditures on pharmaceuticals.
Examples which are relevant within this subject:
8.4a Changes in subsidies of pharmaceuticals
8.4b Competition for off-patent medicines
8.4c Welfare effects of parallel import
8.4d Determinants of reimbursement status
Literature:
Pedersen K.M. Pricing and reimbursement of drugs in Denmark. European Journal of Health Economics 2003;
4(1): 60-65.
Hostenkamp G. The market for hospital pharmaceuticals in Denmark. Nordic Journal of Health Economics
2012; 1(1): 101-116.
Morton FS & Kyle M, Markets for Pharmaceutical Products. In Pauly, McGuire & Barros, Handbook of Health
Economics, Volume 2, 2012.
the courses “Mikroøkonomi”, “Virksomhedens økonomi” or similar courses
8.5 Measurement of Preferences: Elicitation of Individual Behaviour
Economic evaluation is an important element in a rational decision-making process about
prioritizing resources. According to economic theory the individual utility can be measured as
willingness-to-pay which is reflected in the price of the good. In case of market failures the
price of the good does not reflect the true value of the good anymore and in such situations
(and in situations where a market does not exist) alternative methods must be used to elicit the
preferences. These methods are traditionally split op into two categories dependent on
whether the preferences are elicited directly or indirectly. This includes the use of
hypothetical valuation methods including discrete choice experiment and contingent valuation
as well as preference based measures of health effects such as quality adjusted life years
(QALYs). When using these methods the preferences are elicited hypothetically by the use of
questionnaire surveys.
Within this subject the following topics could be relevant:
Page 45 of 50
8.5a Empirical and theoretical problems of valuation
Contrary to the theory a difference between the estimated and the actual preferences is often
observed – that is a difference between what the theory predicts and what the results show.
How can we explain these differences? And what does the choice of method of measuring the
preferences mean?
8.5b Preparation of the student’s own investigation
Possibly in cooperation with a company.
Literature:
Garrod & Willis: Economic Valuation of the Environment: Methods and Case Studies. Edward Elgar.
8.6 Sports Economics
Writing a bachelor seminar in sports economics gives an opportunity to apply economic
theory and methods on problems within the professional sports industry. Sports economics
contributes with a nearly endless number of examples from any area of the microeconomic
theory and yields possibility to look into problems such as: Are leagues and sports clubs
monopolies? Are sports clubs profit maximizing companies? What factors determine the
demand for sport? How is the competitive balance computed and is there a difference between
leagues? How is the market for sports financed? What costs and benefits does a city have
from sports clubs? Does the multiplication effect exist and can it be proved? How are
preferences for sports facilities or sport events uncovered? How is the value of sports facilities
or –events determined? Does the wage of sports athletes correspond to the marginal revenue?
Which failures exist on the labour market within the sports industry? Is it possible to prove
discrimination (race/sex/nationality) within the sports industry? Which economic methods can
be applied to discover match fixing and corruption? How can economic theory explain
doping? And you can find many more questions on your own…
Example of a relevant topic:
In sport leagues many factors are important to keep the interest in the league. A central aspect
is competitive balance between the teams. If one or more teams are supreme compared to the
other teams the excitement in the league is reduced – and the audience finds the league less
interesting. In the seminar, it is possible to compare the competitive balance in several leagues
in e.g. Europe to investigate which leagues contain the higher element of excitement
compared to others. This can be done by considering a concentration index for the
performance of the sports clubs through the last 10 years.
Litteratur:
Buraimo, B. & Simmons, R. 2008. Do Sports fans really value uncertainty of outcome? Evidence from the
English Premier League. International Journal of Sport Finance, 3(3), 146-155
Zimbalist, A. 2002. Competitive balance in Sports Leagues: An introduction. Journal of Sports Economics, 3(2),
111-121
Fort, R. & Maxcy, J. 2003. Comment. Competitive balance in Sports Leagues: An introduction. Journal of
Sports Economics, 4(2), 154-160
Andreff, W. & Raballand, G. 2011. Is European footballs future to become a boring game? Chapter 8 in
Contemporary
Page 46 of 50
8.7 Health Economics
Health care makes up a significant part of the expenditures and plays a central role in the
Welfare State. Technological development, demographic changes and expectations of the
population are all part of the pressure on the health care system. Health economics applies
economic theory and methods to analyse problems that originate in these circumstances. In
this way, health economics can illustrate the consequences of alternative solutions to support
decision makers on national, regional and local levels.
Examples of relevant topics within this subject:
8.7a Organization of general practitioners in Denmark
8.7b Dual job holding among medical workforce
8.7c Public health care or private health insurance
8.7d Control of incentives in public healthcare
8.7e User fees
Literature:
Morris S, Devlin N, Parkin. Economic Analysis in Health Care. Wiley.
8.8 Trade, Market Structure and Competition Legislation
Within this field of study the idea is to describe and analyse the market structure in a trade
based on economic theory and from this e.g. evaluate the conditions for competition in the
line of business or estimate the development of the trade in the coming years. It is also
possible to include further special economic mechanisms in the trade and analyse the impact
on the competition. Another starting point is the Danish and/or the European competition
legislation with a view to evaluate whether the legislation (de facto as well) is respected.
Examples: An analysis of the Danish brewery market where it is common knowledge that we
have many small players and few larger ones as well as several foreign combatants. How will
this market develop in the future? Another example is air transport. Are discount companies
going to increase their market shares even more? Do loyalty programs undermine the
competition in the market etc.? A more concrete example is to analyse a specific company
and its market: Is it possible for B&O to survive as a luxury brand in a competitive global
market? Is it possible for Mærsk- Møllers shipping company to continue to be profitable?
Does Dong Energy have too much market power in the Danish energy sector? Does Danske
Bank have too much power in the banking sector etc.? There are many possibilities within this
field.
Page 47 of 50
8.9 Energy- and Environmental Economics
Energy- and environmental economics originate theoretically in the externality problem and
the involved loss of welfare. In practice the topics are about regulation of the polluting firm or
industry and furthermore externalities between countries can be observed when focus is on
global pollution where e.g. the problem with CO2 is relevant. It is central to know whether
the energy- and environmental regulation creates cost efficiency nationally and/or globally –
that is whether a given policy causes the highest possible increase in welfare based on the
resources earmarked regulation. Within these topics the new theory about economics of
information can also be used since regulation often takes place in situations with adverse
selection or moral hazard. Problems regarding valuation of environmental goods are relevant
within this subject as well.
International environmental agreements can also be combined with game theoretic modeling.
Literature:
Perman et al. Natural resource and environmental economics.
the courses “Mikroøkonomi”, “Virksomhedens økonomi” or similar courses
8.10 Theoretical or Applied Game Theory and Economics of Information
For all the subjects below, the project can be written in English. Depending on the choice of
supervisor, most projects can also be done in Danish.
A project taking game theory as starting point can have a relatively theoretical focus.
In the theoretical part of the topic, it is for example possible to analyse and discuss a
theoretical model and its possible extension, to compare different models and their
implications, or to modify or extend a model.
In the applied part of this subject one common approach is to try to understand or describe
observed politics and economic behaviour in a game theoretic or informational economics
setting. One could for example gain knowledge of a given area or problem observed in real
life and (depending on the subject) either analyse implicit contractual conditions or analyse
the problem in light of the theoretical knowledge of the underlying ’game’.
Examples of potential topics within this subject:
8.10a Implementation of auctions in practice
Why is a specific type of auction used in a given area etc.
8.10b Contract theory (theoretical)
E.g.: How do contract theory and the involved problems regarding adverse selection and
moral hazard change if the principal can draw on more than one agent?
8.10c Contract theory (applied)
E.g.: Uncovering obvious moral hazard or adverse selection problems related to various salary
types in business.
Page 48 of 50
8.10d Analysis of behavioural changes in response to specific laws
E.g.: The specific taxation in different countries concerning extraction of raw material (e.g.
the North Sea oil). What problems does a high taxation create with regard to the extracting
firms’ incentives to carry out research under uncertainty?
E.g.: Could the number of organ donors registered be increased by changing the law from
informed consent to presumed consent?
8.10e Matching and market design
E.g. matching schools and pupils, patients and donors, or creating a market for organ
donation.
8.10f Cost sharing
How should the cost of producing a good be divided among those who demand it?
8.10g Solutions to Bankruptcy problems
When a firm goes bankrupt, the value of the firm has to be divided among the creditors. How
should this be done?
8.10h Airport/highway problems
Different airlines (highway users) have different needs, so how should the cost of building or
maintaining a landing strip (highway) be shared between the users?
8.10i Queueing problems
E.g.: If users to be served choose themselves (strategically) when to line up for service, how
does the choice of queue discipline matter for average waiting time, how the queue evolves,
etc.?
Literature:
Relevant textbooks (depending on topic):
Dixit, Skeath and Reiley: Games of Strategy. Norton.
Osborne and Rubinstein: A course in Game Theory. MIT Press.
Maschler, Solan, and Zamir: Game Theory. Cambridge University Press.
Journal articles related to the chosen subject.
the courses “Mikroøkonomi”, “Virksomhedens økonomi” or similar courses. Further
knowledge of microeconomics/game theory is an advantage.
Page 49 of 50
8.11 Welfare economics and social choice
All projects can be written in English. Depending on the choice of supervisor, some projects
can also be written in Danish.
A project based on welfare economics can focus on issues such as welfare, inequality and
poverty. The project can be theoretical or empirical. Examples of topics under this theme
could be:
8.11a How to measure inequality?
Inequality is pervasive in many countries in the world. It is therefore essential to understand
how to measure it properly, so as to help reducing it efficiently. This may be difficult in
particular when inequality consists of several dimensions (such as health, income,
education,…) . The project would consist in reviewing and discussing the definitions of
various measures of inequality. Possibly with a specific use as illustration.
8.11b What is poverty?
Should we define poverty in absolute or relative terms? When is someone poor in Denmark?
Should it be the same as for developing countries? In order to understand poverty, it is
important to define a precise and ethically appealing way of measuring poverty.
The project would consist in reviewing these measures and applying them to various countries
as an illustration.
8.11c Welfare
Economists often refer to “social welfare” when they want to talk about the collective good.
But, what do we mean exactly by social welfare, and how should it be defined? This question
is very important as different definitions of social welfare might lead to different policies or
benefit some specific groups in society. The objective is therefore to understand how to
measure social welfare so that everyone is treated in a fair and transparent way.
8.11d Voting
Social choice is about how to aggregate individual preferences into a collective decision.
Eg. How can we aggregate individual preferences over different alternatives into a social
preference? What is the advantage and disadvantage of different voting procedures? What is
the consequence of Arrow's impossibility theorem?
Literature:
Relevant textbooks (depending on topic):
Herve Moulin, Axioms of cooperative decision making. Cambridge University Press, 1988
Young, H. Peyton. Equity: in theory and practice. Princeton University Press, 1995.
Börgers, Christoph. Mathematics of social choice: voting, compensation, and division. AMC 10 (2009): 12.
Lambert, Peter. The distribution and redistribution of income. Manchester University Press, 2001.
Journal articles related to the chosen subject.
Prerequisites: A basic knowledge within microeconomic theory, corresponding to the course
“Velfærdsøkonomi og skattepolitik” or similar.
Page 50 of 50

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