Undergraduate Research

Senior Project

Economics students conduct their own independent research in their senior project as a capstone, which requires them to use statistical and data analysis to research an economic topic. The Senior Project Handbook provides students clear guidelines and assessment rubrics. Economics students in Williams Honors College can also complete their Honors Research Project in the economics department.

Read some of the senior projects below.

External Recognition

Economics students have received external recognition for their research by presenting their senior projects at local and regional conferences such as the Midwest Economics Association Conference, the Ohio Association of Economist and Political Scientists and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Economic Scholars Program.

Several undergraduates' senior projects have also been published in a peer review journal, Undergraduate Economic Review.

Student Resources for Research

Students get additional support for their economic research through specially created Library Guides page for Economics and some of our Economics classes such as Applied Econometrics, International Economics, and Urban Economics.

2025

• Clearing the Way for Renewable Energy: The Impact of the Clean Power Plan on Fossil Fuel Markets - Jonathan Clemente
• Carrying Without a Permit: The Crime Implications of Loosening Gun Laws - Carson Fremon
• The Impact of Legalizing Sports Gambling on Mental Health - William Keener
• From Touchbacks to Touchdowns: Analyzing the Impact of the NFL’s New Kickoff Rule Changes - Joshua Klatt
• Expanding State Tax Authority: Public and Private Sector Impacts of Wayfair - Maxwell V. Pastoria
• The Impact of Brexit on UK Trade Flows: A Product-Level Analysis - Tyler Shean
• Impact of COVID Stimulus Checks on Cryptocurrency Markets - Derek Wilch

2024

• Cap-and-Trade and Air Quality: Which Communities Benefit the Most? - Nicole Bobbs
• The Effect of Adaptation of Information Processing Equipment on Employment Rate - Jennifer Dinh
• The Effect of Vehicle Property Tax on Car Sales in South Carolina - Yuzhe Du
• The Impact of Airport Capacity Changes on the Air Quality - Karleighana Jones
• The Racial Divide in the Impact of COVID-19 Mask Mandates in the U.S. - Michael Jones
• Field of Dreams: Will They Come for MLB’s Quicker, More Thrilling Games? - Carson Keenan
• Women’s Work and Wealth: Measuring the Impact of Incremental Liberations, 1850-1870 - Hannah Kelly
• Impact of Air Quality on Housing Prices - Emily Reese
• The Effect of Subsidized Pre-Kindergarten on Poverty Rates - Nathan Riley

2023

• Impact of Sports Gambling Legality on U.S. State's Real GDP per Capita - Emilian Ardeljan
• Beyond the Dollar: Quantifying the Effect of Ohio Library Operating Levy Revenue - Kile Byington
• Effect of Membership Programs on Individual Giving - Karissa Chin
• Effect of Marijuana Legalization on Minority Prison and Parole Rates - Sarina Franceschi
• The Effects of Legalizing Cannabis on Youth Development - Sekou Larack Kaba
• Are Anti-Theft Signs Effective? Evidence from The University of Akron's Parking Lots - Sam Smith
• The Impact of Source of Income Laws on Rent - Evan Stewart

2022

• Paid Family Leave Policies and Gender Wage Inequality - Camryn Pillar
• COVID-19 School Re-openings: The Effect on Women's Labor Force Participation - Isabella DiFeo
• The Effectiveness of the ‘High Obesity Program’ in the U.S.: County-Level Analysis of 11 States - Khaliunaa Baasankhuu
• Minimum Wage, Consumer Price Index, and the Unemployment Rate of Workers Without a College Degree - Tori Anderson
• Medicaid: The Expansion Effects on Mental Health - Xavier Swiger

2021

• Medicaid Expansion and its Effect on Children’s Health - Autumn Azar
• Adoption of the Euro: The Cases of Spain and Portugal - Kayla Bouchard
• Urban Sprawl and Emissions on the Urban Environment - Brett Jones
• The Effects of the Abolition of the Death Penalty - Nicholas Funk
• The Effect of Education on Fertility Rates in Sub-Saharan Countries - Leul Negussiek
• Renewed for the Future: Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Sources and Their Costs - Jacob Nelson
• The Undermined Power of the Invested Minority - Jo Ozaki
• Recreational Marijuana in Ohio: A Cost Benefit Analysis - Noah Polanski
• The Impact of Professional Sports Facilities on County-to-County Migration - Adam Taschner

2020

• Analyzing the Efficacy of Aid for Trade - Colin Barker
• Murder Rates and the Death Penalty: A Post-Moratorium Era - Brian Butterfield
• Impact of Unemployment Insurance Benefit Generosity on Re-employment Wages during the Great Recession - Hayden Cobb
• International student athletes and college soccer success - Manuel Cordeiro dos Santos
• How Does Influx of Immigrants Affect Nativeborn Wages - Malav Desai
• Do higher property values raise school quality? - Michael Grifa
• Does Racial Discrimination Exist in the NBA? - Logan Kendall
• The Digital Revolution Revisited: Artificial Intelligence & Employment - Nicholas Lavy
• An Estimation of the Global Burden of Communicable and Noncommunicable Disease and Economic Growth - Natalie Martucci
• How Does the Motherhood Wage Penalty Vary Across Occupations? - Monica Mott
• The Effects of Gender Quotas on Corruption: Are Women the Solution? - Elvira Ochatiouk
• Annualized Salary Differences Between Public and Private School Attendees - Ian Parthemer
• The Effect of Low Skill Job Opportunities on Postsecondary Enrollment - Mallory Radesic
• The Impact of Health Expenditure on Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates - Andrew Thomas
• Attending Preschool at Ages 3 and 4: Impact on Wages in Adulthood - Kayla Turk
• The Impact of Loan Forgiveness Programs on Out-of-State Migration - Jessica Vongsaphay
• A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis of the Porter Hypothesis in the Chemical Industry - Maci Woyat

2019

• Land Bank Impacts in Mahoning County - Lyndsey Berecek
• Does Involvement in High School Music Programs Benefit Earnings in Later Life? - James Catania
• Looking for Environmental Kuznets Curves in Countries that Ratified the Paris Agreement - Haley Carner
• Economic Effect of Greenways in Summit County - Stephen Hritsko
• Universal Preschool - James Miller
• Migration and Job Satisfaction - Joe Roth
• Effects of Child Care Subsidies on Female Labor Force Participation - Clay Smalley
• Relationship Between Crime and Housing Values Senior Project - Dasha Smith

2018

• Hedonic Pricing Model: The Value of Fiber-Optic Internet Access - Trevon Burgins
• Brain Drain and Emigration: How Do They Affect Source Countries? - Nicholas Chura
• Welfare-to-Work: The Effect of Childcare Subsidies on Labor Force Participation Rates for Low-Income Single Mothers - Ariana Cubela
• What Effect Does Immigration Have On The Native Unemployment Rate? - William Dare
• Corporate Taxation’s Effect on Earnings - Sam Eilenfeld
• Employment in The Stem Industry By Gender - Sarah Ferkany
• Effect of Income Inequality on Health - Athena Giavasis
• An Examination of the Stock Market’s Effect on Economic Inequality - Nicholas Golina
• Are Minimum Wage Increases Responsible for Increasing the Unemployment Rate? - Alex Hiidel
• Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: A Look at Racial Differences - James Imhoff
• A Decomposition of High School Effects on College STEM Major Choice - Kaleb McAbier
• The Effects of Accountability on Educational Achievement in Ohio School Districts - Megan Mierzejewski
• How Do Changes in Government Budget Deficits Affect the Exchange Rate? - James Nace
• Income Inequality and Public School Expenditures in Ohio - Benjamin Nypaver
• Opioids and Unemployment - David Robinson
• Welcome to the Neighborhood: A Spatial Analysis of Crime and Housing Values - Anthony Senick
• Impact of Household Structure and Race on The Importance of Jail and College in Intergenerational Mobility - Marissa Williams

2017

• Influence of Resident Preferences on the “Greenness” of Counties; Election Results and co2 Emissions - Patrick Carabin
• Textbook Inequality The Relationship Between Education and Income Distribution - John Edwards
• Favoritism in Major League Soccer - Josh Fernandes
• Zebra Mussels: Amenity or Disamenity - John Hamm
• How Real Interest Rates Affect Housing in California - Seojin Hylton
• The Value of Highways to Residents of Akron, Ohio - Jeffrey Kelbach
• The Racial Income Gap and Intergenerational Mobility - Evelyn Kirkendall

2016

• The Effect of Income Inequality on Property Crime in Ohio - Kyle Boll
• Examining the Effect of Income Inequality on Violent Crime - Joseph Burrier II
• The Trade Creation and Diversion Effects of African RTA Membership - David Dietrich
• The Effect of Corruption on International Trade in Developed and Developing Countries - Jackson Ewing
• Economies of Scale and Slope in Online Education - Brandon Genetin
• Access to Improved Sanitation Facilities and Primary Education: A Cross-Country Analysis of Developing Countries - Michael Grund
• A Comparative Analysis on the Measurement and the Effects Fiscal Decentralization has on Corruption - Diego Hernandez
• Parent Income and Life Satisfaction : the Comparison Income Effect - Evan Kennedy
• The Effect of Grants for Higher Education on Property Crime: Differentiating Need and Merit - Dalton Konop
• The Impact of Foreign Aid upon Economic Growth - Jonathan Masch
• The Effect of Regional Transmission Operators on Price of Electricity in the United States - Sam Myers
• State Strength and Terrorist Activity in the Middle East - Richard Rader
• The Longer Term Effects of Head Start on SNAP - Kimberly Reitema
• The Effect of Population Density on Housing Prices: A Cross State Analysis - Andrew Souders
• Minimum Insurance Mandates and Hospital Care Utilization for Arthritis Patients: Evidence from the Massachusetts 2006 Health Care Reform - Lucas Van Cleef
• The Effect of Networks on Firm-Level Innovation - Daniel Wyrock

Senior Project Archives