TO: Juniors in Economics who are potentially rev, 13 July 2006

eligible for the Economics Honors Program

FROM: Peter H. Lindert, Director of the Senior Honors Research Seminar

Congratulations! Examination of your University and Economics Department grade averages has identified you as a potential candidate for honors, high honors, or highest honors upon your graduation next year. For high or highest honors, the College of Letters and Science rules require participation in a departmental honors program as well as a high grade average. Students who enroll in the departmental Honors Research Seminar (Economics 194H) for at least two quarters, who complete an honors thesis, and who meet grade point requirements, can be recommended by the Department for high or highest honors. (But doing the thesis does not guarantee High or Highest Honors by itself.)

The honors program, as described in the General Catalog,

... is designed to permit students to pursue a program in their major at a level significantly beyond that defined by the normal curriculum. It represents an opportunity for the qualified student to experience aspects of the major that are representative of advanced study in the field.

Entrance into the honors program requires that a student have completed at least 135 units with a minimum grade-point average of 3.5 in courses counted toward the major. Any exceptions to this rule must be negotiated with me in advance.

Here is a chance to plunge into a research project of your own, after years of taking 10-week courses. I am eager to help honors students choose and develop a thesis topic. Depending on the topic, some will be matched with another faculty member as a 194H adviser, while I will remain adviser for others. Each final thesis draft will be graded by two faculty members. The enclosed course description provides further details.

When to take 194H? There are three main options:

• Fall-winter sequence. Many students in 194H have taken it in the fall and winter quarters. Advantages: (a) You can warm up by exploring the topic in the summer, and you finish the thesis by March, allowing you to kick back and take Old Testament, art studio, or whatever in the spring. (b) Your qualifications for high or highest honors are known in time for commencement. (c) The fall-winter sequence is usually the most-attended one, especially since we have some fall meetings jointly with other senior honors students from Agricultural and Resource Economics.

A variant on this first option is to make it a fall-spring sequence, taking a breather in mid-thesis across the winter. Some students have done this. One caution about this variant: By the end of the fall quarter you must leave yourself a particularly clear set of detailed instructions, so that you pick up again at the end of March with no loss of momentum.

• Winter-spring sequence. Advantage: This gives you the latest deadlines, and gives you time to watch how others do their theses in the fall-winter sequence while you’re mulling your topic. It has worked fine for many students. Disadvantages: finish too late for the chance to cite your project when applying for jobs or grad schools, get senioritis, press up against commencement.

• Spring-fall sequence. Advantage: you get to use the summer as a long mid-way research time (would you?), and you finish the whole thesis in time to wave it at faculty recommenders, grad schools, and employers. Disadvantage: When students did this in the past, some lost their research momentum over the summer. You have to stay focused over the summer.

Whichever sequence you choose, sign up on line for Economics 194HA in the first of your two quarters, to be followed by 194HB. You will receive 4 credit hours for letter grades in each of the two quarters, for a total of 8. (After the first quarter, you will temporarily receive an “In Progress” grade for 194HA, to be changed to a letter grade later.)

If you are interested in participating in this program, let’s talk about it. Call 752-1983, fax 752-5611, or e-mail to phlindert@ucdavis.edu. If you have questions about your eligibility, contact Diane Branam in the Economics Undergraduate Office (752-0742) or dcbranam@ucdavis.edu).

University of California - Davis Academic year 2006-2007

Economics 194H: Peter Lindert

Senior Honors Thesis 2006-2007

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This sequence of courses will combine group meetings, individual meetings with faculty, and individual research, culminating in the writing of a senior honors thesis.

Prerequisites

Entry into the honors program requires that a student have completed at least 135 units with a minimum grade-point average of 3.5 in courses counted toward the Economics major. Any exceptions to this rule must be negotiated with me in advance.

Grading

The honors thesis will be given a letter grade by a committee of two faculty members, at least one of which is from the Department of Economics. It is not necessary that one of the two faculty members be the seminar director (me), though it has always worked that way so far. Grading for the first quarter of participation will be deferred (“IP”) until completion of the thesis in the second quarter.

Optional Readings

No specific readings are assigned.

Honors at Graduation

Completion of the 194H sequence is one requirement to receive High or Highest Honors at graduation. Conferral of these honors also depends on grade-average requirements (see General Catalogue), not just on the thesis. Students must also have taken all upper-division Economics courses for a letter grade, and cannot have more than eight units of grade I (Incomplete) on their transcripts at graduation. (Graduating with regular Honors does not require a Senior Honors Thesis.)

Suggestions

Figure out how best to communicate with Harvest, Melvyl and other library sites by Internet. You can end up downloading data and source listings (your bibliography already half-typed!).

This summer, work on your skills with word-processing software (esp. Word) and spreadsheet software for handling numbers (esp. Excel). Economics 140, econometrics, can be a plus for an honors thesis, though it’s not required. If you haven’t taken 140 already, consider taking it next winter quarter, still in time to help the thesis. But if you get into a topic and it requires regressions, I can help you set them up and I can even run them if you can’t.

Above all, get in touch with me soon to get going on your thesis ideas: (Starting fall 2006, I am in 1148 Social Sciences; phone 752-1983; fax 752-5611; e-mail = phlindert@ucdavis.edu).

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR ECONOMICS 194H,

Academic year 2006 - 2007

Spring - Fall 2006 students (Kyle, Mike, Ora, Scott)

• My Fall 2006 office hours: Monday and Thursday 1:30-3:00 in 1148 Social Science. But some of those Mondays and Thursdays I may have a time conflict. It’s best to request an appointment in advance, by e-mail (phlindert@ucdavis.edu).

Tuesday, October 10, 2006, 3:00: at least 17 pages of text of your thesis due in my mailbox, Economics Department (or as a Word attachment), plus a second copy to your other thesis adviser(s). That’s 17 pages of real text, perhaps including a couple key tables or figures, plus bibliography and any big tables. Detailed faculty comments back to you by October 13.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 3:10 - 5:00 in Shields Library, computer lab at the back of the 1st floor: Linda Kennedy, Government Documents Librarian, will tell us tricks about how to use UCD’s excellent documents facilities and web links, and how to find data and special government studies fast. Let’s also have a workout on some tricks of using Harvest, Melvyl, and the internet. A special reason to take the tour: Most of UC Davis’s government documents are not easy to find in Melvyl or Harvest. You’ll want to know how to find them.

Thursday, Nov. 2, 4:30: initial rough draft of WHOLE thesis is due in my mailbox, Economics Department, and to your other faculty reader. Detailed faculty comments back to you by Nov. 8.

Monday, December 11, 4:30: Complete final draft of thesis is due -- one copy in my Economics mailbox, one copy to other thesis adviser(s). That includes footnotes, bibliography, and any appendices.

_______________________________________________________________________

Fall 2006 -Winter 2007 Students:

Spring 2006: Let’s talk about your thesis (in the spring, 5201 Social Sciences; phone 752-1983; fax 752-5611; e-mail = phlindert@ucdavis.edu). Discover that your ideas are brilliant. No ideas yet? Try reading the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, etc., until you read something that makes you say “Hey, that’s a fun topic.”

Summer 2006: Feel free to talk with me or with another professor, by e-mail or in person, with more on your thesis ideas. I can be on campus to June 15, then again July 7-August 4 and only a few other days in August or September.

• My Fall 2006 office hours: Monday and Thursday 1:30-3:00 in 1148 Social Science (SSH). But some of those Mondays and Thursdays I may have a time conflict. It’s best to request an appointment in advance, by e-mail (phlindert@ucdavis.edu).

(Fall 2006 -Winter 2007 Students, continued)

Note: For you in the fall-winter gang, there will be meetings in the Tuesday 3:10 - 5:00 time slot, even though the Registrar’s computer does not know that. These meetings will be held jointly with Senior Honors Thesis students in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics (A&RE), who would all do their theses on a fall-winter cycle under the supervision of Professor Philip Martin.

Tuesday, October 3: 3:10 - 5:00, in the 5214 SSH conference room. At this initial meeting, each student gives a 5-10 minute description of an idea for a thesis topic. Give other students suggestions about their topics, too. Each of you will pick up a past Honors thesis to discuss very briefly at the October 10th meeting.

Tuesday, October 10th, 3:10 - 5:00, in 5214 SSH, again meet together with A&RE students. We’ll discuss some previous students’ theses, which you picked up at the October 3rd meeting, and you will once again describe your planned topic.

Tuesday, October 17, 3:10 - 5:00 in Shields Library, Computer Lab at the back of the 1st floor: Linda Kennedy, Government Documents Librarian, will tell us tricks about how to use UCD’s excellent documents facilities and web links, and how to find data and special government studies fast. Let’s also have a workout on some tricks of using Harvest, Melvyl, and the internet. A special reason to take the tour: Most of UCD’s government documents are not listed on Harvest or Melvyl. You’ll want to know how to find them.

Monday, October 23rd by 4:30 pm: E-mail me a Word file of a written 7-page sketch of your thesis idea, based on your library explorations and your discussions with me and/or other faculty advisers. If you can’t e-mail it then, deliver a hard copy before Tuesday noon to my Economics mailbox in 1111 SSH.

Tuesday, October 24th, 3:10 - 5:00 in 5214 Social Science -- We discuss your 7-page sketches and your ideas. Also decide on another faculty adviser that you’ll work with on your thesis, if you haven’t already. Tell me who that faculty member is.

Tuesday, November 7th, by 9:00 am: Each of you gives me (by e-mail to me or by hard copy in my mailbox) a revised 12-page statement of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 16 key sources.

At 3:10-5:00 same day, in 5214 SSH, present and discuss thesis proposals along with A&RE Honors seniors.

(Fall 2006 – Winter 2007 Students, continued)

Monday, December 11th, by 4:30: E-mail me a Word file of at least a 15-page development of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 18 key sources. If you can’t e-mail it then, deliver a hard to my Economics mailbox (1111 SSH). No group meeting in December, but I’ll have office hours Tuesday, December 12^th 1:30 – 3:00 in 1148 SSH, and will in any case get comments back to you in mid-December.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007, Not a meeting, just a deadline for you. By 4:00 deliver at least 20 pages of text of each thesis due by e-mail or in my mailbox, Economics Department, plus a second copy to the other thesis adviser(s). That’s 20 pages of real text, perhaps including a couple key tables or figures, plus bibliography and any big tables. Detailed faculty comments back to you by January 18th.

Tuesday, February 27, 4:00: Initial rough draft of WHOLE thesis is due by e-mail or in my mailbox, Economics Department, plus a second copy to the other thesis adviser(s). Detailed faculty comments back to you by March 6th.

Thursday, March 1, 6:00 - 7:30: Dinner at a place TBA, no assignment due.

Friday, March 16, 4:30: Complete FINAL draft of thesis is due: one hard copy in my Economics mailbox, one copy to other thesis adviser(s). That includes footnotes, bibliography, and any appendices.

_________________________________________________________________

Winter - Spring 2007 Students:

Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 3:10 - 5:00 in Shields Library, computer lab at the back of the 1st floor: Linda Kennedy, Government Documents Librarian, will tell us tricks about how to use UCD’s excellent documents facilities and web links, and how to find data and special government studies fast. Let’s also have a workout on some tricks of using Harvest, Melvyl, and the Internet. A special reason to take the tour: Most of UCD’s government documents are not easy to find on Harvest or Melvyl. You’ll want to know how to find them.

NOTE, Winter-Spring 2007 gang: If you can, join this October 2006 meeting. It won’t be repeated in the winter or spring.

Another NOTE: Your schedule for the winter-spring sequence involves fewer group meetings that the fall-winter sequence. This is because fewer Economics students begin in the winter, and there is no winter-spring sequence for seniors in Agricultural & Resource Economics to meet with. We’ll rely mainly on our one-on-one meetings.

(Winter - Spring 2007 Students, continued)

Thursday, January 4, 2007, from 4:10 to 5:30, in 5214 SSH. At this initial meeting, each student gives a 5-10 minute description of an idea for a thesis topic. Give other students suggestions about their topics, too. Also at this meeting, arrange one individual half-hour meeting with me on a day between January 6 and 13, to continue your attack on your topic idea and source materials.

Tuesday, January 16, by 10:00 am on this date: Give me a 5-page statement of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 14 key sources, by e-mail or with a hard copy in my Economics mailbox.

4:10-5:30 same day, in 5214 SSH, present and discuss thesis proposals.

Before this meeting, you should have contacted and recruited your second faculty thesis advisor.

Thursday, February 1st, by 10:00 am on this date: Give me a 10-page statement of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 14 key sources, by e-mail or with a hard copy in my Economics mailbox.

4:10-5:30 same day, in 5214 SSH, present and discuss thesis proposals.

Before this meeting, you should have contacted and recruited your second faculty thesis advisor.

Wednesday, February 28th: By noon on this date, give me at least a 15-page development of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 18 key sources.

At 4:10-5:30 same day, in 5214 SSH: discuss expanded thesis proposals.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007: Not a meeting, just a deadline for you. By 4:00 deliver at least 20 pages of text of each thesis due by e-mail or in my mailbox, Economics Department, plus a second copy to the other thesis adviser(s). That’s 20 pages of real text, perhaps including a couple key tables or figures, plus bibliography and any big tables. Detailed faculty comments back to you by April 23rd.

Thursday, May 3rd, 4:00: initial rough draft of WHOLE thesis is due in my mailbox, Economics Department. Detailed faculty comments back to you by May 17th.

Thursday, June 7th, 4:30: complete final draft of Winter-Spring thesis is due: one copy in my Economics mailbox, one copy to other thesis adviser(s). That includes footnotes, bibliography, and any appendices.

______________________________________________________________________

Spring - Fall 2007 Students:

Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 3:10 - 5:00 in Shields Library, computer lab at the back of the 1st floor: Linda Kennedy, Government Documents Librarian, will tell us tricks about how to use UC Davis’s excellent documents facilities and web links, and how to find data and special government studies fast. Let’s also have a workout on some tricks of using Harvest, Melvyl, and the internet. A special reason to take the tour: Most of UCD’s government documents are not easy to find on Harvest or Melvyl. You’ll want to know how to find them.

Thursday, March 29th, from 4:10 to 5:30, in 5214 Social Science. At this initial meeting, each student gives a 5-10 minute description of an idea for a thesis topic. Give other students suggestions about their topics, too.

At this meeting, each student arranges one individual one-hour meeting with me on a day between April 2 and 8, to continue your attack on your topic idea and source materials.

Monday, April 16, by noon: give me a 5-page statement of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 14 key sources. You can send it as a Word attachment, or put a hard copy in my Economics mailbox in 1111 SSH.

4:10-5:30 same day, in 5214 SSH, present and discuss thesis proposals. Before this meeting, you should have contacted and recruited your second faculty thesis advisor.

Wednesday, May 23rd, by noon: give me at least a 10-page development of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 17 key sources. You can send it as a Word attachment, or put a hard copy in my Economics mailbox in 1111 SSH.

At 4:10-5:30 same day, in 5214 SSH: discuss expanded thesis proposals.

Wednesday, May 23rd, by noon: give me at least a 15-page development of your thesis proposal, plus a bibliography of at least 20 key sources. You can send it as a Word attachment, or put a hard copy in my Economics mailbox in 1111 SSH. At 4:10-5:30 same day, in 5214 SSH: discuss expanded thesis proposals.

Also at this meeting: Present specific plans for what you are going to do on the thesis over the summer.

______________________________________________________________________

SOME ECONOMICS SENIOR HONORS THESIS TOPICS, 1992 - 2006

“African Variations on the International Debt Crisis”

“The Black Death and Interest Rates”

“Brazilian Forests and the World’s Interest”

“Competing Land Uses in Costa Rica”

“Dividing Our State: Counties that Gain and Counties that Lose

from Being Part of California”

“The Economics of Canadianizing the United States Health Care System”

“Growth Controls and Housing Availability: A Tale of 52 Cities in California”

“The Impact of German Reunification on Women’s Jobs and Pay, East and West”

“In Foul Territory: Major League Baseball Owners’

Management Strategies and their Effects on Fans”

“Is California’s Government Climate Driving Away Business?”

“Pesticide Use in California Agriculture: Should Regulation Be Increased?”
(SOME SENIOR HONORS THESIS TOPICS, 1992 - 2006, continued)

“The Policy Sources of Income Inequality in Korea”

“The Prescription-Drug Price Hikes of the 1980s”

“Proposition 13 and the Schools: California’s Experience

in Interstate Perspective, 1962-1988”

“Rent Control and the Quality of Housing”

“Sexual Harassment Legislation: Does It Affect Women’s Wages and Employment?”

“Spinning Straw into Gold: Economic Development and Olympic Medals”

“Vertical Integration and Taiwan’s Industrial Organizational Structure”

“Educational Vouchers: A Viable Alternative?”

“What is a Spotted Owl Worth?”

“Why Are There So Many Lawyers?”

“Cyprus: Economic Prospects and Reunification”

“Junk Bonds in the 1980s: Financial Scam or Financial Innovation?”

“Fighting Fire with Fire: The Economics of Controlled Burns in the Sierras”

“Path-Dependent Technology, Network Externalities, and Electric Cars”

“Voucher Capitalism in the Czech and Slovak Republics”

“Anti-trust, Microsoft, and the Software-Using Sector in the 1990s”

“A Statistical Study of the Determinants of Criminal Recidivism”

“How the Tax Reforms of 1981 and 1986 Affected Women’s Work”

“Family Medical Leave Practices and Women’s Work”

“The Economics of Solar Energy for India”

“Uphill Battle: What Determines Trends in the Profits of Ski Resorts”

“The Financial Impact of 1997 on Hong Kong:

A Time-Series Analysis of Expected Returns”

“Which Countries Honor Intellectual Property Rights and Why”

“The Sources of High Unemployment in Italy”

“The Effectiveness of Welfare Experiments in Wisconsin and California since 1980”

“The Real Costs and Benefits of the Three Gorges Dam”

“Should I Have Gone to Stanford? The Economic Returns from Private and Public

University Degrees in the High School Class of ‘72”

“Determinants of Class Size in Elementary and Secondary Education”

“The Welfare Effects of Denmark’s EC Membership”

“The Market for Baseball Cards” (A&RE)

“The Recent Evolution of the Market for Books” (A&RE)

“The Cost to the Tobacco Industry of Buying Legislators” (A&RE)

“Two Tigers in the Rain: South Korea and Taiwan in the 1997-1998 Asian Crisis”

“What Drove Physicians’ Incomes, 1960-1994”

“Black/White Earnings Inequality: Gender and Regional Trends”

“State Revenue from Legal Gambling: Are State-Run Lotteries the Best Way?” “Antitrust: History’s Verdict”

“Causes and Effects of Child Labor in the Third World”

“What It Takes to Get an Oscar, and What the Oscar is Worth”

“Competitiveness and Volatility in Securities Markets: The Causes and Consequences

of New Advances in Securities Trading”

“The Effect of Athletic Programs on College Academic Quality”

“The Economics of Casino Gambling”

“Can Silicon Valley Stay on Top?”

“The Efficiency of Bilingual Education”
(SOME SENIOR HONORS THESIS TOPICS, 1992 - 2006, continued)

“The Tuna-Dolphin Controversy and International Trade”

“Analysis of Online Book Selling under the Current Sales Tax Moratorium:

Comparative Advantages versus Pricing Advantages”

“Explaining Differences in Wage Disparity with Developed Countries”

“Energy Policy Responses to Oil Shocks in US, France, and Japan”

“Privatizing Social Security: Lessons from British and Chilean Experience”

“The Political Economy of House Votes on the China Trade Bill”

“Has Airline Deregulation Gone Too Far?”

“Whom Does Socialized Medicine Let Die?”

“How Are New Technology Stocks’ Fortunes Affected by the Analysts?”

“Policies Affecting the Labor Force Participation of Older Men in OECD Countries”

“What is the Optimal Rate for the California Cigarette Tax?”

“Free Agent Salaries, Deep Pockets, and Dynasties in Major League Baseball”

“What Causes Baseball Dynasties and Do They Raise or Lower League Revenue?”

“The Economics of Building New Baseball Stadiums”

“Globalization: Does Trade Reduce Wages and Export Manufacturing Jobs?”

“Do Americans Pay Too Much for Prescription Drugs?”

“The Effect of Fed Announcements on Stock Prices”

“Winners and Losers in the Hewlett Packard - Compaq Merger.”

“Managers’ Salaries in Professional baseball, Football, and Basketball.”

“Too Little, Too Late? Monetary Policy before and after Three Bubbles.”

“Colombia’s Monetary Policies and Inflation Targeting.”

“Selectivity and the Independence of Micro-Territories”

“China’s Develop the West Policy”

“The Elusive Impact of Tax and Expenditure Limits on State and Local Budgets”

“Winners and Losers among Mutual Funds since 1996”

“Local Democracy and Agricultural Investment in Taiwan and China”

“Prescription Drugs: How Much Price Increase Does U.S. R&D Justify?”

“IQ, Education, Region, and Race in America since World War I”

“Efficiency and Inefficiency in California’s Smog Check Programs”

“German-American Economic Relations during the Great Depression”

“Why Are Americans So Fat?”

“The Sources of Outsourcing in U.S. Industries”

“Dethroning Los Angeles: Air Pollution and Controls in the San Joaquin”

“Bridge Tolls and Congestion in the Bay Area”

“Bubbles in the Housing Market? An Inter-state Study”

“How Capital Controls Have Worked in Chile and Malaysia”

“The Effects of Limiting Medical Malpractice Claims”

“Deal or No Deal: An Optimal Strategy”

“State Regulation of the Wine Industry”