Msc in International Economic Consulting (IEC) Guidelines for Writing a Master’s Thesis

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
AARHUS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
AARHUS UNIVERSITY

Msc in International Economic Consulting (IEC)
Guidelines for Writing a Master’s Thesis

Department of Economics
Aarhus School of Business
Aarhus University
Fall 2010


The formal rules for writing a master's thesis can be found in the master programme study guide (cand
merc studevejledningen). The following has to be viewed as a supplement.
Note: As these guidelines will be updated from time to time, the latest version can always be
downloaded from the programme’s webpage: />
1. Introduction
These guidelines provide a general advice on how to write a master’s thesis. It should
be noted, however, that any academic supervisor may agree with students under his
supervision to opt for slight changes in the course of action recommended below.
Writing the master’s thesis is expected to take 5 month (and 1 month is set aside for
the exam): it is the last and most important part of the MSc programme. Currently,
there are six annual registration deadlines and hence six submission deadlines. In
principle, the students decide when in the course of the programme they wish to
register their thesis and begin the thesis work.
Theses are normally written on an individual basis but a group of two students may
decide to co-author a thesis if their subject is very comprehensive. The work of each
student will be assessed and marked individually.
The thesis is based on the student’s own individual research into a particular area and
its objective is to give each student the opportunity – within a limited subject area – to

demonstrate the following abilities:
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Insight into economic analysis, theories and empirical methods especially
applicable to economic consulting
problem formulation,
analysis and synthesis
application of methods,
critical judgment,
presentation of results.

The first part of the thesis writing process involves the choice of a topic. Students
have to choose their own topics and subsequently submit them to their academic
supervisor for approval.
2. Getting started
Getting started and deciding on the proper approach to the thesis is often a barrier in
itself. There is no right way of doing so, and the ways suggested below are merely
examples; they do not constitute a complete list.
The lectures and other subjects are often an obvious inspiration: an interesting
problem which has not been exhaustively treated or has not been treated in a given
context (country, industry, etc.) may provide a good point of departure. If the student
has had an internship in a consulting firm, the idea for the topic may stem from here.
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Alternatively, ideas for a topic may stem from the constant flow of information from
newspapers, television and the Internet, or from academic journals, which usually
publish the latest research. Students may, of course, also consult their lecturers about
thesis topics; a student’s own interest in the subject should, however, always be the
driving motive for choosing a specific topic.
Students may choose any topic related in a broad sense to the field “International
Economic Consulting” and focus on theoretical aspects, empirical aspects, the
solution to practical problems or combinations thereof. The final mark will not
depend on the type of topic chosen but on the student’s demonstrated understanding
of relevant topics of economics and econometrics, his/her proven ability to perform
analyses, apply methods, exert critical judgment, present results and undertake indepth investigation of a subject area.
It is difficult to categorize master theses (especially for MSc in International
Economic Consulting because of the limited life of the programme), but some
potential types can be identified:
• A problem in a consulting firm where you as a consultant make a report
with suggestions for the solution of the given problem.
• A specific problem from economics, where based on literature studies you
try to synthesize the given problem area.
• A theoretical development of a given area problem, where on the basis of
existing theory you try to extent this theory with respect to a specific
problem (e.g. include new features in the ´New-New´ trade theory). This is
a difficult and a rare case for a master's thesis.
• An empirical analysis of a given problem area. This will probably be a
common type of thesis. Based on papers in the literature or your own ideas
a hypothesis is formulated and tested using public available data or data
that your supervisor is able to offer to you. Data may also be collected by
yourself through a survey, but in this case you should be aware of time
restrictions.
• Combinations of the above.
Once the student has come up with an idea for a topic, the next step is to find out

whether it is suitable for a thesis. The way to find this out is to search for literature
and data on the subject. This is a question of balance: there should be neither too little
nor too much literature and sufficient data should be accessible.
When the student has established that the topic is suitable for a thesis, a written
synopsis should be prepared. The synopsis should be approx. 2-4 pages long and
present the basic ideas of the thesis. In particular the synopsis should identify the
central research questions, a tentative problem statement, choice of scientific method
as well as the key articles in the literature that are closely related to the proposed
thesis with a brief description of these. Next it should briefly describe how the
proposed work differs from the existing literature and why it may be interesting.
Finally, if a student opts for an empirical topic, a brief discussion of possible data

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requirements should be included with an exact description of availability and data
sources. It is important that the question of access to data is addressed early in the
thesis process.
3. Finding an academic supervisor and registering the thesis
Having finalized the written synopsis, the student can contact one of the
lecturers/researchers from the Department of Economics given in the list in appendix
1. It is strongly recommended that you browse through the home pages of these
faculty members in order to get further insight into their research interests. But it is
not a requirement that the academic supervisor has necessarily performed research
within the topic chosen by the student. The student may then contact the relevant
lecturer/researcher and ask for a short meeting in order to discuss the synopsis. The
contacted lecturer/researcher may refer to the programme coordinator if, because of
resource constraints, he is not able to supervise the student.
The key aspect for the supervisor’s acceptance of the proposed synopsis is that it is
doable, relevant and of a sufficient academic standard. For a project to be doable, it

has to be well-defined and limited in scope. Often students are too ambitious and
propose topics that are too broad. An example of a too broad topic is “The
development of the Polish international trade since 1993”, whereas an example of a
well-defined and limited topic is “The quality up-grading in Polish exports since
1993”. Usually narrow topics are more likely to result in a good thesis, while too
broadly specified projects may lead to frustrations and too much work on narrowing
the scope at later stages. In general a relevant topic is a topic related to one of the
student’s courses. That a topic is of a sufficient academic standard means that
theories used are based on textbooks at master levels and academic papers from good
journals or institutions. Besides in empirical work the data set is of sufficient size and
quality and analyzed with sufficient rigour (econometric techniques etc.).
When the student has found an academic supervisor who has approved the synopsis
and agreed to supervise the thesis process, the Thesis Registration Form can be filled
in. This form contains information about the student, a working title, registration data
as well as signatures from the student, the supervisor and the programme coordinator
Jørgen Ulff-Møller Nielsen. The signed form and the synopsis are handed in to the
programme secretary Ann-Marie Gabel, and the thesis is registered in relation to the
relevant registration deadline. The form can be found in appendix 3 or downloaded
from this website: />There are six annual registration deadlines:
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1 January (the thesis has to be submitted no later than 1 June)
1 March (the thesis has to be submitted no later than 1 August)
1 April (the thesis has to be submitted no later than 1 September)
1 June (the thesis has to be submitted no later than 1 November)
1 August (the thesis has to be submitted no later than 1 January)

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•

1 October (the thesis has to be submitted no later than 1 March)

If the student is in doubt about whom to contact as potential supervisor, the
programme coordinator can assist in pointing the student in the right direction.
4. Academic supervisors and students
The academic supervisor has two main functions. Firstly, s/he has to approve the
topic and judge whether the topic is of the required academic standard. Secondly, the
academic supervisor has to judge whether the project can be finalized within the
deadlines (five month are set aside for writing the thesis). If the topic does not meet
the required standard and cannot possibly be submitted within the deadlines, the
academic supervisor will make the student aware of the problem.
The academic supervisor will assist the student in the thesis process if so requested by
the student. Most students will experience the feeling that the work is too much to
cope with and will at times wonder whether her/his work is original enough for a
thesis. Many students will feel that their ambitions are different from those of the
academic supervisor. These feelings are quite common and can be alleviated by
asking the academic supervisor for a meeting. The student should be well prepared
for meetings with the academic supervisor by drafting short written statements with
specific questions and issues to be discussed at the meeting (agenda).
The academic supervisor is not to be considered as an online helpdesk but rather a
sparring partner. In particular, students should note the following:
a. The student has to provide a suggestion for a topic. No student will receive
any help if s/he attends meetings unprepared.
b. The student cannot expect the academic supervisor to provide answers to

detailed questions. The student has to prove his/her ability to go into depth
and work independently and systematically with the thesis.
c. The student cannot expect the academic supervisor to read through drafts of
chapters before submission except for the introduction (including problem
statement, methods, delimitation and structure).
In general, help will mainly be offered with regard to choosing appropriate
methodologies and the formulation of hypothesis.
5. Contents and layout
5.1 Contents
A thesis should be aimed at the internal examiner (academic supervisor) and the
external examiner, i.e. it should be an academic report written for academics. This is
also the case when the thesis is about solving a consulting problem for a specific
consulting company. In this case the thesis may include an executive summary
targeted for the consulting firm or their clients.

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The thesis must contain an abstract of maximum 1 page. The introductory chapter
includes a general introduction mentioning the ideas and motivation for the thesis.
Besides, it includes a section on problem statement, methodology, delimitation and
the structure of the thesis. The key mission of the introductory chapter is to narrow
the topic by specifically stating areas of interest and why the area is interesting. This
chapter should be no longer than 5 pages.
Besides the abstract and introductory chapter the structure of the thesis depends on
the type of topic chosen, i.e. whether the topic is of theoretical nature, empirical
nature, a combination or of a more practical nature solving a consulting problem.
Anyway, typically there will be chapters on:
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Literature survey
Data
Methodology/Theory
Analysis
Conclusions

You may choose to include appendices consisting of additional tables, computer
printouts and other documentation. The thesis itself should be written in such a way
that it can be read independently of the appendix – in other words all central figures
and tables should be placed and commented upon in the thesis text itself. The
examiner and the external examiner will not as a rule read the appendix. However it is
read randomly and in cases of doubt.
Tables and figures should be numbered and with added notes of explanation,
including the source. The notes should ensure that the tables and figures can be read
independently of the thesis text. But tables and figures should anyway be an
integrated part of the text. Tables and figures should have a clear title and should also
include the unit of measurement.
The last pages in the thesis should be reserved for the list of sources used. The
following material is considered sources: books, academic journal articles, working
papers, persons (interviewed), software, data, web pages. Note that all sources listed
should be specifically referred to in the text. The list of literature must not be grouped
in books, articles, etc., but should be listed alphabetically by author. Also it should
include information on the title of the book/article, place of publication, publication
year, journal name and page(s), e.g.:
Marrewijk, C. van (2007), International Economics, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, New York.

Melitz, M. and Ottaviano, G. I. P. (2008), Market Size, Trade, and Productivity,
Review of Economic Studies, 75: 295-316.

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Please note the use of italics.
References to a source are made in the following way:
In Melitz and Ottaviano (2008), it is shown…
or
Melitz and Ottaviano have shown that….. (see Melitz and Ottaviano, 2008).
5.2. Layout
As a guideline, the size of the thesis written by one student should approximate 60
type written A4 pages (excl. appendix). The page setup should be with 1.5 line
spacing, 12 point Times Roman or Arial type font, 2.5 cm top and bottom margins, 3
cm left and right margins. All pages, except for the list of contents and the appendix,
should be numbered. The first page in the appendix section should contain a list of all
appendices, but the individual pages should not be numbered. If there are two authors,
the thesis should be approximately 90 pages. In special circumstances the advisor can
approve that the maximum length is increased to 70 or 100 pages respectively.
Increases over and above 70/100 pages must be approved by the coordinator of the
MSc specialisation programmes.
Concerning the cover page, see appendix 2 in these guidelines.
6. Time schedule
One or several meetings can be held depending on the individual student’s progress.
The student may ask the academic supervisor for meetings throughout the entire
process. The student should attend such meetings well prepared – for instance by
bringing along or sending beforehand a short written agenda with specific questions
and issues to be discussed at the meeting.
Furthermore, it is recommended that students begin thinking about the thesis already

in the 2nd semester. This is especially important for students planning exchange stays
abroad during 3rd semester. It is strongly recommended to have the first discussion
with a potential supervisor as early as possible.
It is recommended that students stay in Aarhus during the 4th semester. This makes
frequent contact with the supervisor much easier and experience shows that it
increases the likelihood of a successful thesis project. If a student decides to stay
abroad, it is strongly recommended that the student and supervisor make the initial
meeting(s) ‘face to face’.
7. Submission
Deadline for submitting the thesis is 5 months after registration:

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A thesis that is registered before 1 January has to be submitted no later than 1
June.
A thesis that is registered before 1 March has to be submitted no later than 1
August.
A thesis that is registered before 1 April has to be submitted no later than 1
September.
A thesis that is registered before 1 June has to be submitted no later than 1
November.
A thesis that is registered before 1 August has to be submitted no later than 1

January.
A thesis that is registered before 1 October has to be submitted no later than 1
March.

If a student does not meet his/her submission deadline, the student has used the first
of a total of 3 attempts at passing the thesis exam. The student is then automatically
registered for the second attempt and now has 3 months (from the initial submission
deadline) to finish writing the thesis, which has to be based on a modified thesis
synopsis. This means that to some extent the student is allowed to reuse material and
issues analysed in the first period, and therefore it should be realistic for the student to
finalise the thesis within the 3 months extension.
In those cases where the second submission deadline is also not met, the student has
used the second exam attempt and again has to modify the thesis synopsis. Again a
period of 3 months is granted to finalise the thesis, and the student is automatically
registered for the third and final attempt.
In case the first or second deadline is not met, the revised thesis synopsis must be
approved by the academic supervisor and the programme coordinator even though the
student is automatically registered for the next attempt. A specific registration form
for this purpose is available.
The final thesis has to be uploaded using theses@asb and submitted to the Registrar’s
office (room B4) in 2 paper copies together with a copy of the registration receipt
from theses@asb and a filled in copy of the form for handing in master theses. A
thesis containing confidential information (e.g. client material) must be clearly
marked “confidential information” on the front page. The thesis will then not become
available for loan by the public at the library.
8. Exam
The thesis process is concluded with an oral exam (defence) based upon submission.
The exam will take place within 1 month after the submission deadline. Apart from
the student and the academic supervisor, an external examiner will take part in the
exam. The exam takes about 60 minutes. The student will initiate the exam by giving

a short presentation (max. 10-15 minutes) of the most important results of the thesis.

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The first part of the exam will then focus on the more general aspects of the thesis,
and the latter part of the exam on detailed questions.
The thesis layout and written presentation are of utmost importance. The student
should pay considerable attention to avoiding bad English, spelling errors etc. A
badly written presentation of the results may affect the grade negatively even though
the thesis is otherwise good.
A master’s thesis can be written by one or two students. The thesis is concluded with
an individual oral exam (defence) within 1 month after the handing in of the thesis.
The assessment of the thesis is based on the thesis and the individual oral exam.
If there are two authors, each author has the right to individualise their contribution
by highlighting for which parts they are responsible.
In case the grade -3 or 00 is obtained at the defence, a new topic and a synopsis must
be approved by the academic supervisor and the programme coordinator. The
deadline for submitting the thesis is 5 months after registration, but the number of
attempts used still applies.
9. Plagiarism
Academic papers and master theses are generally built upon research carried out by
other scholars. These connections are important elements of academic progress and
should be clearly stated. It is forbidden and discreditable to use the ideas of others
without using references. When the work of others is used directly word by word
(citation), quotation marks should be used, whether the citation stems from written
references or from talks or interviews of other people. When previous research and
ideas are referred to in spirit, references must be given, e.g. (Jones, 1979).
Using material from other sources without using references or citation is called
plagiarism, and in the academic as well as the non-academic world, it is extremely

dishonourable to take the applause from other people’s ideas or work. Cases of
committed or attempted plagiarism, cribbing etc. will promptly be handed over to the
Rector, who will subsequently decide on the type and extent of sanctions.

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Appendix 1. List of faculty members at the Department of Economics offering
supervision for IEC students
Jan Bentzen ()
• Cost Benefit Analysis
Christian Bjørnskov ()
• Economic Growth
• Political Economy
• Foreign Aid
• Social Capital
Anna Piil Damm ()
• Economics of Migration
• Population Economics
• Labour Economics
• Applied Microeconometrics
Tor Eriksson ()
• Empirical analysis of differences in corporate performance
• Management practices (in particular HRM) and how these affect firms'
performance.
• Empirical studies of labour market consequences of changes in firms
(ownership, internal organisation, competitive environment, etc).
Erik Strøjer Madsen ()
• Industrial economics
• Development economics

• International economics
• Corporate performance
• Labour economics
Jørgen Ulff-Møller Nielsen ()
• International Trade and FDI: Theory and Empirics
• Trade Policy: Theory and Empirics
• EU: Integration and Policies
Michael Rosholm ()
• Estimation of treatment effects, design of evaluation studies
• Labour market policy issues
• Integration policy issues

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Davide Sala ()
• Internationalization process of firms, organization of production (FDI,
outsourcing, offshoring…)
• International migration and integration
• Economics of agglomeration
• International trade and trade policy: theory and empirics
Valerie Smeets ()
• Trade and organizations
• Firm growth and productivity
• Trade and productivity
• HR practices and incentives in firms
• Mergers and HR practices
• Careers in organizations
Philipp Schröder ()
• Globalisation, trade, international markets

• Eastern enlargement, FDI, trade, growth and restructuring
• WTO and EU issues, policy reforms and economic impact
• Sectoral issues, impact of policy/regulation on businesses
• Software industry, open source software
Valdemar Smith ()
• Corporate Performance
• Industrial organization
• Economics of strategy
Frédèric Warzynski ()
• Industrial economics
• Economics of strategy (in particular how to align organizational structure with
strategy)
• Personnel economics (analysis of careers and wages within firms)
• Estimation of productivity growth, markups and the effect of competition on
efficiency (eg. the dynamics of competition in new EU member states)
• Outsourcing and efficiency
Nabanita Datta Gupta ()
• Workplace health
• Job satisfaction
• Health disparities and education
• Incentives and retirement behavior

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Mariola Pytlikova ()
• Labour economics
• Immigration, foreign labour
• Labour diversity in firms and performance
• Foreign vs domestic firms, productivity and wages

• Personnel economics, incentives
Astrid Würtz Rasmussen ()
• Family economics and family friendly policies
• Population economics
• Labour economics
• Education
• Evaluation of reforms and labour market policies
• Gender differences in the labour market
Roger Bandick ()
• Multinationals and firm performance
• Foreign acquisition and the effect on labor market
• Trade and firm survival
• Outsourcing and demand for skills
• Foreign ownership, employment and wage inequality
Lars Skipper ()
• Labor market policy evaluation
• Applied microeconometrics
• Firm-based training and productivity

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Appendix 2. Cover page
The following information should appear on the front over of the thesis. The layout is up to the individual
student.

Msc in International Economic Consulting

Author:
Academic Supervisor:

Title
Subtitle

Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University
Month/Year

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Appendix 3. Registration Form ( />
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Appendix 4.

Confidentiality Agreement
between
Company:
and
Student:
in connection with the work of the student with
Paper/report:
In connection with his/her contact with the company, the student will obtain confidential information.
In order to avoid that a third party learns about that information, the following has been agreed upon:
1. The company specific knowledge, which the student acquires in connection with his/her contact
with the company and its representatives, is confidential. This especially applies to products,
methods of production, businesses, goals and strategies.
2. The company specific knowledge, which the student acquires in connection with his/her studies
and the like with no bearing on the contact with the firm, is not included in the confidentiality
agreement.
3. The company is entitled to go through the paper/report before it is handed over to Aarhus School
of Business. However, this is done only to guide the student whether part of the paper or report
contains confidential information. It should be possible for the company to carry out the reading
in less than a week.
The company may agree with the student that papers, which have to be handed over to the library,
are placed on a “closed shelf” in the library of Aarhus School of Business.
4. The company is entitled to a copy of the paper/report.
5. At Aarhus School of Business the papers and reports will be managed and dealt with by the
central registry, the faculty, the external examiner and the library staff. The employees of Aarhus
School of Business have to observe the confidentiality of the administrative and criminal codes.
6. The company has the right to internal use of the results of the paper and the report.

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7. The company may only publish the paper/report and/or part of it subject to agreement with the
student.
Place and date:

_________________________
(Student)

Place and date:

_________________________
(Company)

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Appendix 5. List of Defended Master’s Theses
Supervisor

Student

Jørgen Ulff-Møller
Nielsen
Jan Bentzen

Philipp Meinen

Title

The knowledge capital model – A critical empirical and

theoretical analysis
Morten Bak
Wind Power Expansion and the Danish Energy Policy
2025: A Cost-benefit analysis
Jan Bentzen
Anita Rytter
Samfundsøkonomisk Analyse af en Færgeforbindelse
Sabine Lundgaard
mellem Mols og Århus: - en cost-benefit analyse
udarbejdet for Syddjurs Kommune
Jan Bentzen
Tanja Groth
Socioeconomic evaluation of the Ballen-Brundby
district heating plant.
Christian
Franziska Erlekam
To which extent is water shortage a key determinant for
Bjørnskov
a retarded economic growth? A case study of Mexico
City
Elke Jahn
Eline Theresa Bouwhof International Globalisation – An analysis of how
Holljen
offshoring affects employment and the skill structure in
Denmark
Elke Jahn
Cedric Gorinas
How does Immigration Affect the Danish Labour
Market? - Measuring the Wage and Unemployment
Effects of Immigration for the Host Country: The Case

of Denmark
Valerie Smeets
Niels Kristian Ingerslev Internal Economics of the Firm – Evidence from
Roug
personnel data
Frederic Warzynski Eliane Choquette
Productivity Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment
– Evidence from Denmark
Frederic Warzynski Lija Strasuna
Deflation scenario in Latvia: Estimated deflation depth
and policy implications
Valerie Smeets
Nils Hagen
Immigrant Ties to Their Home Countries: Empirical
Estimation of European Trade Flows
Frederic Warzynski Madalina Andreea
Cartel Deterrence and the Impact of Competition Policy
Radulescu
on Price-Cost Margins – Evidence from the EU
Manufacturing Industry
Philipp Schröder
Peter Lange
On Innovation and Exports – Evidence Using the
Gravity Equation Approach
Philipp Schröder
Ivanka Nikolaeva
Agriculture in transition and Eastern enlargement – the
Ruskova
case of Bulgaria
Michael Rosholm

Kristine NedergaardSubsidiering af solenergi i Danmark – En cost-benefit
Berntsen
tilgang
Nabanita Datta
Stina Sylvest
Optimale SU-systemer
Gupta
Vestergaard

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