All of our seniors pursue independent research projects spanning many different areas of Economics, and we are proud of the research they produce.  Many also present their work in the spring at the Mount David Summit or the Maine Economics Conference. Below is a sample of student work from recent years.

Class of 2025

You can find a sample of recent thesis posters through the link here (Bates Login Required).

Class of 2021

Quinn Kiernat	Outstanding fall thesis presentation, by faculty vote	Do Immigrants “Bring” Crime? An Empirical Analysis of U.S. Counties
Olivia McCulloch	Best winter thesis presentation, by faculty vote	What are the Long-Term Effects of the Spanish Influenza on Innovation in the Drug & Medical Industry in the United States? (Video)
John Rex	Received Stangle Family Award for a Senior	A Half-Full Glass: Using Google Trends and Natural Language Processing to Examine Investor Behavior in Response to Big-Tech News (Video)
Maddie Sirois	Runner-up for best winter thesis presentation, by faculty vote	Employer-Funded Transportation Benefits and Modal Choice: A Study of Puget Sound Commuters (Video)
Sam Stoner	Outstanding fall thesis presentation, by faculty vote	The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Air Quality (Video)

Class of 2020

Julien Lewin	Nominated outstanding thesis by faculty	The Effect of Prescription Opioid Use on Labor Market Conditions (Thesis)
James MacDonald	Nominated outstanding thesis by faculty	Financial Market Stress: Measuring Spillover Effects Across Countries (Thesis) (Poster)
Christopher Simard	Nominated outstanding thesis by faculty	Bike-Sharing Systems and the Transportation Modal Choice Problem: A Natural Experiment in New York City (Thesis) (Poster)
Abdul Tawab Ajm Safi	Received Stangle Award for Best Senior Thesis	Learning to Beat the Random Walk: Using Machine Learning to Predict Changes in Exchange Rates (Thesis) (Poster) (Code)

Class of 2019

Zofia Ahmad	Awarded Honors; Presented at the Maine Economics Conference	The Road to Riches- Quantifying the Persistent Effects of the Silk Roads Network
Lucy Faust	Presented at the Maine Economics Conference	The Real Price to Pay for Waterfront Property: The Impact of Flood Zones and Spatial Proximity to Water on Property Prices in York County, Maine
Anastasia Leff	Voted Best Capstone by students	The Impact of Interrupted Education on Earnings: The Case of China’s Cultural Revolution
Adah Lindquist	Voted Best Capstone by students	Assessing Economic Growth and Income Inequality in the Fine Art Market
Nicholas Lynch	Awarded Honors; Presented at the Maine Economics Conference; Received Stangle Award for Best Senior Thesis	Explaining the Global Interest Rate Decline
Emily Lyons	Voted Best Capstone by faculty and students; Presented at the Maine Economics Conference	The Long-Term Effects of Christian Missions on Family Formation in sub-Saharan Africa
Alexia Sahue	Voted Best Capstone voted by faculty and students; Presented at the Maine Economics Conference	Does Education Empower Women? Evidence from Zimbabwe
Bennett Saltzman	Published in Economics Letters	A Machine Learning Approach to Identifying Different Types of Uncertainty