Bachelor & Master Theses

Agricultural policy and institutional change

1. Activity of the BVVG: Is an economic assessment possible?
2. Do inferior agricultural products exist? The role of economic development, competition on land and agricultural policies for the development of grain production in China
3. The role of sub-national governments (e.g. Bundesländer, US states, provinces) in agricultural policy formation.

(Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Herzfeld)

4. Contract farming and mechanization of cotton harvesting in Central Asia
5. Factors affecting adoption of nutrient management planning in irrigated areas of Central Asia
6. Evolution of the idea of food self-sufficiency the context of a transitional economy: Literature review
7. Land tenure security and agricultural productivity in Central Asia: A comparative analysis of agricultural reforms

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Nodir Djanibekov)

8. Comparative analysis of land reforms among the post-Soviet countries
9. Economics of land auctions in the post-Soviet countries (web scraping and econometric analysis)
10. The effects of decentralization reforms on local budget revenues in Ukraine

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Vasyl Kvartiuk)

Rural development

11. Farm exit strategies in Southeastern Europe – is rural non-farm employment a sustainable alternative source for rural livelihoods? (field study in selected country)
12. Farm commercialization strategies – barriers and facilitators for smallholders’ access to agricultural markets (field study in selected Southeastern European country)

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Judith Möllers)

13. Impact of off-farm income on productivity and crop diversification of smallholders in Kyrgyzstan
14. Informal rules of water management and farmers’ coping strategies to droughts
15. Experience of weather shocks and risks preferences of smallholders in Kyrgyzstan

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Nodir Djanibekov)

16. Perceived quality of life – Are there differences between rural and urban populations? (literature review or empirical analysis using survey data)
17. My home, my car, my boat – Relative deprivation and conspicuous consumption in rural areas (empirical analysis using survey data)
18. Job satisfaction and its determinants among agricultural workers (empirical analysis using survey data)

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Antje Jantsch​​​​​​​)

Migration

19. The role of norms for migration and remitting decisions: review of literature and empirical evidence for South-eastern Europe (or another region of interest).
20. The role of norms for (rural) return migration in a South-eastern European country (e.g. Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova): gender perspective on return, reintegration and returnees’ potential to become agents of change.

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Judith Möllers​​​​​​​/Dr. Thomas Dufhues)

21. Return migration narratives – Rural return migrants as positive or negative role models in Southeastern Europe (literature review and/or field study at country level)
22. Return migrants as agents of change in the rural economy – Effects of return migrants on farm and non-farm business activities in Southeastern Europe (field study at country level)
23. Staying when everybody else is leaving – Non-migration in high out-migration countries in Southeastern Europe (field study at country level)
24. Normative and comparative reference groups of rural non-migrants (field study at country level) within the migration/return migration nexus in Southeastern Europe (field study at country level)

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Thomas Dufhues/Dr. Judith Möllers​​​​​​​)

25. Where to go? – Multinomial regression analysis of destination choices of internal migrants in rural Kazakhstan (desktop study with survey data)

(Co-supervisor: Dr. Thomas Dufhues)