mit thesis economics

Dissertations/Theses: MIT

• How to write a dissertation/thesis

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Dissertations/Theses at MIT | Non-MIT | How to write

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• MIT Thesis FAQ View topics such as specifications, submitting to DSpace, copyright, holds, availability, and fees.

MIT doctoral dissertations and masters theses

• Paper and microfiche: Search the library catalog, Search Our Collections .
• DSpace does NOT contain the complete collection of MIT theses.
• Use Search Our Collections to search for all MIT theses.
• Theses are received one month after degrees are granted in February, June, and September.
• Additional information may be found at Thesis Access and Availability FAQ .
• Theses may not be borrowed from the Distinctive Collections Reading Room .
• PDF copies may be purchased through the Distinctive Collections Request System . See Requesting Materials for complete information.
• Theses may be viewed in person in the Distinctive Collections Reading Room .
• Institutions may purchase PDF copies through the Distinctive Collections Request System . See Requesting Materials for complete information.

View Online:

•   MIT theses in DSpace are available to anyone, for free, as printable full-text PDF files.

Order PDF Copies:

• For theses not in DSpace, PDF copies may be purchased through the  Distinctive Collections Request System . See  Requesting Materials  for complete information.
• See pricing information and contact Distinctive Collections with any questions. 

Prepare and Submit Your MIT Thesis:  

• How to write a dissertation or thesis
• Manage your references
• MIT Thesis FAQ
• Specifications for Thesis Preparation and Submission
• Add your thesis to DSpace: Electronic submission information

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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

• The largest single repository of graduate dissertations and theses
• 3.8 million graduate works, with 1.7 million in full text
• Includes work by authors from more than 3,000 graduate schools and universities the world over, and covers every conceivable subject. 
• Next: Non-MIT >>
• Last Updated: Oct 19, 2022 7:33 AM
• URL: https://libguides.mit.edu/diss

Undergraduate Program

Studying economics at MIT

We are proud to offer one of the most rigorous undergraduate economics programs in the US. No matter where you want to go next, our program will provide a challenging intellectual environment to help you build essential skills for a wide variety of fulfilling and interesting career choices.

Majoring in economics

We offer three majors:

• Economics Major (14-1) — Explores theoretical and applied topics in microeconomics and macroeconomics, provides training in statistics and econometrics, and offers advanced courses spanning a range of fields
• Mathematical Economics Major (14-2) — Begins with foundational training in microeconomics and macroeconomics before focusing intensively on technical and mathematical subjects
• Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science (6-14) — Offered jointly with Electrical Engineering and Computer Science , applies methods derived from economic analysis, computing, optimization, and data science to real-world challenges.

Minoring or concentrating in economics 

By completing a minor, you can explore the field of economics and combine these skills with your primary major. The Economics minor consists of six subjects arranged into three levels of study.

Economics courses can be used to complete the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) concentration requirement . We offer two concentration options that each require three subjects:

• Economics and SHASS — Provides a background in economics fundamentals 
• Development Economics — Focused on how economics can be used to shape policies designed to remedy massive and persistent world poverty

Research and career development 

Research opportunities.

We believe that experience with actual economic research is a vital component of MIT Economics training. In addition to completing a thesis, Economics majors can gain experience through:

• Required Project Lab, with focused study of an applied economics question
• The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), where you can hone your research skills by working directly with faculty members on their ongoing research projects
• Summer employment experiences on research projects directed by faculty members in the department, or through summer internships in government, industry, or research organization

Undergraduate Economics Association 

The Undergraduate Economics Association (UEA) is a group of undergraduates interested in economics who meet regularly to support academic endeavors, improve employment opportunities, and expand networks within and beyond MIT. They provide peer support and host various events and opportunities over the course of the academic year.

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Full Text of Dissertations and Theses Now Available

//libraries.mit.edu/get/dissertations

Before 1997, many theses will only have abstracts, but the full text collection is growing continuously.

Need an MIT thesis?

MIT dissertations and theses are NOT included in the ProQuest database. Find the thesis you are looking for in the Barton catalog (search by author, supervisor, department and more):

//libraries.mit.edu/barton-theses

Most MIT theses are available full text from 2004 onwards, with selected earlier theses available full text as well.

If you have any questions or comments about this new resource, please Ask Us!

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Browse Course Material

Course info, instructors.

• Prof. Esther Duflo
• Prof. Benjamin Olken

Departments

As taught in.

• Developmental Economics
• Microeconomics

Learning Resource Types

Development economics, research proposal.

The maximum length of the write-up should be 3 pages single-spaced (but less is fine). The goal of this research proposal is to give you a “jump start” on working on a topic that you could (ideally) work on for your second-year paper (or a future paper for your dissertation). If you are in the second year, it is okay for you to talk about the topic that you will be working on for your second-year paper. It should be development though… (but as you know development is a big tent). 

You can co-author the proposal with any student(s) in the program. However, we would like to  see as many proposals as people in the class. 

Note that the deadline is the last possible date that we are allowed to accept assignments under end  of term regulations, so we will not be able to provide extensions. Please therefore budget your time wisely. 

The proposal should include 

•  A clear statement of your research question       
• Brief motivation of your research question       a. Why is this question important?        b. What is the policy implication?        c. What (if any) economic theory it is testing? 
• (Short) Review of the relevant theoretical and/or empirical literature. 
• Description of your proposed empirical strategy and proposed (realistic) data sources.        a. You can propose an RCT where you’d collect the data, as long as it is realistic for a PhD student (not necessarily in the scope of a second year paper).        b. If you project is empirical, write-out clearly and in detail what are the proposed        regression specifications.  
• Clear discussion of your contribution to the prior literature.       
• Clear discussion of what challenges you expect to encounter. 

Think of this project as the shell of a research paper that contains everything but your findings: you will motivate the question; place it in the literature; and lay out your data sources (if any) and your research design. We do not expect to see any preliminary results (for empirical papers) or fully fledged model (for theory paper).

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• DSpace@MIT Home
• MIT Libraries

This collection of MIT Theses in DSpace contains selected theses and dissertations from all MIT departments. Please note that this is NOT a complete collection of MIT theses. To search all MIT theses, use MIT Libraries' catalog .

MIT's DSpace contains more than 58,000 theses completed at MIT dating as far back as the mid 1800's. Theses in this collection have been scanned by the MIT Libraries or submitted in electronic format by thesis authors. Since 2004 all new Masters and Ph.D. theses are scanned and added to this collection after degrees are awarded.

MIT Theses are openly available to all readers. Please share how this access affects or benefits you. Your story matters.

If you have questions about MIT theses in DSpace, [email protected] . See also Access & Availability Questions or About MIT Theses in DSpace .

If you are a recent MIT graduate, your thesis will be added to DSpace within 3-6 months after your graduation date. Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Permissions

MIT Theses may be protected by copyright. Please refer to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Note that the copyright holder for most MIT theses is identified on the title page of the thesis.

Theses by Department

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• Department of Economics
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• Department of Humanities
• Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
• Department of Materials Science and Engineering
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Department of Ocean Engineering
• Department of Physics
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Urban Studies and Planning
• Engineering Systems Division
• Harvard-MIT Program of Health Sciences and Technology
• Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
• Media Arts & Sciences
• Operations Research Center
• Program in Real Estate Development
• Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies
• Science, Technology & Society
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• Supply Chain Management
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• Technology and Policy Program

Collections in this community

Doctoral theses, graduate theses, undergraduate theses, recent submissions.

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The MIT thesis template in LaTeX

The latex template.

The current MIT thesis template was developed in 2023, using up-to-date LaTeX coding, to meet the current formatting requirements of the MIT Libraries. The title and abstract pages are automatically laid out from information provided by the user. This template includes options to use a variety of fonts, and it is compatible with either pdfTeX or unicode engines such as luaLaTeX. When using LaTeX formats dated November 2022 or later, the resulting pdf file meets the PDF/A-2b archivability standard. A standard TeX Live installation includes all other packages required by the template.

• Documentation: Documentation for the template is available in pdf format here .
• Download: The most current LaTeX files for this template are distributed through the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN): https://ctan.org/pkg/mitthesis Download
• Overleaf.com: The CTAN template is also present in Overleaf.com's template gallery, here . Learn more about Overleaf at MIT .
• Gallery of fonts: Sample theses in the predefined font sets are available here .
• Sample title pages: Sample title pages for various numbers of authors and degrees are here .

This template was written by John Lienhard at the request of the MIT Libraries.

Specifications for MIT theses

The formatting requirements for MIT theses are set by the MIT Libraries, as described at this url: http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/thesis-specs/ . Questions regarding these specifications should be directed to [email protected] .

The original LaTeX 2.09 template was written by Stephen Gildea in the late 1980s (also in CTAN, here ). That template was edited by many later students, leading to the files archived here.

LaTeX has changed greatly since the original MIT thesis template was written. LaTeX 2.09 was replaced by LaTeX2e in 1994. New engines were developed, particularly pdfTeX during the 1990s and Unicode-aware engines in the decades that followed. Many packages and fonts were developed to accompany the original platform, particularly after 2000; and major updates to the LaTeX kernel began in 2018. Over the years, the MIT Libraries have changed the required format several times, especially as electronic thesis submission has become the norm. The original template served MIT well; but by the early 2020s, it was substantially out of date. That situation motivated the creation of this new template.

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Doctoral Thesis: Safe and Ethical Implementation of Intelligent Systems

32-G449 (Patil/Kiva)

By: Zheng Dai

Thesis Supervisor(s): David Gifford

• Date: Tuesday, July 2
• Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
• Category: Thesis Defense
• Location: 32-G449 (Patil/Kiva)

Additional Location Details:

Abstract: In the year 2024, the prospect of solving human level tasks using intelligent systems is no longer the subject of science fiction. As these systems play an increasingly critical role in our day-to-day lives, it becomes ever more important to consider the safety and ethics surrounding their implementation. This is a multifaceted challenge spanning multiple disciplines, involving questions at the regulatory, engineering, and theoretical levels. This thesis discusses three projects that span these levels. We first explore the problem of tracing causal influence from training data to outputs of generative models. In our exploration we encounter the phenomenon of unattributability, and consider its scientific and regulatory implications. We next tackle the challenge of designing a high diversity library of therapeutics that is depleted of dangerous off-target binders using intelligent systems, developing a suite of inference and optimization tools along the way. Finally, we derive universal bounds for the robustness of image classifiers that inform us of how safe these intelligent systems can be in theory. Together, these projects present a multilevel overview of the safe and ethical implementation of intelligent systems.

• Email: [email protected]

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