MODULE: Dissertation
MODULE CODE: ECON47060 Economics
Module Handbook
2022/2023
PLEASE RETAIN THIS HANDBOOK FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. IT
MAY BE REQUIRED FOR SUBMISSION TO PROFESSIONAL BODIES
WHEN APPLYING FOR EXEMPTION FROM EXAMINATIONS.
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Contents
Contents ...................................................................................................................... 1
Teaching Staff ............................................................................................................. 2
Module Information ..................................................................................................... 2
Teaching Methods and Contact Hours ....................................................................... 2
Teaching Material and Ultra ........................................................................................ 3
Summative Assessment ............................................................................................. 3
Assessment Criteria .................................................................................................... 3
Seeking Help ............................................................................................................... 4
Detailed Syllabus and Reading List ............................................................................ 4
Lecture Topics .......................................................................................................... 13
Reading List .............................................................................................................. 13
Guide to the Ultra site ............................................................................................... 14
NB This handbook is intended for the guidance of students taking this module in
2022/2023. Whilst the details contained in this handbook represent the intentions of
the module teaching staff at the time of writing, it is in the nature of higher education
that some module information, such as syllabus, reading lists and formative
assessments, may be subject to modifications throughout the academic year.
Teaching staff reserve the right to make such minor changes in the matters covered
by this publication and will endeavour to publicise any such changes as widely, and
as much in advance, as possible.
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Teaching Staff
Richard Harris (Module leader)
e-mail: r.i.d.harris@durham.ac.uk
Staff will communicate announcements via e-mails and announcements on Ultra. You
should check your e-mail and Ultra regularly, possibly once a day, but at least every 2
days to check for announcements.
You will have an opportunity to comment on the module via a student module
evaluation questionnaire, which will be made available towards the end of the module.
Module Information
Details of the module outline can be viewed at:
Postgraduate Module Handbook 2022/2023 : Module Description - Durham
University
Purpose and Scope.
To provide students with the necessary training to undertake advanced level research,
and provide a good foundation for undertaking a dissertation at an advanced level.
The dissertation provides students with the opportunity to conduct an in-depth
investigation at an advanced level of an issue which is applicable and relevant to
finance and/or economics and/or accounting.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the course students should have gained an understanding and be
aware of the nature and scope of advanced research in social sciences. Students
should also be able to effectively organise, structure and manage a research project
at an advanced level, including undertaking critical appraisal of relevant literature and
apply critical judgement and discrimination. Finally, students should have developed
the ability to operate independently on a research project and exercise appropriate
judgement in the selection of material.
Teaching Methods and Contact Hours
Lectures will be used to cover general aspects of the dissertation process, including
ethics. Students work independently on their research, analysis and writing up, under
the guidance of a supervisor. Normally the student will meet their supervisor on no
more than three occasions.
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Activity Number Frequency Duration Total
Hours
Lectures 5 1 hour 5
Individual Supervision 3 1 hour 3
Research, Preparation,
Analysis and Writing
592
Total 600
Teaching Material and Ultra
Extensive use will be made of the Blackboard Learn Ultra online learning support
system.
You should consult the module’s Ultra site at least every 2 days.
Summative Assessment
One dissertation (max 12,000 words).
The deadline for submission of your dissertation is electronically, to Ultra no later
than 11.59am UK time on 1 September 2023.
Assessment Criteria
Structure of the Work
• The presence of clear and sound objectives.
• Evidence of the use of an appropriate analytical framework, either theoretical
or empirical.
• Evidence of critical evaluation of the work of other relevant authors, including
recent research where appropriate.
Execution of the Work
• Logical structure and argument.
• Relevance and depth.
Presentation of the Work
• The quality of text, writing and use of tables and figures (including final editing
and correction).
• The quality and relevance of the references.
The pass mark for the dissertation is 50.
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Seeking Help
You should always feel welcome to talk to staff whenever you wish to discuss any
aspect of the module. Please do keep in touch with us. A small misunderstanding
can turn into a big problem if it is not dealt with in a timely manner.
The first port of call for any queries relating to your understanding of the module
material and readings should be the lecturer who taught the relevant session. Please
direct questions about administrative issues, such as the module outline, the exam
structure and formative assessment etc. to the module leader.
If you have problems that relate more generally to your studies across this and other
modules, please contact your academic adviser or year tutor without delay. In serious
cases you should normally also see the Programme Director. Full details of the support
mechanisms that are in place are available in the Programme Handbook.
Detailed Syllabus and Reading List
Choosing a dissertation title
Students should start thinking about a suitable dissertation area early in the academic
year, when working for their final title registration form. It is desirable that this should
form part of the background work needed to choose a suitable dissertation topic.
You will be asked to complete a form which will ask you to provide some information
on what your intended subject/research area of your dissertation is. Please provide as
much detail as possible as you will be allocated an appropriate supervisor based on
the information you provide. Please note that subject areas are limited by numbers
and you should be as specific as you can. Our supervisors can cover a wide variety of
topics and therefore we cannot guarantee that all students will be allocated to a
supervisor with the same area of expertise.
The form will be circulated to students on 3 March 2023 and all students will
need to complete this form by 11.59am UK time on 17 March 2023.
Supervisors will be announced to students on Ultra on Friday 28 April 2023.
After Friday 28 April 2023, you should make contact with your supervisor for the first
meeting. Supervisors may post on their office doors times when they are available for
dissertation supervision (please do not expect your supervisor to be available
whenever a little doubt crosses your mind: she/he is not a full-time supervisor!) It is
your responsibility to arrange for this meeting and not your supervisor’s responsibility.
It is also important that you meet your supervisor as soon as possible as she/he will
need to see evidence that you have conducted some preliminary investigation (for
these look further down) and have identified feasible research question(s). If the
evidence is not there the supervisor may wish to see you again, hence allow for that
possibility and contact them early on.
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Following the above meeting with your supervisor and by (23 June 2023), you will
need to complete your Dissertation Final Title Form (this form will be available from 28
April until 23 June 2023) and this submission will be passed onto your supervisor for
approval.
We would normally expect you to meet your supervisor on no more than three
occasions in total during the dissertation process: the first meeting described above
for the title approval and two further meetings. Please keep in mind that your
supervisor will not be available for the whole of the summer. She/he may well have
commitments outside Durham and may occasionally take a break too. It is your
responsibility to check your supervisor’s availability, and to schedule your work around
his/her availability (as it would be difficult for any supervisor to reschedule their plans
according to the plans of a number of different supervisees).
To make the meetings with your supervisor as useful as possible to you, you must go
to meetings well prepared. Each dissertation is different, depending on the nature of
the work involved, but there are some issues that you should address right from the
beginning if you are planning an empirical investigation. This is a guide on the
preparation of the three meetings mentioned
Meeting 1: (date to be confirmed with your supervisor but before 23th June 2023).
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss your intended Final Title form submission for
approval (it is your responsibility to arrange this meeting, make sure you do not leave
it for the last day, as your supervisor may feel that they need to see you again as more
may be needed to be done from your side before she/he approves the title). For this
meeting, you need to provide your supervisor with the following :
• At least two key papers, normally a seminal paper and a very recent one. Print
them and have them with you in the meeting to briefly guide supervisors through
if need be
• Draft bullet point research question(s) and a draft short time plan for completion
of the thesis
• A suggested methodology, normally a paper reference (if the paper you are
following is other than the recent one you have identified) and a clear & short
methodology description. An example is: I am planning to use the methodology
employed by xxxx (2009), with the addition of a test for xxxxx. This is basically
an event study and…)
• Information and data requirements: what sources are you going to use? You
should check your sources of information and know what kind of information or
data you can obtain. There is no point in having a very interesting research
question but not enough information to even attempt to answer it. In other words
provide evidence that the data for your project is available (Market data, Prices,
Accounting data, MV’s and all other data).
After this meeting you will normally see your supervisor on two further occasions:
Meeting 2: It is your responsibility to arrange for this meeting as well (i.e. date to be
arranged between you and the supervisor, it is recommended that this meeting takes
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place within a week after the final title submission deadline). Your supervisor will not
see you unless you come prepared. Prepared means that at least two days before the
meeting you email your supervisor with a bullet point memo (maximum 2 pages,
preferably less) with:
• The dissertation title and author’s name
• A motivation of the study and key refined research questions. In other words
Aim and objectives of the dissertation: exactly what research questions are you
seeking to answer? You cannot just research in a general area; you need to
have a short list of very narrowly defined questions to investigate.
• A refined methodology including reference(s), together with motivation for
selecting the particular methodology (bullet points, up to two lines each)
• The outline of the dissertation. Force yourself to write down a precise outline
for your dissertation. Ideally, there should be a beginning, middle and an end.
The beginning will typically be a clear exposition of the issues and questions
that you are going to address and why, together with a survey of relevant theory
and literature (sell your work! make it sound exciting!). The middle should be
your original work (either theory or application) and here you should also
explain the methodology used and why, specify the information and data used.
The end should present the findings of your analysis, discuss whether or not
they support the theory and are comparable to other similar studies, how they
help you in answering your initial research questions and where can we go from
here. A concluding chapter should summarise and draw general conclusions
(once again sell your contribution!).
• An updated work plan (1/3 page maximum): Decide, for example, by which
dates you will: complete the review of the literature, complete information/data
collection, complete the empirical work, write-up the results of your analysis,
complete specific chapters, etc.
• A data description: type of data (e.g. Prices, MV’s etc), sample size and period,
data frequency etc. Make sure that where appropriate you have already
transformed your data in logarithmic return form, you have searched for outliers,
volatility clustering etc.
• A motivation for the selection of data (bullet points, up to two lines each)
In this meeting you should also agree with your supervisor the date of the next
meeting.
Meeting 3: As mentioned above you will have agreed the date of this meeting with
your supervisor during the 2nd meeting, (again it is the two of you that will decide the
date and will have to stick with it, it is advisable that this is as early as possible for the
reasons mentioned below).
If you have problems between the 2nd and the 3rd meeting, you will be able to see
different academic members of staff each or every other week for academic issues.
We expect you to have done a good preparation on the literature beforehand (either
through your Research Project or if you wish to change topic during the period after
the end of your exams), and to start your empirical work straight away, and complete
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it preferably by the end of July, giving you enough time for feedback, corrections,
writing up etc.
Please note that you are required to be in Durham throughout your period of
studies, including the dissertation period (DO NOT MAKE ANY TRAVEL PLANS).
If you have to be away during the summer from Durham that must be after the final
title submission and provided you have attended the required number of dissertation
lectures and you have your supervisors agreement, and you must inform the Learning
and Teaching Team using the Absence from Durham Form. In addition, if the period
you need to be away for is more than two weeks, you must discuss this absence and
apply in writing to the MSc Programme Director, giving reasons for your request,
BEFORE you commit yourself to travel.
Working Away from Durham - additional guidance
All students, where possible, should remain in Durham whilst completing their
dissertation. However we recognise that for some students they may need to go
outside of the UK to collate data for their projects, and equally may be required to work
overseas if completing an Internship.
Therefore any registered student who intends to travel abroad for their research, or
within the UK if the trip involves an overnight stay, must complete the following two
forms, which should be requested at least 3 weeks prior to travel;
• Request for Absence Form - this is available by clicking here and will need
confirmation from your Programme Director.
• If the request for absence is granted students will then need to complete an
Individual Fieldwork/miscellaneous travel authorisation form
(accessed and completed electronically via the University’s VIATOR system.
Your Individual Fieldwork form is submitted electronically to the web address
above and guidance notes on how to use the VIATOR system are available at;
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/procurement/local/insurance/GuidanceNotesf
orTravellers.pdf
It is important to note that travel insurance cover is not automatically given when you
travel therefore it is essential that you complete the online process. You will then
receive either a notification on your Viator page and by email that your insurance cover
is in place, or a rejection advising the reason why cover could not be granted. For
those students on a Tier 4 visa, the Learning and Teaching Office will also inform the
Immigration Unit of your absence and will advise you if they foresee any problems.
Information relating to absences from your Programme for International Students can
be found at Student Immigration Service - Durham University
Please note that if you travel without being granted permission you will not be
insured by the University’s Insurance and could be in violation of your Visa
restrictions

Working away from Durham: AppsAnywhere
AppsAnywhere is a service offered by CIS that allows Windows applications to be
executed on almost any device or Operating System using the AppsAnywhere web
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page. To access this service, open your web browser and navigate to:
appsanywhere.durham.ac.uk. Log in to the site using your CIS username and
password.
Once successfully logged in and validated (only on Windows/macOS) you will be
presented with all the applications you are allowed to run, the list of applications will
depend on who you are, what device you are on, and your geographical location (some
apps are only available while on the University Campus, some only in the UK, others
anywhere in the world).
For more details and a step-by-step guidance please follow this link:
Computing and Information Services : AppsAnywhere - Durham University
The supervision process
As mentioned, you are normally expected to meet your supervisor up to three times.
If however you have any problems in between these meetings you will be able to see
different academic members of staff each week for academic issues, or selected
PhD students only if your problem is related to data or statistical packages. The
Learning and Teaching Office will prepare a schedule that will be circulated to you
when the time is appropriate.
The Role of the Supervisor
Students can reasonably expect their supervisor to:
• Help in defining the project, clarify objectives, and define a synopsis
• Discuss introductory reading and possible sources
• Discuss progress
• Help resolve specific difficulties
• Comment on the work plan and the list of contents
• Comment on one draft section only (eg your methodology)
• Advise on questions of content and presentation
It is NOT reasonable to expect supervisors to:
• Spend a large amount of time helping to find sources and data
• Plan the dissertation and select methodology
• Resolve IT problems (including package problems)
• Proof-read the dissertation.
Other specified academic staff should only be approached in cases where there are
problems at the specified times and dates, while specified PhD students should be
approached for data and programming (i.e. statistical) problems and for no other
reason, at the specified times and dates.
Students should assume full responsibility for the progress and completion of the
dissertation within the stipulated time limit set by the School. Students will have the
opportunity to receive feedback on one draft chapter. The final version of the
dissertation is their own work, and it is NOT the responsibility of the supervisor to
approve it.
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You are reminded that students are required to be in Durham throughout the period
of studies, including the dissertation period. If students have to be away from
Durham during the summer, they must inform the Learning and Teaching Office. If
they need to be away for more than two weeks, they must discuss this absence with
their supervisor and apply in writing for permission to the Programme Director, giving
reasons for the request, BEFORE they commit themselves to travel.
Word Length
The dissertation MUST NOT EXCEED 12,000 WORDS. Deviation from this
regulation on length will be penalised in marking and staff will only mark up to the
word limit. The dissertation must be typed using double spacing. It should contain a
title page giving Title, Student Anonymous Code, College, Degree and Date. It
should also contain a Contents Page, and all pages should be numbered. A template
coversheet has been provided on Ultra.
The word count should include all the text (plus endnotes, footnotes, executive
summary and abstract), but exclude the contents page, title pages,
acknowledgements, diagrams, tables, bibliography, list of references and
appendices (all other text if not mentioned explicitly here will count towards that word
count, abstract, executive summary etc.). Very occasionally it may be appropriate to
present, in an appendix, material which does not properly belong in the main body of
the assessment but which some students wish to provide for the sake of
completeness. Any appendices will not have a role in the assessment - the
examiners are under no obligation to read appendices and they do not form part of
the word count.
Most word processing packages will provide word counts.
Style and Format
Badly presented dissertations will be penalised. Students are requested to pay
particular attention to the following points concerning the arrangement of the
dissertation:
(i) Divide the material into Chapters, which may be divided into a number of
sections. Chapter 1 should be a brief introduction to the issues examined in the
dissertation and include explicit aims and objectives of the dissertation; the final
chapter should provide a summary of findings and general concluding remarks.
(ii) All Tables and Figures should be numbered and placed in the appropriate
position in the text, rather than at the end of chapters or dissertation. The numbering
should refer to the relevant chapter; for example, Table 3.1 would refer to Table 1 of
Chapter 3. Give all Tables and Figures a title and refer to them in the text: remember
that data never speak for themselves. Also remember to provide an explanation of
the meaning of any symbol or abbreviation used, and specify the source of
information.
(iii) Logic, clarity and precision in the written text are important. It is wisest to
avoid personal pronouns, gerunds, exclamation marks, clichés, and excessive use of
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capital letters and note form. Care should be taken with grammar, spelling and
punctuation. For guidance on writing style, see:
Fowler, HW and FG Fowler (1984) Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Omega.
Gowers, E (1986) The Complete Plain Words. HMSO, 3rd edition.
Turabian, KL (1987) A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and
Dissertations. Heinemann.
Spell-checks should be run on the work.
References and Footnotes
When referring to publications in the text, you can either give the date of publication
in parentheses after the name of the author, or put both the name and date in
parentheses separated by a comma. For example: "Miller (1969) showed that ..."; or
"Empirical evidence shows that … (Miller, 1969; and Modigliani, 1972)”. Further
details of the publications referred to in the text must be given in a separate list of
references (see below). You may also give a page number after the date, if
appropriate. Always give the precise sources of all quotations. Students should
note that the General Regulations of the University now include the following:
"In formal examinations and all assessed work prescribed in degree, diploma and
certificate regulations, candidates should take care to acknowledge the work and
opinions of others and avoid any appearance of representing them as their own.
Unacknowledged quotation or close paraphrasing of other people's writing,
amounting to the presentation of other persons' thoughts or writings as one's own, is
plagiarism and will be penalised. In extreme cases, plagiarism may be classed as a
dishonest practice under Section IV, 2(a) (viii) of the General Regulations and may
lead to expulsion. The facilitation of plagiarism through publication may also be
classed as a dishonest practice under Section IV, 2(a) (ix) of the General
Regulations and may lead to expulsion."
Details that may interrupt the flow of the text can be placed in footnotes, which
should be flagged at the appropriate point in the text by a superscript. Number the
footnotes consecutively through each chapter. Most word processing packages will
provide automatic numbering. It is preferable to use footnotes placed at the bottom
of the appropriate page, than endnotes placed at the end of each chapter.
Students should provide a list of references, arranged in alphabetical order, by
author at the end of your dissertation. These should be written in a consistent style.
The following is an example:
(i) For articles in Journals:
NAME, A (Year of Publication), “Title of Article,” Journal, Volume No.,
page start-end.
Notice that the title immediately follows the year of publication and the
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name of the Journal is underlined
(ii) For Books or pamphlets:
NAME, A (Year of Publication), Title of Book. Place of publication:
publisher.
Notice that in this case the title of the book is underlined.
(iii) For web-based sources:
Please seek guidance from your supervisor.
Dishonest Practices
The Dissertation has to be the student’s own written work. Students need to be
meticulous in acknowledging pieces of work and the opinion of others.
Unacknowledged quotation or close paraphrasing of other people’s writing,
amounting to the presentation of other persons’ thoughts or writings as one’s own, is
plagiarism and will be penalised.
The Business School will check students’ work to ensure that plagiarism or collusion
has not occurred. Plagiarism may be classed as a dishonest practice under
Section IV of the University General Regulations and can lead to expulsion.
Misconduct in research is also classed as dishonest practice. Misconduct is the
falsifying of evidence, data or results presented in a dissertation or thesis, or the use
of unethical research methods. These will be treated as major offences under
disciplinary procedures, and may lead to expulsion. If this is identified after
examination, the University may strip University award holders of their qualifications.
Students are therefore required to retain all primary data, including completed
questionnaires, for a minimum of 6 months after submission. This includes all raw
data (e.g. in form of interview transcripts, financial data in spreadsheets used for
analysis etc).
For further information on plagiarism, see the following link for guidance – all
students are required to complete the activity on this link.
Referencing and how to avoid plagiarism (sharepoint.com)
Submission Deadline
The final deadline for submission of your dissertation to Ultra is (11.59am UK time
on 1 September 2023).
Where a candidate is unable to submit the dissertation due to illness or other
reasonable cause, permission for an extension to this deadline must be requested in
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writing as soon as possible but in any case prior to the submission date. Further
information on how to request an extension can be found here.
Please note that due to the strict marking deadlines on the dissertation, an
extension on your dissertation may affect your graduation date.
It is the student's responsibility to ensure that sufficient time is allowed before
the deadline for typing, corrections, printing and binding.
Please note that IT problems are not usually considered a valid reason for an
extension or a late submission.
Submission Guidelines and Accompanying Documents
This is an electronic submission only. All dissertations must be submitted to
TURNITIN via Ultra on your relevant dissertation sites by the deadline noted above.
Students should retain a copy themselves in case an oral examination is required.
Your submission should include all appendices, references etc.
Copies of any data and research material and data which support your dissertation
MUST be submitted to business.masters@durham.ac.uk by the dissertation
submission deadline. If your research material and data are too large to be sent
by email then you MUST keep this data until after your graduation date in the
event that this is requested by your supervisor during the marking process.
Other Documentation to be Submitted
1. Submit research ethics form online no later than 11.59am UK time on 30
June 2023:
https://durhamuniversity.sharepoint.com/teams/researchoffice/ethics/Page
s/DUBS.aspx
PLEASE NOTE THAT A STUDENT IS NOT CONSIDERED TO HAVE
SUBMITTED THEIR DISSERTATION UNLESS THEY HAVE ALSO
SUBMITTED ALL NECESSARY ETHICS DOCUMENTATION (IN
ACCORDANCE WITH SCHOOL POLICY).
2. At the Graduate School Committee held on 25 January 1996 a resolution
was passed with regard to the right of examiners to investigate sources of
data. This resolution was endorsed by the Teaching and Learning
Committee held on 20 February 1996. It is, therefore, necessary for the
School to have access to research material for any piece of assessed
work. In the light of this, when submitting assessed work that uses data,
each student should submit a CD containing the data files and the
estimations that have been used for that assessed work (including the
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program codes). The files must be accompanied by a full explanation of
their content.
3. You must ensure that you keep all your research data for a minimum of
three months after the hand-in for your dissertation. This includes
recordings (on tape or in digital format), any notes taken during interviews
or observations you have carried out, all returned questionnaires, and all
SPSS/Excel data-sets, etc.
Lecture Topics
The lectures cover background information on the research process and a series of
examples of how to conduct research in different areas relevant to economics and
finance.
1. How to choose a research question (Week 1)
2. Literature review (Week 2)
3. Choosing a research design and obtaining data (Week 3)
4. Analysing your data (including interpretation of results) and writing your
dissertation (Week 4)
5. Brief introduction to Stata/EViews and panel data (Week 5)
Reading List
Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019) Research Methods for
Business Students. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearson
Cameron, A.C. and Trivedi, P.K. (2022) Microeconometrics Using Stata, 2nd ed.,
Vols. 1 and 2.
Wooldridge, J.M. (2010) Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. 2nd
ed. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press
Stock, J.H. and Watson, M.W. (2019) Introduction to Econometrics, Global Edition.
4th ed. Harlow: Pearson
Cochrane, J.H. (n.d.) Writing Tips for Ph.D. Students. Retrieved from
https://www.fma.org/assets/docs/membercontent/writing_cochrane.pdf
Also worth consulting the following (and/or use Eviews documentation that comes
with the software):
Griffiths, W.E., Hill, R.C. and Lim, G.C. (2019). Using EViews for Principles of
Econometrics, 5th edition , John Wiley & Sons
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Guide to the Ultra site
Start Here –
Module
Information
Welcome to the Module
Staff Contacts
Module outline and Module Handbook
Reading List
Assessment Summative Assessment Information
Dissertation Submission Guidance
Assessment Criteria
Dissertation Submission Points
Referencing and
Plagiarism
Students must complete the activity on the ‘Referencing and
How to Avoid Plagiarism’ link