Theses

Prerequisites

For Bachelor students:

• Successful participation in an advanced seminar qualifies for the acceptance of a Bachelor thesis (6 ECTS).

• Students who have taken an advanced seminar in the field of finance (chairs of Elsas/Glaser/Richter/Riordan) will be accepted preferentially.

For Master students:

• The requirements of the respective examination regulations apply.

Application

Please use our application form (PDF, 88 KB) to apply. Please include a short cover letter (max. 10 sentences) as well as a recent transcript of records. Furthermore, please enclose

• a letter of motivation in which you briefly, but as precisely as possible, outline your areas of interest. Please refrain from general statements as "I don't know any special field of interest". You can orientate yourself on the contents of your studies (lectures or advanced seminar) or be inspired by the theses already completed.

OR

• an exposé with a short outline (a few sentences) of your own proposed topic. Therein, address the question(s) to be investigated, the methods (data) and the relevant literature. This also applies to theses written in cooperation with a company.

• Please send your complete application by email to the IFB: Theses.

• We will inform you regarding acceptance or rejection of your application no later than 2 weeks after receipt of your application. In case of acceptance we will assign you a topic and a supervisor.

• The thesis at the IFB can generally be started any time though the registration of theses usually starts at the beginning of the month. Please note the application deadlines.

• The deadline is determined by the corresponding completion time (8 weeks for Bachelor's theses and 22 weeks for Master's theses).

• Before the thesis is registered at the ISC, each student prepares an exposé (max. 2 pages). This is generally done after agreement on a topic. The exposé must be handed in to the respective supervisor at the latest one week after agreement on the topic. In consultation with the supervisor the draft is then revised and extended if necessary.

• Upon agreement on the final topic, the thesis is registered at the examination office.

• Theses can be written in English or German (English is preferred).
• Please follow our formal requirements - if you have any questions, please consult your supervisor.

• A thesis colloquium is held on the first Wednesday of each month. The colloquium takes place after about half of the processing time. Students present the status of their work for a maximum of 30 minutes, the presentation is held in English or German. During the colloquium, structure of the work and methodological approach are explained in particular. The subsequent discussion helps to identify problems in dealing with the topic and possible alternative solutions. The colloquium is rounded off by a short insight into the current state of work and possible open questions. Aim of the colloquium is to give constructive feedback - it is attended by the scientific staff and head of the institute.

• Thesis submission is effected according to the ISC guidelines. Please inform your supervisor about the planned submission date.

• For theses with a programming component, the student is required to submit data and codes to generate the results. The student is also responsible for ensuring that results can be replicated and reproduced by the supervisor.

• Your supervisor will inform you as soon as the thesis has been evaluated.

• The Impact of Private Equity Ownership on Post-IPO Performance, Master Thesis
• The impact of CSR on M&A uncertainty and premiums, Master Thesis
• Are returns to value strategies predictable by their respective value spreads, Master Thesis
• Can Twitter help predict firm-level earnings and stock returns, Master Thesis
• On the pricing of European Dual Class Stocks, Master Thesis
• The effect of corporate hybrid bonds issuance announcements on stock prices, Master Thesis
• Performance of S&P 500 Index Additions, Bachelor Thesis
• Hedge funds and their performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bachelor Thesis

• Cryptocurrency price prediction using an LSTM and an ARMA model, Master Thesis
• A literature review on bitcoin futures, Bachelor Thesis
• The Effect of European Short Position Disclosure Requirement on Market Efficiency, Master Thesis
• Earnings Forecasts by Analysts - Accuracy and Timing, Master Thesis
• Text mining of corporate disclosures for stock index forecasting, Master Thesis
• An empirical study of S&P 500 short term options, Bachelor Thesis
• Examining Deterministic Volatility Functions on Short-Term Options, Master Thesis
• Deep Learning and Option Pricing, Bachelor Thesis
• An empirical analysis of financial advisors and M&A returns, Master Thesis

• International Diversification and Market Capitalization, Bachelor Thesis
• Identifying Financial Distress in Company Filings, Master Thesis
• Investigating Capital Market Reactions to Corporate Events Using Machine Learning, Master Thesis
• An Analysis of the Relationship between Short Interest and Stock Performance, Bachelor Thesis
• Predicting Hourly Price Movements Of Bitcoin Based On Reddit Sentiment And Price Information Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Bachelor Thesis
• An Empirical Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance, Bachelor Thesis
• The Impact of Activist Short Sellers on the Returns of Target Companies, Bachelor Thesis
• Analysis of the influence of Covid-19 on the Ad Hoc Publicity, Master Thesis
• Was the retail investement portion significant in the initialization of the short squeeze of GameStop?, Bachelor Thesis
• Estimating market betas for Germany, Master Thesis
• Text analysis of Reddit WallStreetBets posts, Bachelor Thesis
• An empirical analysis of options and implied volatility, Bachelor Thesis
  
• The Impact of M&A Announcements on Short Interest in the German Market - An Event Analysis Approach, Bachelor Thesis
• Anomaly Detection in Finance, Master Thesis

• A Machine Learning Approach to Risk Factors Applying the Fama-French-Carhart Model: A Case Study on the German Stock Market, Master Thesis
• The Heston-Nandi GARCH option valuation model for the DAX30 index options market, Master Thesis
• The Effect of Rumors on the Stock Price of potential Target Companies, Bachelor Thesis
• Analyse von Investorenreaktionen auf themenübergreifende Finanzpublikationen mittels Anwendung der latenten Dirichlet-Allokation, Master Thesis
• News-based Volatility Forecasting using Machine Learning, Master Thesis
• Static- and Delta Hedging of Options, Master Thesis
• Topics in Ad-Hoc-News, Bachelor Thesis
• An Empirical Analysis of OTC Stocks, Master Thesis
• Employee satisfaction and equity returnsunder alternative statistical tests, Master Thesis
• Idiosyncratic Risk Innovations and the Idiosyncratic Risk-Return Relation in the German Equity Market, Master Thesis
• Financial and Legal Advisors and the Performance of M&A Transactions, Bachelor Thesis
• Media Coverage of German Listed Companies, Bachelor Thesis
• The effects of regulatory uncertainty on merger and acqusition activity, Bachelor Thesis
• The Effect of Finntech M&A on Acquirer Stock Performance in the Financial Sector, Bachelor Thesis
• Bank Risk Dynamics and Distance to Default, a Simulation based Analysis, Bachelor Thesis
• Pricing VSTOXX Futures, Master Thesis
• An empirical analysis of temperature shocks and the cost of equity capital, Bachelor Thesis
• The Usage of Factor Models to Explain Cross-Sectional Stock Returns, Bachelor Thesis
• An empirical analysis of the effects of corporate takeovers on the abnormal return to acquirer competitors, Bachelor Thesis
• The release of the subsidiaries into independence: The choice between Sin-offs and Carve-outs, Bachelor Thesis
• Value Drivers and Deal Characteristics in Private Equity Transaction Versus Strategic Acquisitions, Master Thesis
• The Influence of Ad-hoc Disclosures on Stock Returns, Master Thesis

• Isolating the disaster risk premium with equity options in the German market, Bachelor Thesis
• Insider-forecasted operating synergies' impact on M&A performance, Bachelor Thesis
• An Empirical Analysis of Callable Contingent Convertibles, Master Thesis
• Static Replication of Window Double Barrier Options, Bachelor Thesis
• The informativeness of textual tone in M&A conference calls and its effect on stock returns, Master Thesis
• Comparison of Earnings Surprise Measures, Master Thesis
• Intangible Assets and Mergers and Acquisitions, Master Thesis
• The Effects of Expected Volatility on Stock Returns in European Equity Markets, Master Thesis
• The Success of Acquiring vs. Developing Innovation in Research Intensive Industries, Master Thesis
• The Effects of Expected Volatility on Stock Returns in European Equity Markets, Master Thesis
• Robustness of the Distance-to-Default Measure - A Simulation-based Analysis, Bachelor Thesis
• Corporate default risk: predictive power of rule-based classifier models compared to traditional bankruptcy prediction models, Bachelor Thesis
• Analyzing the bid-ask quotes for a FX broker in responds to volatility, Master Thesis
• What are the Most Important Topics for Buy- and Sell-side Analysts? An Investigation of M&A Conference Calls Using Textual Analysis, Bachelor Thesis
• Relationship between Exchange Rate Risk and Stock Prices, Bachelor Thesis
• Hedging Performance of Volatility Products under Different Stochastic Volatility Models, Master Thesis
• Empirical stylized facts of the intra-daily foreign exchange markets, Bachelor Thesis
• Similarity between Firms in Domestic vs. Cross-border M&A Activities: A Text-based Approach, Master Thesis
• Impact of Migration on Cross-border Merger & Acqusition Activities, Master Thesis
• Stock Returns and the Impact of Anaylst Recommendations, Bachelor Thesis
• Portfolio Optimization with Simulation and Backtesting of the Value-at-Risk measure, Bachelor Thesis
• How Does Language in Corporate Public Disclosures Reflect Actual Firm Performance and Influence Stock Market Reactions?, Master Thesis

• Investor Attention and the Cross-section of Stock Return, Master Thesis
• Can Ex-Ante Observable Signals for Investor Sentiment or Company Quality Predict the Long-Term Performance of Initial Public Offerings?
• An Empirical Study of the US Market for New Equity Issues, Master Thesis
• Sentimental Distress: The Analysis of the Tone of 8-K Reports in a Financial Distress Context, Master Thesis
• Expected Option Returns for DAX 30 Options, Bachelor Thesis
• Delta-Hedged Gains and the Market Volatility Risk Premium: Evidence from the German Market, Master Thesis
• The Announcement Effect of Mergers & Acquisitions on Markets and Model-Implied Credit Default Swaps, Master Thesis
• Selecting Characteristics for Parametric Portfolio Selection, Master Thesis
• Relationships Between Implied Volatility Indexes and Stock Index Returns, Bachelor Thesis
• The Information Content of Implied Volatility based on DAX 30 Options, Bachelor Thesis
• Merger and Acquisition Announcement Returns and Synergy Expectations, Master Thesis
• Does competition between investment banks matter for their clients' M&A performance?, Master Thesis
• Monte Carlo Methods for Pricing Asian Options, Bachelor Thesis
• Deterministic Implied Volatility Functions: Empirical Tests for Dax Index Options, Bachelor Thesis
• Modeling Term Structure Using Macroeconomics Factors, Master Thesis
• Estimating the Link Between Default Risk and Stock Returns Using the Implied Cost of Capital, Master Thesis
• Problems of Inference in Single-Firm Event Studies, Bachelor Thesis
• Competition: Theoretical Concepts, Measurement Methods and their Application in the Banking Sector, Bachelor Thesis
• Factor-Model-Based Priors for the Black-Litterman Model
• Portfolio Optimization under a VAR Model of Return, Bachelor Thesis
• An empirical investigation of valuation premia in IPOs versus acquisitions, Bachelor Thesis
• Entry in the Banking Industry: An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Mergers and Acquisitions, Bachelor Thesis

• Portfolio Optimization under a VAR Model of Return, Bachelor Thesis
• Banking competition, venture capitalists and their influence on entrepreneurial activity, Master Thesis
• The effect of institutional ownership on antitakeover defense and the success of hostile takeover bids, Bachelor Thesis
• M&A Transactions and the Role of Related CEO Characteristics, Bachelor Thesis
• Determinants of recovery rates implied by CDS spreads, Master Thesis
• The influence of the source of capital on corporate financing and investment behavior during the financial crisis 2007-2009, Master Thesis
• Der Einfluss von Wettbewerb und Innovationsgrad von Industrien auf die Höhe von Fusionsprämien, Bachelor Thesis
• About the Role of Credit Default Swaps in the Emergence of the 2008 Financial Crisis, Bachelor Thesis
• Assessing Credit Risk Using Option-Implied Information, Master Thesis
• Pricing of Callable Bonds, Bachelor Thesis
• Can Michaud resampling techniques improve mean-variance portfolio optimization?, Bachelor Thesis
• Porfolio Optimization and Ambiguity Aversion, Master Thesis
• Der Einfluss von Wettbewerb und Innovationsgrad von Industrien auf die Höhe von Fusionsprämien, Bachelor Thesis
• Portfolio Optimization Using Implied Covariance Matrix Estimates, Bachelor Thesis
• Institutional cross-holdings and their effect on acquisiton decisions, Bachelor Thesis
• The Limits of Arbitrage: A Literature Review, Bachelor Thesis
• The Role of Correlation Between Market and Credit Risk for Certificate Pricing, Bachelor Thesis
• The Role of Credit Default Swaps in the Emergence of the 2008 Financial Crisis, Bachelor Thesis
• Peer influence on corporate financial policy: An application to cash flow sensitivities, Master Thesis
• Implications of recent changes in banks' market risk framework: empirical examination of different methods for calculation of Value-at-Risk and Expected Shortfall, Master Thesis
• The relationship between Corporate Governance and Credit Risk - A Literature Review, Bachelor Thesis,
• Optimal Delta Hedging: Evidence from DAX Index Options, Bachelor Thesis
• A literature review on institutional investors and competition, Bachelor Thesis