The topic proposes to study several possible research questions in the field of forecasting performance of DSGE and/or empirical models, incl. a possible focus on (Bayesian) prediction averaging. The topic aligns well with the ongoing research projects conducted by a small team of macroeconomists within the department. The student working on this topic will have access to supercomputing facilities, enabling to perform calculations with high computational requirements.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Jan Čapek. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

The thesis will investigate the main drivers behind the official debt evolution in LLMICs, distinguishing between the macroeconomic effects and the official debt relief programs. The research will apply variants of the Durbin-Wu and Hausman methods and General Method of Moments to detect and deal with the endogeneity bias and reverse causality issues in explaining the observed phenomena and their relation to the hard currency/local currency debt choices. Standard debt-sustainability accounting metrics (Debrun et al, 2019) in decomposing the behavior of the LLMICs debt will be applied.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Jan Čapek. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

The thesis will develop a model-based methodology for identifying and pricing the convertibility and transfer risk premiums associated with the onshore local currency (LCY) lending in LLMICs in the absence of deep markets. Following the approach of Du and Schreger (2017), time series database of prices of LCY and hard currency (HCY) instruments issued by emerging markets and LLMICs sovereigns will be constructed. After extracting measures of the relevant premiums for the exchange rate, convertibility and transfer risks, a model of Kamenik et al. (2013) will be adapted, to model the transfer and convertibility risk premiums.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Jan Čapek. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

This proposed thesis comprises essays focusing on pressing social challenges in public health, with significant repercussions for individuals, households, and economies. Specifically, it investigates two key issues: population ageing and the impact of legal and illegal substance abuse. Through the use of natural experiments, these essays aim to uncover behavioral responses to population ageing and assess the effects of addictive substance accessibility on mental health, labor market performance, black market dynamics, and substance consumption. The student will collaborate closely with the Health Economics, Policy, and Innovation Institute (HEPII) at Masaryk University, actively participating in projects led by the Department of Economics and HEPII.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Štěpán Mikula. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

Information is usually provided by third parties and the decision makers need to assess the trustworthiness of the source and decide whether to act upon it. The topic proposes to use laboratory and field experiments to investigate behavioral responses to third-party communication. Potential research questions include i) the effect of third-party on strategic uncertainty in coordination games, ii) erosion of trust due to misinformation provided by third-party, iii) the effect of third-party information on voting or health behavior. The student will have access to the infrastructure of Masaryk University Experimental Economics Laboratory.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Rostislav Staněk. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

An important strand of economic literature investigates conflicts and contests among individuals or groups (political conflicts, competition between firms, team performance etc.). The topic proposes to study several possible research directions in this field. Topics such as endogenous formation of coalitions in group contests, conflict mediation or effect of fake news belong among potential research questions. The research method involves laboratory experiments. The student will have access to the infrastructure of Masaryk University Experimental Economics Laboratory. Part of the research can be funded through ongoing GACR project.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Rostislav Staněk. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

Different institutions and procedures are used to allocate payoffs among individuals. Recent economic research shows that individuals value institutions and procedures for their intrinsic value, i.e., they reveal preferences for procedural properties such as decision autonomy that are unrelated to payoffs or outcomes. An important dimension of procedural preferences seems to be the perception of responsibility (or merit). The topic proposes to design experiments that elicit procedural preferences in different contexts and test the conjecture that people prefer procedures that undervalue the payoffs of those who are responsible for harm and overvalue payoffs of meritorious individuals. The research method involves laboratory experiments. The student will have access to the infrastructure of Masaryk University Experimental Economics Laboratory.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Rostislav Staněk. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

A crucial problem in health economics and health policy is patients’ low investment in preventive health care. Present-bias preferences and limited information have frequently been put forth as a theoretical explanation for this. The topic proposes to conduct a field experiment testing different advertising strategies to increase demand for preventive health care. The advertising strategies include monetary payments, information provision or different framing of the advertising statement. The research method is field experiment. The research is a part of a submitted Exceles research project and can be funded from the research scheme.

The supervisor for this topic is associate professor Rostislav Staněk. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.

The transport patterns and modal splits are strongly influenced by a decision of households of how many cars to own. The number of available cars in the household determines the public transport usage and effectiveness of transport investment policies. The thesis aims to explore the reasons that determine the decision to own 0, 1, 2, 3, or more cars. The method of the thesis will be a consumer survey among households. The survey will investigate the socio-economic characteristics of households and attitudes of their members toward cars and public transport. Based on this survey the multinominal logit model will be estimated and the determinants of choice identified.

The supervisor for this topic is professor Zdeněk Tomeš. Detailed information about the supervisor, his publications and research projects can be found here.