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Students at the Department of Economics at FEMA, University of Malta have pitched their proposals for dissertations for the period 2019-2020 during a research symposium chaired by , and attended by various members of staff of the department. Head of Department remarked that he was pleased to see that the context of interest ranged from the Maltese economy, to the European Union, to the Global economy.

The topic that has continued to engender most interest among economics students in Malta is Labour economics. Students ask “What impact is the rise in foreign workers having on the gender pay gap?”, “What can improve the pensions pay gap?”,  “What is the impact of Migration on skilled/unskilled wages?”, “Can later retirement be incentivised through defined contributions?”, “How do labour market institutions affect the distribution of household income?” and  “What is the Willingness to pay for diverse job attributes?”.    

Transport & environmental economics continue to be of particular interest to economics students in Malta. Three students have focused their questions in this domain, asking “Can night-time deliveries help solve the problem of congestion?”,  “What is the effect of marginal emissions pricing on modal shift and emissions?” and “What is the cost of infrastructure for Electric Vehicles in Malta?”. Real estate features strongly this year, reflecting the issues that are emerging in the Maltese economy. Students will assess questions like “What is the environmental economic value of Manoel Island?”, “How can we predict the spread of Airbnb and its economic impact?” and attempt to design “An economic model of the determinants of rental prices in Malta”.  Similarly, tourism always makes an appearance in the list of topics that students propose. This year, students will ask “What is the input/output effect of Tourism?” and “What is the multiplier effect of sport tourism on the host country economy?”.  Behavioural topics and treatments emerge as a new field of enquiry among students in the 2019-2020 cohort. There will be attempts to tackle “Economic model of crime reporting”, “The effect of identity priming on decisions”.   

Growth is a topic which continues to be of core interest to Economists but students have decided to focus on drivers that are particularly topical, asking “How does renewable energy resources production impact economic growth?”,   “What is the causal link between Construction and Economic Growth?” and, indeed “Does anti-money laundering compliance impact growth?”. Students also turned to the question of possible recession, asking “Can the yield curve predict imminent recession?” and “Does Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis apply to Malta's housing market?” and “How do US sanctions impact on EU trade?” The effect of monetary policy will also be examined, with one student asking “How effective are un/conventional monetary tools?”.