MBA · MSc · BSc · Finance dissertations
50 finance dissertation research questions across asset pricing, banking, corporate finance, fintech and Indian markets. Each topic includes a study design, method, accessible dataset and related university thesis.
50 Research topics
10 Sub-fields
10 Data sources
3 Universities cited
2018–26 Thesis years
By Siddharth Gupta · Statssy
Finance students often think they need a Bloomberg terminal. Most do not.
In my 12 years of helping MBA and MSc finance students, the best dissertations used free data and a clear research method. A well-designed event study can be more useful than an unnecessarily complex model.
Here are 50 ideas with methods, free data and related university thesis examples. Check each source’s available variables and dates before finalising your topic.
How to use this list Pick two or three research questions within an area you want to explore. Open the datasets and confirm the dates, firms, countries and required variables. Review the related thesis and focus on how its data and sample were constructed. Decide whether you need daily, monthly or annual observations. Discuss the shortlist with your supervisor or book a free 15-minute call . Jump to a sub-field 01. Asset pricing and stock returns 02. Corporate finance and governance 03. Behavioural finance 04. Banking and financial stability 05. ESG and climate finance 06. Fintech and crypto 07. Household finance and financial inclusion 08. Risk management and derivatives 09. Mergers, acquisitions and event studies 10. Indian markets and banking Finance research area 01 / 10
Asset pricing and stock returns Asset pricing topics test what explains stock returns. The Kenneth French library gives you factor data for free, back to 1926.
TOPIC 01 Do the Fama-French five factors explain returns better than the CAPM? Study design Time series Statistical method Factor regressions with the GRS test Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 02 Has the small-firm premium disappeared since 2000? Study design Time series Statistical method Rolling window regression Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 03 Does momentum still earn excess returns across asset classes? Study design Time series Statistical method Portfolio sorts with Newey-West t-tests Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 04 Does market fear, measured by the VIX, predict next-month stock returns? Study design Time series Statistical method Predictive regression Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 05 Does international diversification still lower portfolio risk? Study design Time series Statistical method DCC-GARCH correlation model Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open Finance research area 02 / 10
Corporate finance and governance Corporate topics study how firms raise money and who runs them. SEC filings and Damodaran data cover thousands of firms.
TOPIC 06 Did firms with more women on their boards hold up better during the pandemic? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Cross-sectional regression of crisis returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 07 Which firm traits explain debt ratios across industries? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset Damodaran Online Data Open TOPIC 08 What predicts a corporate spin-off? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 09 How much does country risk add to the cost of capital? Study design Cross-country Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset Damodaran Online Data Open TOPIC 10 Do firms that receive a going concern warning underperform afterwards? Study design Event study Statistical method Buy-and-hold abnormal returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open Finance research area 03 / 10
Behavioural finance Behavioural topics test whether investors act rationally. Calendar effects and sentiment swings are easy to test with free data.
TOPIC 11 Do stock returns follow swings in consumer sentiment? Study design Time series Statistical method Vector autoregression (VAR) Dataset FRED + Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 12 Do the January and Monday effects still exist? Study design Time series Statistical method Dummy variable regression Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 13 Do Indian stocks react more to bad news than to good news? Study design Time series Statistical method EGARCH model Dataset NSE India Historical Data Open TOPIC 14 Is the US stock market more volatile in election years? Study design Time series Statistical method GARCH with an election dummy Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 15 Do insider share purchases predict higher returns? Study design Event study Statistical method Cumulative abnormal returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open Finance research area 04 / 10
Banking and financial stability Banking topics ask what makes banks fail and crises start. GFDD, BIS and FRED cover banks in almost every country.
TOPIC 16 Are banking crises more likely in countries with concentrated banking systems? Study design Cross-country panel Statistical method Panel logit regression Dataset Global Financial Development Database Open TOPIC 17 Does fast credit growth weaken bank stability scores? Study design Cross-country panel Statistical method Fixed effects panel regression Dataset Global Financial Development Database Open TOPIC 18 Does a widening credit-to-GDP gap predict a financial crisis? Study design Cross-country panel Statistical method Panel logit regression Dataset BIS Data Portal Open TOPIC 19 How do bank lending standards respond to Fed rate rises? Study design Time series Statistical method Vector autoregression (VAR) Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 20 Do deposit rates follow policy rates up as fast as they follow them down? Study design Time series Statistical method Asymmetric error correction model Dataset FRED Open Finance research area 05 / 10
ESG and climate finance ESG topics test whether doing good changes returns. Industry portfolios and company filings let you study it without paid ESG scores.
TOPIC 21 Do firms that flag climate risk in their annual reports earn different returns? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Text-based measure with panel regression Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 22 Have energy stocks lagged the market since 2014? Study design Time series Statistical method CAPM alpha with a structural break Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 23 Do ‘sin’ industries like tobacco and alcohol earn higher risk-adjusted returns? Study design Time series Statistical method Fama-French alpha regression Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 24 Do hurricane seasons move utility and insurer stock prices? Study design Event study Statistical method Cumulative abnormal returns Dataset Kenneth French Data Library Open TOPIC 25 Did firms add women directors after diversity rules, and did their value change? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Difference-in-differences Dataset SEC EDGAR Open View the printable 50-topic PDF section
Finance research area 06 / 10
Fintech and crypto Fintech topics are popular with examiners right now. FRED even carries daily Bitcoin prices.
TOPIC 26 Does Bitcoin hedge inflation, or does it move with tech stocks? Study design Time series Statistical method DCC-GARCH correlation model Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 27 Does a small Bitcoin allocation improve a portfolio’s Sharpe ratio? Study design Time series Statistical method Mean-variance optimisation Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 28 Who uses digital payments, and what predicts it? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Multilevel logistic regression Dataset World Bank Global Findex Open TOPIC 29 How did new crypto accounting rules change reported profits? Study design Firm panel Statistical method Before and after comparison with paired t-tests Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 30 Can machine learning predict credit card default better than logistic regression? Study design Prediction model Statistical method Random forest compared with logistic regression (AUC) Dataset Default of Credit Card Clients (UCI) Open Finance research area 07 / 10
Household finance and financial inclusion Household finance topics look at how ordinary people save, borrow and cope. Global Findex covers 140+ countries.
TOPIC 31 What predicts having a bank account in developing countries? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Multilevel logistic regression Dataset World Bank Global Findex Open TOPIC 32 Who could raise emergency money within a month? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset World Bank Global Findex Open TOPIC 33 Is the gender gap in account ownership closing? Study design Repeated cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression with a sex by year interaction Dataset World Bank Global Findex Open TOPIC 34 Do younger card holders default more often? Study design Cross-section Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Default of Credit Card Clients (UCI) Open TOPIC 35 Does rising student debt track falling homeownership among young adults? Study design Time series Statistical method Cointegration test Dataset FRED Open Finance research area 08 / 10
Risk management and derivatives Risk topics compare models that measure and forecast losses. Daily index and commodity prices on FRED are enough to start.
TOPIC 36 Which volatility model forecasts S&P 500 risk best, GARCH or EGARCH? Study design Time series Statistical method GARCH family comparison Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 37 Does Value at Risk underestimate losses during crises? Study design Time series Statistical method VaR backtesting (Kupiec test) Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 38 Does implied volatility overpredict the volatility that actually follows? Study design Time series Statistical method Variance risk premium regression Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 39 Do WTI and Brent oil prices move together in the long run? Study design Time series Statistical method Johansen cointegration test Dataset FRED Open TOPIC 40 Does a stronger dollar hurt US multinational stock returns? Study design Time series Statistical method Augmented market model regression Dataset FRED + Kenneth French Data Library Open Finance research area 09 / 10
Mergers, acquisitions and event studies Event studies measure how prices react to news. SEC 8-K filings date almost every corporate event for you.
TOPIC 41 Do acquirers lose value when they announce a deal? Study design Event study Statistical method Cumulative abnormal returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 42 Do cross-border tech deals get a better market reaction than domestic ones? Study design Event study Statistical method Abnormal returns with cross-sectional regression Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 43 Do cybersecurity breach disclosures cut share prices? Study design Event study Statistical method Cumulative abnormal returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 44 Do AI mentions in earnings reports lift stock prices? Study design Event study Statistical method Abnormal returns with a text-based measure Dataset SEC EDGAR Open TOPIC 45 How much do share prices fall after an accounting restatement? Study design Event study Statistical method Cumulative abnormal returns Dataset SEC EDGAR Open Finance research area 10 / 10
Indian markets and banking India topics suit Indian students and UAE students with India links. NSE and RBI publish the data for free.
TOPIC 46 Does the Nifty show a pre-Budget or post-Budget effect? Study design Event study Statistical method Cumulative abnormal returns Dataset NSE India Historical Data Open TOPIC 47 Do Indian stocks follow US market moves overnight? Study design Time series Statistical method Volatility spillover model Dataset NSE India Historical Data + FRED Open TOPIC 48 Did the 2016 demonetisation change bank deposit and credit growth? Study design Time series Statistical method Interrupted time series Dataset RBI DBIE Open TOPIC 49 Do public sector banks carry more bad loans than private banks? Study design Bank group panel Statistical method Fixed effects panel regression Dataset RBI DBIE Open TOPIC 50 Is India VIX a good guide to future market volatility? Study design Time series Statistical method Forecast encompassing regression Dataset NSE India Historical Data Open View the printable 50-topic PDF section
Free finance datasets for dissertation research These ten source libraries support a wide range of finance questions. Data are publicly accessible, though you may need to build and merge your own analysis-ready dataset.
Factor returns and portfolios for asset pricing and anomalous returns.
Interest rates, bond spreads, stock indices and macro-financial time series.
Public-company filings for governance, disclosures, mergers and event dates.
Cost of capital, industry ratios, valuation multiples and country risk.
Individual financial access, payments, saving and borrowing survey indicators.
Banking depth, access, efficiency and stability across countries.
Credit aggregates, debt, credit gaps and property prices.
Credit card payment histories and a default outcome for risk modelling.
Historical Nifty and market volatility index data for India.
Indian banking, interest rates, deposits and credit indicators.
Printable finance dissertation resource
Get all 50 topics in one PDF A printable guide containing all 50 questions, study designs, statistical methods, dataset links and related university theses will be connected here after the PDF is created and uploaded to the WordPress Media Library.
PDF download coming soon How to turn one of these into your own topic Narrow it. Choose a market, sector or event type and define a time window.Check the data first. Verify price series, filings, event dates and missing observations.Match methods to the question. Event studies assess price reactions; volatility models forecast risk; panels analyse firms or banks over time.Control for market movements. Use an appropriate benchmark or factor model when calculating abnormal stock returns.Check previous research. Search SSRN and academic repositories to identify what your study contributes.See our dissertation topics using regression analysis guide and statistical analysis selection guide when finalising your approach.
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