Thesis Topics
Please apply to the supervisor via email with your CV and transcript of records
The Carbon Footprint of [Dax]-Companies (Master)
In the coming years, companies around the world will have to rapidly and substantially reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. While the societal will for that is growing strong, companies frequently remain reluctant to act. One shielding argument often brought forward has been the considerable ambiguity in the fair accounting for carbon emissions and hence the lack of clarity on the true carbon footprint of the company. In response, this thesis seeks to first develop a conceptual framework for how to account for the carbon emissions of a company along its value chain. Then, the thesis illustrates the framework by estimating empirically the carbon footprint of a large [Dax]-company.
Research Questions:
- How should we account for the carbon emissions of a company?
- Select one company and validate your framework in a case study!
Basic Literature:
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Supervisor: Gunther Glenk
The Economics of Renewable Hydrogen (Master)
In light of a warming climate, the transition towards decarbonized energy systems emerges as a central obligation of the world economies. Hydrogen has long been heralded as a potentially crucial element in this transition, but the inability to produce the gas at low costs and emissions has so far withheld a widespread adoption. Recent technological advancements and the sharp decline in the cost of renewable energy suggest improved economics for the production of hydrogen from renewable power through a Power-to-Gas (PtG) process. This thesis strives to examine valuable business opportunities for renewable hydrogen in the market through market research, expert interviews, and techno-economic modelling.
Research Question:
What are valuable business cases for renewable hydrogen?
Basic Literature:
Glenk, Reichelstein: Economics of Converting Renewable Power to Hydrogen, Nature Energy, 2019
Supervisor: Gunther Glenk
Valuation of Subscription Businesses: Theory and Practice (Master)
Business models based on recurring revenue are not new but they have been flourishing in recent years as the preferred model for cloud-enabled, pay-as-you-go services. Flourishing has not only been the spread of these models but also the profit of these subscription businesses, which outperformed the market by an order of magnitude and yielded a number of unicorns. This thesis strives to develop a valuation framework in terms of KPIs and success criteria, and to apply the framework examining current and future performance of promising companies. The thesis can be done in collaboration with Celonis SE, the latest German unicorn.
Research Questions:
- What are the KPIs and success criteria of subscriptions businesses?
- How do current players rank according to these parameters?
- How well do these parameters predict future performance?
Basic Literature:
Financial Statement Analysis: A Practitioner’s Guide - Martin Fridson, Fernando Alvarez
Supervisor: Gunther Glenk