Bachelor’s and Master’s Theses

Finished Theses 2016 - 2025

We are looking forward to supervise students for their Bachelor and Master theses. Please find proposals for Bachelor’s or Master’s Theses from our group in the lists below. Do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information.

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Guidance for writing your thesis in the Agricultural Economics and Policy Group Download PDF (PDF, 297 KB)

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ETH Zürich is using SiROP to publish scientific projects. With your university login you get free access to internships, scientific projects, Bachelor’s and Master’s theses. For more information please visit external page www.sirop.org.

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For master theses, also bilateral agreements on thesis topics can be made. Please contact Prof. Dr. Robert Finger directly for further information (Email: ).

Note that we cannot take over the supervision of topics defined with third parties and that have not been discussed with us beforehand.

Machine Learning for Better Prediction of Market Supplies of Berries and Stone Fruits in Switzerland.

This thesis examines how accurately different forecasting approaches—including machine learning and classical time series models—predict weekly stone fruit and berry market volumes in Switzerland.

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Master Thesis

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Published since: 2026-01-12 , Earliest start: 2026-01-12 , Latest end: 2032-12-31

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-USYS

Hosts Finger Robert, Dr.

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences

Labour and the transition to sustainable production in Swiss viticulture

This thesis examines the current state of labour in Swiss viticulture, and how this state could influence winemaker’s decision-making ability, using survey data from 489 producers across all major wine regions. Given viticulture’s labour intensity and Swiss viticulture facing a mix of high labour costs and poor mechanisability offers outlook into the economic and environmental sustainability.

Keywords

Labour, Data analysis, Viticulture, Pest Management

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Master Thesis

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Published since: 2026-01-05 , Earliest start: 2026-01-05 , Latest end: 2026-08-03

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Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-MTEC

Hosts Höper Philipp

Topics Economics

Marginal costs of biodiversity provision in Swiss agriculture

This thesis uses the bio-economic model FarmDyn to quantify the opportunity costs of biodiversity-friendly practices on Swiss dairy and beef farms, based on data from the canton of Grisons. The thesis evaluates the cost-efficiency of various agri-environmental scheme designs to inform biodiversity policy in Swiss mountain agriculture.

Keywords

Biodiversity, agriculture, agri-environmental schemes, opportunity costs, mountain farming

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Master Thesis

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Published since: 2025-12-12 , Earliest start: 2025-08-01 , Latest end: 2026-08-01

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-USYS

Hosts Huber Robert , Finger Robert, Dr.

Topics Economics

Master thesis: Crop protection in organic and non-organic pesticide-free arable farming

Pesticide-free (non-organic) crop production is currently gaining ground in European agriculture as a new alternative pathway between conventional and organic farming. To successfully produce crops without using pesticides, farmers must adopt sustainable crop protection measures, e.g., following the principles of integrated crop protection (IPM) or agroecological crop protection (ACP). Even though both production systems, i.e., pesticide-free non-organic and organic, work without pesticides, the alternative crop protection measures used may differ between organic and non-organic farms. To date, little is known about potential differences between farming systems without pesticides regarding the adoption of alternative crop protection strategies.

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crop protection, pesticide-free, organic, integrated pest management (IPM), wheat, maize, Switzerland

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Master Thesis

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Published since: 2025-12-11 , Earliest start: 2025-02-02 , Latest end: 2026-01-22

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-MTEC

Hosts Akter Sharmin

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences

Master Thesis Economics of spatial and temporal information for improving nitrogen efficiency in agriculture.

Background Switzerland has ambitious goals to reduce nitrogen surpluses in agriculture. An important mechanism in this context is to improve nitrogen efficiency. In this context, new technologies such as precision farming, and remote sensing and new sensors can provide better information on nutrient availability in the field. In the past, these efforts were mainly focused on improving spatial application patterns. This thesis aims to also include the temporal application pattern, i.e. when to apply fertilizer. Such spatial and temporal information can help farmers avoid nitrogen losses by applying the right amount of fertilizer at the right time and place to meet crop needs. Soil health sensors (such as those developed by Digit Soil) can provide additional information about the timing of fertilizer application. Combining spatial and temporal information about fertilizer application could improve nitrogen efficiency in crop production and contribute to a more sustainable agricultural sector. Research questions ● What are the economic costs and benefits of knowing when to fertilize? ● How big is the potential to reduce fertilizing by using temporal information? ● What is the potential of spatial and temporal information for achieving nitrogen efficiency goals in Swiss agriculture?

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Master Thesis , ETH Zurich (ETHZ)

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Published since: 2025-12-09 , Earliest start: 2025-09-01 , Latest end: 2026-12-31

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-MTEC

Hosts Finger Robert, Dr.

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences , Economics

What factors determine whether farmers exceed the minimum uptake requirements of voluntary agri-environmental schemes – the case of the reduced tillage scheme in Switzerland.

The case study would be based on the reduced tillage scheme, where to qualify, farmers must perform ploughless cultivation on at least 60% of their arable land using either mulch, strip tillage, direct drilling, or a combination of these methods. However, many farmers exceed the bare minimum levels needed to qualify and, as such, “over-perform” relative to the basic incentive. The analysis would utilise farmer characteristics, farm usage of complementary practices, and structural data to understand the determinants of “over-performance” adoption among farmers. This is an important policy question, as it may help determine which factors can be harnessed to improve the uptake and impact of soil conservation schemes. Additionally, this analysis could shed some light on aspects such as the additionality of current soil conservation schemes relative to the uptake behaviour of farmers, irrespective of the current scheme requirements.

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You will use the following Data: InBestSoil Data + Spatial Data: Data covering soil management practices and farm characteristics on Swiss arable farms | Scientific Data (Document attached)

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Master Thesis

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Published since: 2025-12-09 , Earliest start: 2025-12-09 , Latest end: 2026-12-09

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-USYS

Hosts Finger Robert, Dr.

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences

Falling Through the Cracks: Understanding Non-Participation in Direct Payment Schemes among Swiss Grape Growers

This thesis examines factors behind non-participation in direct payment schemes by grape growers in Swiss viticulture using survey data from 489 producers across all major wine regions. Given viticulture’s high pesticide use and economic importance, the thesis offers policy-relevant insights into the effectiveness of agri-environmental programs.

Keywords

Agricultural Policy, Data analysis, Viticulture, Pest Management

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Master Thesis

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Pesticides are essential for agricultural productivity (Savary et al. 2019), but their environmental and health risks justify government regulation (Zilberman et al. 1991). A primary strategy to address the negative externalities of pesticide use is the implementation of agri-environmental schemes—such as direct payments—that economically compensate farmers for adopting sustainable pest management practices (see e.g. Schaub et al. 2023). For instance, Swiss grape growers receive 1,000 CHF per hectare if they abstain from using herbicides. However, the effectiveness of these voluntary regulatory systems in promoting sustainable agricultural practices depends on farmer participation. Viticulture presents a particularly relevant case in this context for two main reasons. First, it is highly pesticide-intensive: approximately one-third of all pesticides used in Swiss agriculture are fungicides applied in viticulture (de Baan 2020). Second, grape production holds substantial economic importance, accounting for 17% of the gross crop production value in Switzerland (Zachmann, McCallum, and Finger 2024), which reflects farm income. Thus, grape grower’s participation is crucial given the high pesticide usage in the sector. However, compensations from direct payments may be relatively less appealing to grape growers due to two main reasons. First, some, especially small, grape grower may not seek to receive direct payments at all, even though they would be eligible in terms of minimum standard working unit (SAK). Second, direct payments may not be sufficient for some farms to participate in agri-environmental schemes. **Literature** Baan, Laura de. 2020. “Agrarbericht 2020 - Wasser Und Landwirtschaft.” https://2020.agrarbericht.ch/de/umwelt/wasser/verkauf-und-einsatz-von-pflanzenschutzmitteln. Savary, Serge, Laetitia Willocquet, Sarah Jane Pethybridge, Paul Esker, Neil McRoberts, and Andy Nelson. 2019. “The Global Burden of Pathogens and Pests on Major Food Crops.” Nature Ecology & Evolution 3 (3): 430–39. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0793-y. Schaub, Sergei, Jaboury Ghazoul, Robert Huber, Wei Zhang, Adelaide Sander, Charles Rees, Simanti Banerjee, and Robert Finger. 2023. “The Role of Behavioural Factors and Opportunity Costs in Farmers’ Participation in Voluntary Agri‐environmental Schemes: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Agricultural Economics 74 (3): 617–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12538. Zachmann, Lucca, Chloe McCallum, and Robert Finger. 2024. “Determinants of the Adoption of Fungus-Resistant Grapevines: Evidence from Switzerland.” Journal of Wine Economics 19 (3): 232–64. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2023.36. Zilberman, David, Andrew Schmitz, Gary Casterline, Erik Lichtenberg, and Jerome B. Siebert. 1991. “The Economics of Pesticide Use and Regulation.” Science 253 (5019): 518–22. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.253.5019.518.

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Published since: 2025-12-08 , Earliest start: 2025-12-08 , Latest end: 2026-07-06

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Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-MTEC

Hosts Zachmann Lucca

Topics Economics

Analyse von Schweizer Agrarmärkten

Beschreibung und ökonomische Interpretation der Marktordnung eines Schweizer Agrarmarktes

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Agrarmärkte, Wertschöpfungskette, Marktordnung

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Bachelor Thesis

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Published since: 2025-11-17 , Earliest start: 2021-11-15 , Latest end: 2022-12-31

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Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-USYS

Hosts Huber Robert

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences

Analysing the potential of multi-yield index insurance to cope with heat and/or drought risks

The agricultural sector is exposed to yield risks, such as weather anomalies (e.g. Beillouin et al., 2020; Schmitt et al., 2022). Farmers can implement on-farm and off-farm risk management strategies to mitigate these risks (Bardaji, 2016; OECD, 2021). On-farm strategies include crop diversification, while off-farm strategies include insurance. Farmers often combine these strategies. However, crop insurance across Europe currently does not take crop diversification opportunities into account in the insurance design. This master's thesis will evaluate the potential of multi-yield index insurance as an option to help farmers cope with weather risks such as heat and/or drought.

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Risk Management; Index Insurance; Diversification

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Master Thesis

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This master's thesis aims to develop a multi-yield index insurance product that can mitigate the risks of heat and/or drought. Currently, agricultural index insurance is only available for individual crops (see, for example, Bucheli et al., 2021; Bucheli et al., 2022). Furthermore, multi-yield insurance products are not yet available in Europe (Bucheli et al., 2023), and only a theoretical model that considers crop diversification in indemnity insurance has been developed thus far (Schmitt et al., 2025). The downside of indemnity insurance is that the extent of the damage has to be evaluated by insurance companies. The advantages of an index insurance product are (1) that it can be implemented without evaluating the actual damage, and (2) that it reduces moral hazard risks for the insurer. However, the downside of index insurance products is basis risk. This master's thesis should therefore evaluate whether multi-yield index insurance is a feasible and useful option for farmers and insurance companies. Based on yield data for several crops from Duden et al. (2024) for the period 1979–2021, as well as weather information for the same timeframe provided by the German Weather Service, index products offering insurance against drought and/or high temperatures should be created. If possible, the usefulness of such a product could be evaluated using real-world farm-level data by conducting an analysis of certainty equivalents. References Bardaji, I., Garrido, A., Blanco, I., Felis, A., Sumpsi, J.-M., García-Azcárate, T., Enjolras, G., Capitanio, F. (2016). State of Play of Risk Management Tools Implemented by Member States During the Period 2014–2020: National and European Frameworks. European Parliament. Beillouin, D., Schauberger, B., Bastos, A., Ciais, P., & Makowski, D. (2020). Impact of extreme weather conditions on European crop production in 2018. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375(1810), 20190510. Bucheli, J., Dalhaus, T., & Finger, R. (2021). The optimal drought index for designing weather index insurance. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 48(3), 573-597. Bucheli, J., Dalhaus, T., & Finger, R. (2022). Temperature effects on crop yields in heat index insurance. Food Policy, 107, 102214. Bucheli, J., Conrad, N., Wimmer, S., Dalhaus, T., & Finger, R. (2023). Weather insurance in European crop and horticulture production. Climate Risk Management, 100525. Duden, C., Nacke, C., & Offermann, F. (2024). German yield and area data for 11 crops from 1979 to 2021 at a harmonized spatial resolution of 397 districts. Scientific Data, 11(1), 95. OECD (2021). Design Principles for Agricultural Risk Management Policies. Paper N°157. Schmitt, J., Offermann, F., Söder, M., Frühauf, C., & Finger, R. (2022). Extreme weather events cause significant crop yield losses at the farm level in German agriculture. Food Policy, 112, 102359. Schmitt, J., Offermann, F., & Finger, R. (2025). The use of crop diversification in agricultural yield insurance products. Food Policy, 134, 102905.

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Published since: 2025-10-16 , Earliest start: 2025-11-01 , Latest end: 2026-06-30

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-MTEC

Hosts Schmitt Jonas

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences

Betriebliche Optimierungsmodelle in der Schweizer Landwirtschaft

Basierend auf Ihren Kenntnissen aus der Vorlesung «Optimierung landwirtschaftlicher Produktionssysteme» erstellen Sie ein Optimierungsmodell in Excel oder R und beantworten damit eine von Ihnen erarbeitete Forschungsfrage.

Keywords

Optimierung, Schweizer Landwirtschaft, Lineare Programmierung

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Bachelor Thesis

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Published since: 2025-10-14 , Earliest start: 2019-11-01 , Latest end: 2020-12-31

Applications limited to ETH Zurich

Organization Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy D-USYS

Hosts Huber Robert

Topics Agricultural, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences , Mathematical Sciences , Economics