Courses, Theses and Internships (BSc, MSc, PhD)

The Economics of Consumers and Households Group participates in a number of study programmes and specialisations at Wageningen University at the undergraduate (BSc) graduate (MSc) and PhD level.

ECH Courses

  • Economics B (ECH-10406)
  • Economics of Health and Care (ECH-11806)
  • Microeconomics (ECH-21806)
  • Economics of Consumption, Welfare and Society (ECH-22306)
  • Economics and Sociology of Consumers and Households: The Limits to Consumption and Bounded Consumer Rationality (ECH-30306)
  • Consumer Decision Making (ECH-31306)
  • Advanced Microeconomics (ECH-32306)
  • Behavioral & Experimental Economics (ECH-51306)

A complete overview of our BSc and MSc courses can be found by visiting the Study Handbook website.

Bachelor and Master Thesis

Students from Wageningen University can write their Bachelor or Master thesis with the Economics of Consumers and Households (ECH) chair group. Below you will find a list of ECH members with their topics of expertise. If you see a topic that you find interesting you can contact the individual staff members to make an appointment.

For more information on thesis topics and supervision please contact Johan van Ophem

Possible Thesis Topics


Gerrit Antonides

  • Time Preference
  • Endowment Effect
  • Mental Accounting
  • Financial Capability
  • Consumer Behavior
  • Food Choice
  • Sustainability
  • Tax Compliance

Michel Handgraaf

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Social Psychology
  • Experimental Research
  • Environmental Decision Making
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Ethical Behavior
  • Ultimatum Bargaining
  • Bargaining
  • Interdependence

Pierre von Mouche

Johan van Ophem

BSc Theses

  • The role of mental budgeting in financial management of self‐employed people in the Netherlands
  • The new European energy Label: Factors that determine the effectiveness of environmental labeling
  • Cooperation in asymmetric prisoner’s dilemmas: Communication as a means to enrich the Tit-for-Tat Strategy
  • Influence of endowment on product choice through regulatory focus
  • Income and happiness
  • Consumentenvertrouwen en de economische crisis
  • Wat maakt het wonen in een gezamenlijk beheer project voor een groter publiek aantrekkelijk?
  • Welke factoren beïnvloeden de keuze voor light producten?
  • Mediagebruik naar leeftijd, geslacht, opleiding en inkomen.
  • Gezondheid en SES
  • Gezondheid en jongerenwerkloosheid.
  • Geluk in transitie-economieën.
  • Vrijetijdsgedrag en SES
  • Kwaliteit van kinderen


MSc Theses

  • The effects of co-creation on brand and product perceptions
  • The too-much-choice effect
  • Choosing sustainable food
  • The role of mental budgeting in financial management of self‐employed people in the Netherlands
  • Financial management of the youth
  • Identification of domestic drivers and barriers of self-employment
  • The changing world of children and their quality
  • Reinsurance of micro-health insurance
  • Self-licensing in environmental decision making
  • The role of signalling and status in environmental investment and consumption behavior
  • Incentivising proenvironmental behaviour in a student residence/hotel setting: A field experimental study


PhD  Courses and Opportunities

For more information on our PhD courses and other external education activities please contact our education coordinator Johan van Ophem.

Interested in doing your PhD research at Wageningen University? Go to the Wageningen University PhD Site for further information.