Bachelor Student Prize Winner

Eighteen students completed their bachelor's degree in 2021 with a thesis that was labelled ‘excellent’ by their faculty. Here you will find a short introduction to these excellent theses in the form of an "elevator pitch" from each student, plus a video in which the supervisor briefly addresses the lucky winner.

Amber Rerimassie

  School of Business and Economics | Bachelor Econometrics and Operations Research

"The Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Behaviour Change on the Covid-19 Pandemic in the EU"

Amber's elevator pitch
This thesis researches the dynamic effects of seven non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and behaviour change on Covid-19 infections and deaths in the EU. My methodology consists of an econometric causal model, panel data estimation, and counterfactual analysis. My results indicate that the intensity of human behaviour (measured by Google Maps data) is significantly reduced by the implementation of NPIs. Additionally, imposing all seven measures together significantly reduces infection and death growth rates. Interestingly, a large part of this reduction can be attributed to voluntary behaviour change.