Comparative Study

Completing a comparative study on two different countires and the advantages and disadvantages of their economys could be of interest to you. If so, take a look at some of our examples below:

Example comparative study dissertation topic 1:

‘Without fiscal unity- currency unions will always fail’ – what lessons can be learnt from a comparative study of the Prussian Zollverein and the present state of the single currency?

The Zollverein was a coalition of German states formed to manage customs and economic policies within their territories. Established in 1818, the original union cemented economic ties between the various Prussian and Hohenzollern territories, and ensured economic contact between the non-contiguous holdings of the Hohenzollern family. It was expanded between 1820 to 1866 to include most of the German states. With the founding of the North German Confederation in 1866, the Zollverein included approximately 425,000 square kilometres, and had produced economic agreements with non-German states like Sweden and Luxembourg. This dissertation contrasts the economic model of union within the Zollverein with that of the EU and notes the similarities and differences between the problems that each faced with regard to, for instance, the harmonisation of taxes.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Gildea, R. (1987) Borders and barricades: Europe 1800-1914. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Murphy, D.T. (1991) Prussian aims for the Zollverein, 1828-1833′, The Historian, Vol. 53(2), pp. 285-302.