‘Students Face Similar Challenges While Working on Their Theses’
The HSE News Service spoke to Prof. Maxim Nikitin, Deputy Director of HSE ICEF and Academic Director of the Master’s in Financial Economics, about the college’s international student body and burgeoning partnerships with foreign universities. We also spoke to Minghao Yan, a graduate from China who was awarded the highest marks for the defence of his master’s thesis on gambling behaviour.
Maxim Nikitin, Academic Supervisor of the Master’s in Financial Economics
Despite geopolitical challenges, ICEF is developing its international format, and in particular is establishing new ties with universities around the world. Right now, our main focus is on China, a country where enormous resources have been poured into its universities and research labs, as well as into bringing back nationals who started their academic careers in the US, Canada, and Western Europe. Leading Chinese universities are moving up in global academic ratings, and therefore ICEF (and HSE as a whole) strives to develop new collaborations in both education and research.
In 2024–2025, ICEF launched three double-degree programmes with Chinese universities: two with the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) in Chengdu at the undergraduate and master’s levels, and one with Fudan University in Shanghai. We also put a lot of emphasis on attracting strong international students from all continents, especially from Asia.
In 2025, ICEF’s Master’s programme in Financial Economics admitted 12 students from China, Ghana, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
We do all that because the laws of economics and finance are the same in all countries; they do not depend on the national traditions, language, or culture. Leading economists from around the world write in English, publish in the same journals, and use the same textbooks in their teaching.
Minghao Yan, graduate of the Master’s in Financial Economics, HSE ICEF
Writing the Thesis
My paper ‘When Winners Gamble More and Losers Don't Stop: A Utility Twist on Human Risk Behavior’ studies why people sometimes behave in a way that seems contradictory: the same person may buy insurance to avoid risk, but at other times willingly engage in gambling or high-risk investments. In everyday life, this looks puzzling.
Traditional economics explains this by assuming a particular shape of preferences, but it does not explain why those preferences arise. I argue that the key is not only how much money people have, but how they see themselves in society.
People care about their social status—their position in the wealth distribution—and they also have an aspiration, meaning a level they feel they should reach. This aspiration is shaped by the surrounding wealth distribution and is often a moving target: as individuals move upward, what they consider ‘enough’ also changes. In this sense, aspiration resembles the myth of Sisyphus—always close, yet never fully reached. Falling short of aspiration creates psychological pressure, sometimes leading to deep frustration, and sometimes motivating individuals to adopt a ‘high-risk, high-return’ strategy.
A central concept in my paper is the social framing threshold. Below this threshold, individuals compare themselves with the whole society. Once they cross it, they shift their comparisons to a smaller and wealthier group, so that as people move upward, their competitors naturally become stronger.
This change in social framing has important consequences. When the comparison group becomes narrower and richer, falling short of aspiration feels more painful. As a result, some individuals become temporarily more willing to take risks in order to move upward faster. At the same time, others are harmed—or even destroyed—by this process, because intensified comparison turns risk-taking into a trap rather than a path upward.
Importantly, the model shows that this does not imply that everyone in the middle class becomes a gambler. Under certain conditions, the economy contains a stable middle class—a group of individuals who have no incentive to engage in gambling and therefore behave in a stable and cautious way, even though risk-taking exists elsewhere in the wealth distribution. More broadly, at the level of individual life choices, this suggests that aspirations need to be set in a way that maximises motivation rather than becoming so demanding that they undermine progress and destroy the incentive to move forward.
Prof. Runjie Geng, my academic supervisor, played a significant role throughout the writing process. Theoretical papers can easily go off-track, and he helped me stay focused on the core research direction while providing substantial feedback. One of his most valuable recommendations was made near the end: we decided to simplify the model’s assumptions without compromising the validity of the main results.
Challenges and Highlights
I believe many students face similar challenges while working on their theses. For empirical work, one often struggles with data processing or choosing the most appropriate econometric model. For theoretical work like mine, solving complex equations and accurately interpreting their economic implications is particularly demanding. It’s also crucial to write assumptions, definitions, lemmas, theorems, and proofs with full rigor.
My favourite moments were those peaceful times after a cup of coffee, when I was fully focused—reading, thinking, and engaging in a kind of intellectual dialogue with the papers I studied
When I managed to synthesise these insights, formalise them in my own equations, and successfully solve them, I realised the ‘skeleton’ of my thesis had finally emerged. That was when the topic truly felt like it belonged to me.
The Defence
I received a grade of 9/10 for my defence. Overall, I was able to answer almost all the questions. One of the more challenging ones was about the relationship between wealth, consumption, and class stratification. Fortunately, I had thought about this topic in depth and discussed it with Prof. Runjie Geng beforehand. Assuming linear relationships in a simplified setting turned out to be a valid and effective approach in answering this question.
I believe my work received the highest grade due to my extensive reading and deep, continuous reflection. Even after submitting my thesis, I kept thinking about the core questions and challenged my own assumptions.
My habit of constantly questioning and refining my arguments played a crucial role in the thesis's quality
Putting Learning into Practice
The first-year courses—Advanced Macroeconomics, Advanced Microeconomics, Advanced Econometrics, and Mathematics for Economists—were particularly important to my research. I still revisit them regularly. While these courses may not directly apply to every aspect of my thesis, they were essential in shaping my economic thinking. Strengthening mathematical skills, in particular, is crucial, as mathematics provides the foundational logic of economics.
I believe that understanding the relationship between mathematics and economics is key to conducting meaningful research
It's not about favouring one over the other, but about allowing them to complement each other. Rigorous mathematics grounds economic theory within a well-defined framework, enhancing its explanatory power. Without solid theoretical foundations, empirical results may lead to paradoxes or misinterpretation. Only by thoroughly understanding the logic behind both traditional economic theory and econometric methods can we truly unlock the full potential of economics.
The Future
In the future, I aim to focus on experimental finance and combine insights from financial economics and experimental economics to produce meaningful research
I’m currently pursuing a PhD in Theoretical Economics at HSE University in Moscow under the supervision of Prof. Alexander Usvitskiy and am a Research Assistant at the ICEF International Laboratory of Financial Economics. I’ll also be working at the Laboratory for Experimental Economics and Finance (LEEF). I want to especially thank Prof. Usvitskiy for the support he provided during my thesis work.
I have also started an internship opportunity at the Strategic Investment Department of Greenwood, a large international business and trade park in Moscow with a strong background in China–Russia cooperation.
