In 1997 the boards of the Institute of International Business (IIB) at the Stockholm School of Economics, and the European International Business Academy (EIBA) decided to launch a new international award for best PhD thesis in the field of International Business (IB) – The “Gunnar Hedlund Award”. A substantial prize was set up amounting to €10,000.
The Chairman of the jury, Professor Örjan Sölvell remarks: “The idea behind the award was that it should act as a vehicle to stimulate PhD candidates around the world in the field of IB and also to commemorate Gunnar’s important work in the field”.
The following three finalists had a chance to present their theses at the EIBA annual meeting in Oslo, Norway:
Nandini Lahiri, ‘Knowledge Spillovers: The Role of Geography, Technology and Intra-Firm Linkages in the Global Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry’, University of Michigan
Renata Kosova, ‘Do Foreign Firms Crowd Out Domestic Firms? Evidence from the Czech Republic’, University of Michigan
Taco H. Reus, ‘A Knowledge-Based View of International Acquisition Performance’, College of Business, The Florida State University
The winner this year is
Renata Kosova.
Professor Örjan Sölvell remarks:
“Renata Kosova has written a novel piece in the heart of the field of International Business. The issues of competitive dynamics, firm survival, and foreign entry into a domestic market are central to IB research, particularly the field of host country impact. Renata’s work sheds new light onto these issues.
In her study of foreign entry into the Czech economy - an economy in rapid transition - we can see how the presence of foreign firms impact the survival and exit patterns of domestic firms. The literature in this field, point both to an upside where entry of multinational firms bring new technologies and new capital, but also a downside of lost jobs and destroyed firms. This thesis shows clear evidence of a static crowding out effect following from foreign entry, but also a dynamic effect where surviving domestic firms over time benefit from foreign entry through spillovers. There is a tendency that weaker domestic firms are being forced out of business, whereas stronger firms survive and become even stronger over time, gaining from the foreign presence. This is especially true for technologically advanced domestic firms and less internationalized ones. Furthermore, purely domestic firms seem to benefit more from foreign entrants than do joint ventures involving foreign ownership.
The main strength of this thesis is the originality of the topic and the extensive empirical work involving over 6,000 domestic firms over an 8-year period. The author does a very thorough job of bringing in both firm and industry dynamics into the field of host country impact models.
This impressive thesis has the true potential of impacting the field of International Business and therefore worthy of this distinction”.
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The Jury consists of professors:
Peter Buckley, University of Leeds
Danny van den Bulcke, University of Antwerp
Julian Birkinshaw, London Business School
Don Lessard, Sloan School of Management, M.I.T.
Örjan Sölvell, Chairman, IIB