Past conferences
Munich Summer Institute 2023
For the Munich Summer Institute 2023, the former organizing team – Stefan Bechtold (ETH Zurich), Dietmar Harhoff (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition), Joachim Henkel (Technical University Munich), Hanna Hottenrott (Technical University Munich), and Tobias Kretschmer (Ludwig Maximilians University) – were very pleased that Christian Peukert (HEC Lausanne) and Imke Reimers (Northeastern University) joined the team this year. The seventh Munich Summer Institute took place from May 24 to 26, 2023, as an in-person event with around 100 participants. It was preceded by the second MSI Ph.D. Workshop on May 23.
This year’s program of the main conference comprised 3 keynote lectures, 17 plenary presentations and a daily poster session, including a poster slam. The first conference day, which as co-organized by Tobias Kretschmer, Christian Peukert, and Imke Reimers, focused on Creative Industries, Pandemic Push, Regulatory Push, and Algorithmic Pricing. The keynote lecture of the day was held by Nigel Melville (Michigan) on Advancing Environmental Sustainability in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Chaired by Dietmar Harhoff, Joachim Henkel, and Hanna Hottenrott, the presentations of the second conference day related to Knowledge Production, R&D and Death, R&D and War, and R&D, Grants and Taxes. In her keynote lecture Incentives and the Social Fabric of Knowledge Work: Evidence from Field Experiments, Jana Gallus (UCLA) provided evidence from three field experiments to shed light on the effects of non-monetary incentives on knowledge production. Traditionally, the second day was concluded with a hearty dinner in the Bavarian restaurant Zum Franziskaner. During the dinner, Kimia Heidary was awarded the MSI Ph.D. Workshop’s Best Paper Award for her paper on “All is (not) fair in personalized pricing: Antecedents and outcomes of consumer fairness perceptions”.
The final conference day – chaired by Stefan Bechtold, Christian Peukert, and Imke Reimers – covered a broad range of topics reltaed to innovation, including IP & Gender, trademark and patent law, as well as a final paper on innovation in the cannabis market. David Schwartz (Northwestern) gave a keynote presentation on When Companies Choose Inside Counsel: A Case Study from Patents.
On behalf of all organizing parties involved, we thank all speakers, discussants, and attendants for a fascinating Munich Summer Institute 2023. We are already looking forward to the Munich Summer Institute 2024, which will take place from May 22 to 24, 2024!
You can find the MSI 2023 program here. The program of the 2nd MSI PhD Workshop is available here.
Munich Summer Institute 2022
For the very first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, the Munich Summer Institute took place as an in-person event from June 8 to 10, 2022. After over two years of countless zoom meetings, we were especially excited to welcome the MSI community back to Munich. 120 attendants experienced three days of interdisciplinary research comprising three keynote presentations, 17 full paper presentations as well as 34 poster slam presentations.
On day one, keynote speaker Hanna Halaburda (NYU) refreshingly discussed whether bitcoin can help us go green. The paper and poster presentations on that day focused on topics relating to “Privacy & Information”, “Digitization, Strategy & Organization”, “Media”, and “Market Dynamics”. Day two focused on the subject of entrepreneurship & innovation as well as on regulatory aspects and the financing of innovation, including a keynote speech by Nicola Lacetera (Toronto) on “Trust and Social Support: Rethinking the Economics of Innovation in the Age of AI”. Day three offered insights into patent law, privacy law, and copyright-related research in innovation management. It featured a keynote speech by Melissa Wassermann (Texas) who presented her work on the design of the patent office, in particular on ex ante patent examination.
Since its beginning back in 2016, the Munich Summer Institute has aimed to facilitate networking within an international and interdisciplinary research community. Accordingly, the conference was organized jointly by ETH Zurich’s Center for Law & Economics (Stefan Bechtold), the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Dietmar Harhoff), the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management and the Chair of Economics of Innovation at TUM (Joachim Henkel and Hanna Hottenrott), as well as the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization at LMU (Jörg Claussen and Tobias Kretschmer).
We would like thank all our speakers, discussants and attendants for a truly outstanding MSI conference 2022. We look forward to next years’ Munich Summer Institute 2023, which will take place from May 24 to 26, 2023!
You can find the the MSI program 2022 here.
Munich Summer Institute 2021
After the cancellation of the MSI 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were particularly looking forward to the Munich Summer Institute 20201, held online from June 7 to 9, 2021. So were also the 104 conference participants, who enjoyed three days of interdisciplinary exchange. This year, the MSI program consisted of 12 plenary presentations and 31 poster presentations in three poster slams and poster sessions. As in previous years, each conference day also included a keynote speech, addressing the main topic of the respective day.
The first day of the MSI 2021 was organized by LMU’s Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization and focused on digitization, strategy and organization. In this context, keynote speaker and Chief Competition Economist of the EU Commission, Pierre Regibeau, raised important questions regarding competition policy in the digital age. Co-organized by the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition, the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management and the Chair of Economics of Innovation at TUM, the second day of the conference focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. In her keynote speech, Professor Reinhilde Veugelers (KU Leuven) addressed challenges of public funding for risky research, during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.
Organized by ETH Zurich’s Center for Law & Economics, the third conference day was dedicated to law & economics of intellectual property, innovation and digitization. Professor Chris Sprigman (NYU) presented his theoretical and experimental investigation of the role of consumer uncertainty in trademark law.
First organized in 2016, the MSI aims to facilitate networking within the research community, thereby fostering the international exchange of ideas and new projects. The conference is organized jointly by ETH Zurich’s Center for Law & Economics (Stefan Bechtold), the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition (Dietmar Harhoff), the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management and the Chair of Economics of Innovation at TUM (Joachim Henkel and Hanna Hottenrott), as well as the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization at LMU (Jörg Claussen and Tobias Kretschmer).
We would like to thank all our speakers, discussants and attendants for an inspiring Munich Summer Institute 2021! We look forward to the Munich Summer Institute 2022, which will take place — hopefully physically in Munich — from June 13-15, 2022.
You can find the the MSI program 2021 here.
Munich Summer Institute 2019
For the fourth time in a row, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities opened its’ time-honored doors for the Munich Summer Institute (MSI) 2019 from June 17-19, 2019. A total of 114 attendants experienced three days of interesting interdisciplinary program comprising 19 paper presentations and discussions as well as an overall number of 27 contributions to the poster slams. Additionally, each conference day also entailed a keynote speech embedded in the research theme of the respective event day.
On day one, which was organized by the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization and centered around innovation-related topics on strategy, digitization and organization, Robert Seamans refreshingly discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on labor. Event day two was organized by the Center for Law & Economics of ETH Zurich and offered interesting insights into patent law and copyright-related research in innovation management, including an intriguing keynote speech by Catherine Tucker (“Algorithmic Bias”). Co-organized by both the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition and the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management of TUM, day three of the conference focused on the subject of entrepreneurship & innovation as well as on regulatory aspects and the financing of innovation with keynote speaker Alfonso Gambardella discussing a scientific approach to entrepreneurial decision-making.
Since its beginning back in 2016, MSI aims to facilitate networking within the research community, therefore fostering the international exchange of ideas and to inspire for new projects. Accordingly, the conference is set up as a joint project organized by the Center for Law & Economics of ETH Zurich (Stefan Bechtold), the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition (Dietmar Harhoff), the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management of TUM (Joachim Henkel) and the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization of LMU (Jörg Claussen and Tobias Kretschmer).
We thank all organizing parties involved including our speakers, discussants and attendants for a truly outstanding MSI conference 2019 and we look forward to next years’ Munich Summer Institute 2020, which will take place from June 2 to 4, 2020!
You can find the the MSI program 2019 here.
Munich Summer Institute 2018
On June 4-6 at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Munich Summer Institute (MSI) 2018 entered its third year of existence, and did so together with 119 attendees united by their interest on interdisciplinary research in the broader field of innovation. Embedded in a diverse and interesting program of 18 paper presentations and discussions as well as a record of 31 poster slams in total, each conference day also entailed a key note speech addressing the research topic of the respective event day.
Since its initiation back in 2016, MSI aims to facilitate networking within the research community, therefore fostering the international exchange of ideas and to inspire for new projects. Following this idea, the conference is set up as a joint project organized by the Center for Law & Economics of ETH Zurich (Stefan Bechtold), the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition (Dietmar Harhoff), the Chair for Technology and Innovation Management of TUM (Joachim Henkel) and the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization of LMU (Jörg Claussen and Tobias Kretschmer). Offering different approaches on the topic of innovation research, each of the three event days is organized by one or two of the participating chairs and thus represents a certain core research field.
After starting the conference with a short opening statement, day one of this years’ MSI (chairs: Jörg Claussen and Tobias Kretschmer) covered innovation-related topics on strategy, digitization and organization with one of the highlights being the keynote speech of Joel Waldfogel (“Digital Renaissance”). Co-chaired by Dietmar Harhoff and Joachim Henkel, day two of the conference focused on the subject of entrepreneurship and innovation as well as on regulatory aspects and the financing of innovation. Keynote speaker Ashish Arora presented interesting insights on “The Evolution of Corporate Research in America and Implications for Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. Last but not least, event day three (chaired by Stefan Bechtold) offered interesting insights into patent law and copyright-related research in innovation management, including an intriguing keynote speech by Luis Cabral (“Standing on the Shoulders of Dwarfs: Dominant Firms and Innovative Incentives”).
On behalf of all organizing parties involved, we thank all speakers, discussants and attendants for a truly outstanding MSI conference 2018 and are very looking forward to next years’ Munich Summer Institute 2019, which will take place 17 – 19 June 2019!
Please find here the program of Munich Summer Institute 2018.
Munich Summer Institute 2017
A total of 18 paper presentations, 26 poster slams, three key note speeches and summer-like temperatures – these were the ingredients for a highly successful second Munich Summer Institute from 29 – 31 May in Munich. Around 80 internationally recognized researchers traveled to the Bavarian capital to spend three days discussing recent developments and challenges of the interdisciplinary research field of innovation. MSI aims to foster international exchange of the research community and to inspire for new projects.
As in the previous year, MSI was jointly organized by the Center for Law & Economics of ETH Zurich (Stefan Bechtold), the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition (Dietmar Harhoff) and the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization of LMU (Jörg Claussen and Tobias Kretschmer). Each day the program represented the organizers’ respective core research field. Hence, the presentations and poster slams covered topics like strategies and competition mechanisms in technology markets as well as newest findings from entrepreneurship, patent law and innovation research.
We were delighted to welcome our three keynote speakers Aija Leiponen from Cornell University (“The (unfulfilled) Promise of Data Marketplaces”), Mirjam van Praag from Copenhagen Business School (“Women”) as well as Michael Frakes from Duke University (“Procrastination in the Workplace: Evidence from the U.S. Patent Office”).
Many thanks to all contributors for an outstanding conference! We are very looking forward to Munich Summer Institute 2018, which will take place 4 – 6 June 2018.
Please find here the MSI Program 2017.
Munich Summer Institute 2016
The Munich Summer Institute is a newly established annual conference aimed at stimulating a rigorous in-depth discussion of cutting-edge research and establishing a focal point for the interdisciplinary international research community in the broader field of innovation. The Munich Summer Institute allocates 45-minute time slots (including a discussant) to each paper, runs a single plenary track instead of parallel sessions to maintain the focus of conference participants, and provides a space for promising new ideas through short poster slam pitches that serve as teasers for the subsequent poster session.
The first annual conference took place June 20-22, 2016 and about 80 researchers in economics, law, management and related fields at all stages of their careers (from PhD students to full professors) attended the three-day conference as presenters, discussants or attendants. The conference took place in the historic building of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition (MPI-IC) and the Center for Law & Economics at ETH Zurich co-hosted the conference. The conference was primarily financed by a Sapere Aude Grant awarded by the Danish Council for Independent Research, with additional funding provided by the three hosts.
The presentations focused on three specific research areas: On the first day, the talks centered around the topics “Digitization, Strategy and Organization” (chairs: Tobias Kretschmer and Jörg Claussen from ISTO). On the second day, the focus was on “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” (chair: Dietmar Harhoff from MPI-IC). Finally, contributions to the “Law & Economics of Innovation” (chair: Stefan Bechtold from ETH Zurich) were discussed on Wednesday. The program consisted of 18 paper presentations with discussants, 22 poster slams as well as three keynote speeches. Chris Forman (Georgia Institute of Technology) gave the first keynote speech on “The Agglomeration of Invention in the Bay Area”. The second keynote speech on “Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Market for Patents” was delivered by Rosemary Ziedonis (Boston University). The final keynote speech about “The Past, Present and Future of Software IP Protection” was held by Pamela Samuelson (UC Berkeley) on Day 3.
Between sessions, participants could exchange ideas over coffee and snacks. To give participants the opportunity to experience the beautiful city center of Munich, two tours which, among other sights, included the highlights Marienplatz and the standing surfer wave at the “Eisbach”, were organized for Monday and Tuesday. Monday concluded with a barbecue in the courtyard of MPI-IC. On Tuesday evening, the participants first watched the European Championship game between Germany and Northern Ireland before heading to the popular Hofbräuhaus where Shane Greenstein (Harvard Business School) held a dinner speech on “How the Internet Became Commercial”.
Everyone enjoyed three inspiring days filled with vivid discussions along with an entertaining framework program. The Munich Summer Institute 2016 was a resounding success and we look forward to the next conference, scheduled to take place May 29-31, 2017.
For more information about the MSI 2016, have a look into the MSI Program 2016.