From the left in the picture: Udo Zander, Chairman of Gunnar Hedlund Award, Yamlaksira Getachew, Loyola Marymount University and Philippe Gugler, Chairman of EIBA.

The prize is awarded to the work that in the opinion of the jury has the greatest potential to impact the field of International Business in the future. Both theoretical and empirical contributions are appropriate. Emphasis is put on creativity and originality.

The Gunnar Hedlund Award is an international prize for the best PhD thesis in the field of International Business and was launched in 1997 by the Boards of the Institute of International Business (IIB) at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), and the European International Business Academy (EIBA). The prize sum amounts to €10,000

The Chairman of the jury, Professor Udo Zander 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 International Business and also to commemorate Gunnar’s important work in the field”.

Yamlaksira Getachew, is awarded the Gunnar Hedlund Award 2016 -2018 for his thesis ‘Institutional Voids Investment Purposes, and Foreign Subsidiaries of Multinational Enterprises’. The dissertation is a study of entry and exit of Multinational Companies from Africa, focusing on institutional voids and their impact on divestment. It poses a set of questions that are rarely addressed and opens up novel insights into multinational companies’ investment/divestment activities. The work offers competent modelling and empirical work and uses political theory to explore for instance the role of income inequality in divestment. According to the jury, this dissertation, in the spirit of Gunnar Hedlund, is characterized by both creativity and originality.

The following four finalists presented their theses at the EIBA annual meeting in Poznan, Polen, 13-15 Dec 2018.

• Yamlaksira Getachew, “Institutional Voids Investment Purposes, and Foreign Subsidiaries of Multinational Enterprises”, Loyola Marymount University
• Renate Kratochvil, “Solving Local Problems and Seizing Global Opportunities: An analysis of individuals’ knowledge search behavior”, FHWien der WKW - University of Applied Sciences for Management and Communications 
• Iiris Saittakari, “The Location of Headquarters: Why, When and Where are Regional Mandates Located?”, Aalto University
• Clarissa Elisabeth Weber, “Knowledge, Trust, and Misperception across Institutional Environments”, Georg-August-University Goettingen

From the left in the picture: Yamlaksira Getachew (winner), Udo Zander, Renate Kratochvil, Clarissa Weber, Iiris Saittakari.

For more information please contact: Ms Agneta Carlin (agneta.carlin@hhs.se)