The 2010 recipient of the world’s most prestigious Award in entrepreneurship research, the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, was announced today. Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School, will receive 100.000 euros for his influential contributions to the field of entrepreneurship research.

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On Wednesday the 10th of February did Professor Edward P. Lazerar share his experiences from his time as the Chief Economic Adviser to president George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. The seminar offered the opportunity to understand the work of shaping the american administrations economic policies across the business cycle.

The international academic publisher Edward Elgar will publish a book by Per Skedinger, Research Fellow and Associate Professor of Economics at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics. In this insightful book, Skedinger provides an overview of the design, evolution and research on the effects of employment protection legislation around the world. The book covers over 100 international studies, dealing with the impact of legislation on productivity, personnel turnover, structural change, perceived job security, and the aggregate level and distribution of employment and unemployment.

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Tobias Krantz talked about IFN as an example of research that is free from outside influence at the Marcus Wallenberg Prize ceremony in late September: “It happened now and then that researchers at the Institute drew conclusions that did not square with what some entrepreneurs thought was appropriate. But when some board members proposed that these reports should be stopped, Wallenberg rejected this outright and recommended instead that those who wanted to censor the research resign from the board.”

Link to the speech

Seventy years have passed since the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (former IUI, and changed to IFN) was founded. The institute has since then been a leading institution in applied research in Sweden and has also figured prominently in the economic policy debate since its inception.

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On September 15–16, a group of international experts on electricity auctions participated in a IFN workshop in Stockholm. The theme was "Designing Electricity Auctions" and the participants discussed policy implications for the design of electricity auctions based on recent scientific findings (theoretical, empirical, experimental or simulated). Among the participants were, to mention some, Lawrence Ausubel (University of Maryland), Nils-Henrik von der Fehr (University of Oslo) and Frank Wolak (Stanford University). The workshop was organized within the IFN Research Program The Economics of Electricity Markets.

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On September 10 - 11, the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) organized an international conference on the economics of ownership, organization and industrial development. The first purpose of the workshop was to contribute to the understanding of the interaction between ownership and organizational form and its effects on firm behavior. The second purpose was to enhance our understanding of the economic effects of private equity and venture capital activity. In particular, the focus was on real economic effects such as effects on innovation, restructuring, productivity, employment, and welfare.

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IFN has invited a group of researchers working on intangible investments for a meeting on September 28–29. The meeting is part of the EU project COINVEST which is financed by the European Commission. Economists from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal, and Sweden will come to Stockholm to measure and compare intangible investments. The meeting is organized by Harald Edquist and Henrik Jordahl.

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We are very sad to report that Robin Douhan passed away on 10 August 2009. He was outstanding both in research and in his personal qualities. Our deepest sympathies go to his family.
 

A well functioning schooling system is important for a number of reasons; for example, schooling is an input in the accumulation human capital, economic well-being and growth. On May 28–29, The Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) organized an international two-day conference of alternative ways to improve schooling.

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As from April 1, 2009, Kristina Börjeson is Communications Officer at IFN. Kristina has eight years experience of Public Affairs, formation of public opinion projects and media relations. Her most recent position was at Trimedia, a Public Relations and Communications Consultancy, where she worked as a consultant focusing at Public Affairs, internal communication, and media relations. Kristina also has experience of working as Project Manager and Press Secretary for different Swedish nongovernmental organizations and Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) in New York.