News
Innsbruck-Munich Empirical Economic Research Workshop 2026
From September 18 to 19, 2026, the annual “Innsbruck–Munich Workshop on Empirical Economic Research” took place in Maria Waldrast amid perfect fall weather. The workshop was jointly organized by Andreas Steinmayr (University of Innsbruck) and Joachim Winter (LMU Munich) and brought together 13 participants from the University of Innsbruck and LMU Munich.
Erklär mir die Welt
Andreas Steinmayr in conversation with Andreas Sator from “Erklär mir die Welt” (“Explain the World to Me”).The podcast episode explores one of the most important breakthroughs of the past 30 years, one that hardly anyone has heard of: The Causal Revolution!
Staying Connected 2026
On October 2, the “Staying Connected” alumni event brought together graduates from the business and economics programmes at the buildung of Social Sciences and Economics (SoWi).
Annual Conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik 2026
More than 600 economists from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland gathered at the SOWI (Social Sciences) building of the University of Innsbruck from September 13–16, 2026, as part of the Annual Conference of the Verein für Socialpolitik (German Economic Association).
Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers discussed current economic policy issues and addressed the major challenges posed by an increasingly conflict-ridden and polarized society and global economy.
Book recommendation: "Gemeinsam stark"
The new book by Martin Kocher and Matthias Sutter shows that successful collaboration is based above all on trust. Using examples from sports, research, business, and politics, the authors explain that teams achieve better results when their members work together reliably and pursue common goals.
Statistics: Looking beyond the mean
When it comes to statistics, we usually expect to be informed about what happens “on average”. But sometimes the key information lies in the deviations from that mean: How likely is heavy rain, and how likely is it to remain dry? So-called distributional regression describes not only the mean but also the distribution of possible values. An international team of authors, including three researchers from the University of Innsbruck, demonstrates in Nature Reviews Methods Primers how versatile this method is and how easily it can be applied in practice.
Student of the Year 2026
This year, the economics faculties at the University of Innsbruck are honoring Laura Lentz with the title “Student of the Year in Management and Economics.” The Luxembourg native will receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros for this award, which is provided by the Bank Austria Foundation.
Euregio Doctoral Colloquium in Economics 2026
Early-Career Research in Exchange Between Bozen-Bolzano, Innsbruck, and Trento
On 10 and 11 June 2026, the Euregio Doctoral Colloquium in Economics (EDCE) took place at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano co-organized by Professor Heiner Schumacher of the University of Innsbruck. The two-day event brought together doctoral students in economics from the Universities of Bozen-Bolzano, Innsbruck, and Trento, offering a collegial setting for presentations, feedback, and academic exchange.
Archiv
Philippines in the focus of migration research
Over one million Filipinos leave their country every year to work. The high emigration figures not only concern the Philippine state, but also the economist Andreas Steinmayr. In July 2024, he resumed a long-standing collaboration with the Philippine Department of Immigration, providing researchers with valuable insights into migration dynamics.
One-time Cooperation Decisions Unaffected by Increased Benefits to Society
A recent study published in PNAS highlights a critical gap in our understanding of cooperative behavior in highly-relevant and pervasive single-encounter settings.
Cooperation is one of the most defining characteristics of humankind. Until now, it was considered certain that people are more likely to cooperate if the benefits from cooperation are higher. Traditionally, cooperation in public good contexts has been studied through repeated interactions, where individuals can build trust and reciprocal relationships, adjusting their behavior based on the actions of others. However, many real-world, naturally occurring situations, such as volunteering or donating to crisis relief efforts, are one-time decisions with no obvious future interactions or relationships to consider. This research explores how individuals cooperate when they only have one opportunity to cooperate in a social group, not knowing the identity of other group members.
Building Connections and Knowledge
The fourth Innsbruck-Munich Empirical Economics Workshop took place in late September, set at the scenic location of Maria Waldrast. Organized by Prof. Andreas Steinmayr (University of Innsbruck, Public Finance) and Prof. Joachim Winter (LMU Munich, Economics), this annual event provides junior researchers from both universities with a valuable platform to present their latest work and gain constructive insights from peers and senior colleagues alike.
SoWi Faculty Award 2024
The ceremony for the SoWi Faculty Award, which was awarded by the Faculty of Economics and Statistics and the Faculty of Business Administration Innsbruck for the sixth time this year, took place on 24 September 2024 on the premises of the SOWI Faculty. Once again this year, a total of 6 theses were honoured, whose authors had dedicated themselves with commitment and curiosity to a business administration or economics topic.
Student of the Year 2024
Jakob Walser from Vorarlberg was awarded the prize Student-of-the-Year in Management and Economics 2024 of the Faculties of Economics at the University of Innsbruck. The award comes with prize money of 2,000 euros, sponsored by the Bank Austria Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Research.
Workshop in Empirical Macroeconomics 2024
On April 4-5, 2024, the second Workshop in Empirical Macroeconomics took place at the University of Innsbruck in cooperation with the Liechtenstein Institute. The workshop was aimed at researchers from academia and practice who investigate business cycle fluctuations and associated economic policy challenges using macroeconomic methods and innovative utilization of economic data.
Teaching competence certificate (Zertifikat Lehrkompetenz) for Marica Valente
The faculty congratulates Marica Valente on obtaining the certificate for teaching competence. In her final thesis, Marica Valente dealt with "Reducing the gender gap: The role of competition and feedback in teaching". When individuals or groups compete with each other, they strive to improve their skills, knowledge and performance in order to outperform their peers. Lecturers could incorporate direct competition as a teaching element to intensify learning through the active and competitive participation of students.
Teaching Competence Certificate for Reto Stauffer
With his final thesis "R Zusatzübungen: Optional offer for self-study", Reto Stauffer has received his certificate of teaching competence. The Faculty congratulates him warmly.
As part of the "Statistical Data Analysis" module, Reto Stauffer has created a further non-binding offer for the summer semester 2023, which enables students to consolidate their use of the open source software R/RStudio in self-study to accompany the lecture/proseminars.