Prize of the Provincial Capital of Innsbruck for Research & Innovation at MCI

At a festive ceremony in the Civic Hall of the Old Town Hall, Deputy Mayor Christine Oppitz-Plörer recently presented the coveted Award of the Provincial Capital of Innsbruck for Research and Innovation at the MCI. The two award winners, Anita Zehrer and Thomas Stöckl, impressed not only with their outstanding research work, but also with their extraordinary careers.

FH-Prof. PD MMag. Dr.habil. Anita Zehrer coordinates the research agendas for the area of Business & Society at the MCI and has headed the Family Business Centre since 2016. She convinced the jury with her research topic "Entrepreneurship in Tourism - Entrepreneurial Behaviour of Service Enterprises illustrated by the Example of Tourism". With her excellent academic work, she closes an important gap in business management research and, with her findings, provides an in-depth approach to specific entrepreneurial behaviour in predominantly owner-managed service companies.

PD Dr. Thomas Stöckl, who holds a habilitation in financial market economics, is deputy head of the Department of Economics & Management and heads the English-language Bachelor's programme "Business & Management". The prize of the Provincial Capital of Innsbruck is awarded for his "research work on the investigation of situations in which financial markets are characterised by the presence of asymmetric information distribution". He applies methods of experimental financial market research in the otherwise difficult to research topic area and thus contributes to a better understanding of insider trading on financial markets and to the discussion on the meaningfulness of regulatory measures.

"Scientific quality, degree of innovation as well as economic and social relevance are particularly important criteria when awarding this prize," Vice Mayor Christine Oppitz-Plörer emphasised. "The two selected meet the criteria to a high degree and have more than earned the award."

Michael Kraxner, Head of Research & Development at the MCI, congratulated the award winners, whose prize-winning research work stands out not only for its exceptional scientific relevance, but also for its economic and social significance. "I congratulate Anita Zehrer and Thomas Stöckl on their scientific work, which makes a significant contribution to the further development of the Entrepreneurial University®. However, my thanks also go to the Provincial Capital of Innsbruck, namely Deputy Mayor Christine Oppitz-Plörer, who make it possible to award this valuable prize."

The "Prize of the Provincial Capital of Innsbruck for Research and Innovation at the Management Center Innsbruck" was awarded for the first time in 2017. The MCI conducts the annual call for entries and proposes the prize winners. The City of Innsbruck provides the prize money of 5,000 euros. The City Senate decides to award the prize(s) to the person(s) announced annually to the Municipality of Innsbruck by the MCI.