ZEW Researchers Honoured for Outstanding Achievements
AwardsZEW Sponsors' Association Prizes Awarded for the Eighth Time
On 8 December 2025, the ZEW Sponsors’ Association awarded for the eighth time prizes for outstanding research and policy advisory projects at ZEW. The two awards were presented during an event that featured a talk by Professor Monika Schnitzer, chair of the German Council of Economic Experts and professor at LMU Munich.
Excellence of ZEW publications greater than ever
This year’s “Prize for the best scientific performance” was awarded to four researchers, honouring the following works:
- Prof. Dr. Tabea Bucher-Koenen et al., for the paper “Gender Differences in Financial Advice”, published in the A+ journal American Economic Review.
- Dr. Yulia Evsyukova et al. for the paper “Linkedout? A Field Experiment on Discrimination in Job Network Formation”, published in the A+ journal The Quarterly Journal of Economics.
- Prof. Dr. Adrian Hillenbrand for his paper “Strategic Inattention in Product Search”, published in the A+ journal Management Science.
- Prof. Dr. Nicolas Ziebarth et al. for the paper “German Long-Term Health Insurance: Theory Meets Evidence”, published in the A+ Journal of Political Economy.
In his laudatory speech, Dr. Ralph Rheinboldt, chairman of ZEW Sponsors’ Association, stated: “Excellent publications are the indicator of research quality in economics. In the past few months, ZEW has succeeded in publishing no less than four papers in leading scientific journals – so-called A+ journals. This outstanding achievement deserves the highest recognition, and we are honouring the scientists who are behind this success.”
Explaining election manifestos and their impact
The “Prize for the best economic policy advising project” went to Professor Holger Stichnoth and Michael Hebsaker from the ZEW Research Unit “Inequality and Public Policy”. They were honoured for their simulation of the financial effects of the political parties’ election manifestos for the 2025 federal election.
With their analyses, the study authors provided valuable explanations of the election programmes, showing how their implementation would affect income distribution and public funds. Through a cooperation with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the reach of the publication of the research results was extraordinary and the study triggered an intensive public debate. Press Officer Fabian Oppel from ZEW’s Communications Unit was also honoured for the great media response.
Ann-Kristin Stetefeld, deputy chairwoman and treasurer of the Sponsors’ Association, explains the jury’s decision: “This work is exactly what we expect from independent and effective policy advising. It is a prime example of the very high relevance evidence-based research findings can have for the general public. During the last federal election campaign, the ZEW analyses were an extremely valuable decision-making aid for all voters.”
General assembly confirms new board members and decides to support research project
Prior to the award ceremony, the General Assembly of the Sponsors’ Association confirmed two new board members, namely Dr. Virginia Bastian, Head of People and Culture at Roche Diagnostics GmbH, and Jan Berg, member of the Executive Board of MLP Banking AG and member of the Executive Board of MLP SE. The extension of the terms of office of Karin Dohm, Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Bahn AG since 1 December, and of Dr. Ralph Rheinboldt, member of the Executive Board of FUCHS SE, was also confirmed by the general assembly; Rheinboldt will also continue to serve as chair of the board.
ZEW doctoral students Hannah Gundert and Julia Spix have a special reason to celebrate. The Sponsors’ Association has decided to fund their research project “Assessing the Tax Implication of Digital Nomad Visas in the EU” in the period 2026/27. The young researchers are investigating how visas for digital nomads in the EU are changing cross-border mobility and the effective tax burden for digital nomads and how this is creating new flexibility for employees, employers and the self-employed.
ZEW Sponsors’ Association
The ZEW Sponsors’ Association for Science and Practice provides funding for practice-relevant research projects, supports the organisation of ZEW lecture series with top-level speakers from the areas of politics, business and academia, and has been sponsoring prizes for excellent scientific work and policy advice at the institute since 2018.
The association counts 130 large and medium-sized companies as well as private individuals among its members, who, through their commitment, support ZEW Mannheim as a strong economic research institute in Baden-Württemberg. For further information, please visit the ZEW Sponsors’ Association website (in German only).
