Jointly organized by Stefan Bechtold (ETH Zurich), Dietmar Harhoff (MPI and LMU Munich), Joachim Henkel and Hanna Hottenrott (both TU Munich), Tobias Kretschmer and Daniel Obermeier (both LMU Munich), Christian Peukert (HEC Lausanne), and Imke Reimers (Northeastern University), the MSI 2026 featured an ambitious program: a Ph.D. workshop, 24 paper presentations with dedicated discussants, 17 poster slams across two sessions, two keynote lectures, and ample opportunities for informal exchange throughout a welcome reception, a Bavarian conference dinner, and guided city walks through Munich.
A Platform for Emerging Scholars
The MSI Ph.D. Workshop, held on 20 May 2026 ahead of the main conference, has become a well-established tradition, with this year marking its fifth edition. This year’s workshop brought together doctoral researchers working on artificial intelligence, digital platforms, digitalization, innovation, and human capital. Participants presented ongoing work and received detailed feedback from junior faculty and peers alike.
Among the contributors from the Munich research community, Denzel Glandel Tafur (ISTO, LMU School of Management) presented his dissertation project “Social Evaluation of AI-Disclosed Content in a User-Generated Media Commons”, with discussion from Marina Chugunova (MPI). The workshop’s Best Paper Award went to Katarzyna Swiech (Georgia Institute of Technology) for her solo-authored paper “A Tale of Two Zones: The Impact of Time Zones on Collaboration and Knowledge Flow” – a well-deserved recognition of an impressive piece of independent scholarship. The paper examines United States Patent and Trademark Office data on within-state pairs of co-patenting cities – some in the same time zone, some split – to show that even a minimal temporal distance can meaningfully influence inter-regional collaborations. The paper was discussed by Jordan Bisset (MPI).
This year’s Ph.D. workshop was organized by Daehyun Kim (lead), Dominik Asam, and Johannes Könemann (all MPI), together with Chengdi Fa and Svenja Friess (both ISTO).
Three Days of Research at the Frontier
The main conference opened with a session on digital platforms, ecosystems, and market power – a fitting start for a conference whose themes are highly topical. The following days covered a wide arc of contemporary questions: AI and digital knowledge production, decision-making and reputation in digital settings, venture capital and innovation finance, and the law and economics of intellectual property.
Researchers from the Munich community were again strongly represented throughout. Jonathan Jensen and Alexey Rusakov (ISTO Alumni) presented work derived from Alexey’s dissertation: “The Dynamic Returns to Generative AI on Knowledge Breadth vs. Depth: Evidence from GitHub”, discussed by Karin Hoisl (Affiliated Research Fellow at the MPI, and University of Mannheim). Frederike Eulitz (ISTO) served as a discussant in the afternoon session on digital labor markets, drawing on her dissertation research. Manfredi Aliberti (incoming MPI Senior Research Fellow) presented “Beyond the Lab: The Effect of Ph.D. Programs on Innovation”, and Michael E. Rose (MPI Senior Research Fellow) contributed a poster on “Better Science as a Byproduct: The Institutional Revolution in the German Empire”. Elisabeth Hofmeister (MPI Junior Research Fellow) co-authored a paper presented in the closing law and economics session on “Commercial Regulation and the Production of Science: Evidence from New Genomic Techniques in Agricultural Biotechnology”.
Two Keynotes on Big Questions
The conference featured two standout keynote lectures. Hong Luo (University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management) explored the intersections of safety, liability, and innovation. In her keynote, “Regulatory Innovation: Using Health Innovation Policy to Realign Health Care Economics with Today’s Biomedical Innovation Ecosystem”, Ariel D. Stern (Hasso Plattner Institute and University of Potsdam) delivered a wide-ranging talk on regulatory innovation and health care economics, prompting rich discussion across disciplinary lines.
Looking Forward
With its combination of high-level research presentations, a genuinely supportive atmosphere, and strong local roots in Munich’s research community, the MSI continues to offer a uniquely valuable forum for scholars at all career stages. Researchers with interests in innovation, digitalization, entrepreneurship, strategy, or intellectual property are strongly encouraged to consider applying or attending the conference when it returns in 2027. The date will be announced soon (see link below).
Svenja Friess & Myriam Rion
More information: https://www.munich-summer-institute.org/munich-summer-institute