ZEW Economist Simon Reif Named Thought Leader of 2021 by Handelsblatt and Boston Consulting Group

Dr. Simon Reif, health economist and head of the Project Group “Health Care Markets and Health Policy” at ZEW Mannheim, received the award for thought leader of the year 2021 from Handelsblatt and the Boston Consulting Group yesterday in Berlin. He works to boost digitalisation in the health care sector and help policymakers create effective incentives for the population, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With this, Simon Reif is very much in line with the motto of this year’s initiative, “Active drivers of transformation in the pandemic”. “The pandemic has made it very clear that health economic analyses provide important impulses for society. In addition to the acute challenges faced by the health sector during the pandemic, topics such as digitalisation and reasonable remuneration systems are also of major importance. These are all issues we address at ZEW and I am very pleased about receiving this award for our work,” explains Simon Reif.

Simon Reif provides economic policy advice on improving the health care system and investigates behavioural economic and institutional factors influencing the provision of medical services as well as determinants of individual health. He currently focuses on strategies for the evaluation of digital health apps and the design of hospital payment systems. The ZEW Project Group “Health Care Markets and Health Policy”, which he heads, is dedicated to analysing health markets and evaluating health policy measures. The group focuses, among other things, on the analysis of routine, survey and experimental data on the behaviour of health care providers and patients. Their main goal is to identify causal effects of policy instruments using modern econometric methods.

Launched in 2016, the initiative brings together promising next-generation thought leaders with top decision-makers from corporations, SMEs, start-ups, politics, society, science and culture. Jointly they discuss cutting-edge issues and meet for an open exchange of ideas. This year, an independent jury of leading minds from the German business world honours people who have used their ideas to spur on transformation despite the COVID-19 crisis.