Renowned Innovation Economist Takes Over as Unit Head

Professor Hanna Hottenrott will head the ZEW Research Unit “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics”, starting in April 2023. The role of unit head is linked to her professorship in economics of innovation at the Technical University of Munich’s School of Management, which she has held since 2016. Hanna Hottenrott has been a Research Associate at ZEW Mannheim since 2008. Her research and teaching activities focus on issues related to the economics of innovation, science and technological change.

“We are very pleased to welcome Hanna Hottenrott at ZEW. She is a renowned scientist in the field of innovation and operations research. Among other things, she wants to advance research on sustainable innovations through green start-ups. This is a perfect match, as the transformation of the European economies is one of our main areas of interest,” says ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.

ZEW Managing Director Thomas Kohl emphasises: “Hanna Hottenrott will help us to further enhance the international orientation of the research unit. She is perfectly familiar with the data of the Mannheim Innovation Panel (MIP) and the Mannheim Enterprise Panel (MUP). In addition, we are very much looking forward to the new impulses she will provide with her research on business start-ups.” Professor Hanna Hottenrott explains: “It was an easy decision, because the unit’s research topics are very important to me. ZEW is a unique and highly renowned European research institute that offers ideal conditions to advance innovation research. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to combine research and policy advice.”

After studying economics at Heidelberg University, Hanna Hottenrott worked as a researcher in the Department of Managerial Economics, Strategy and Innovation at KU Leuven from 2006 to 2013 and received her PhD in 2010. She then worked as an assistant professor of economics with a focus on industrial economics at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) at Heinrich Heine University before being appointed university professor at TUM in 2016. Her research interests lie in the field of innovation and industrial economics as well as applied microeconometrics. She works primarily in the field of innovation and science policy.

The Research Unit “Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics” investigates the behaviour of firms under dynamic market conditions using empirical analyses. In their projects, the researchers in the unit identify challenges faced by firms and economic policymakers, and analyse and evaluate government economic policy and business strategies.