Dr. Rainer Widmann
Ehemaliger wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research
+49 89 24246-568
rainer.widmann(at)ip.mpg.de
Curriculum Vitae
Persönliche Webseite:
Arbeitsbereiche:
Innovations- und Wissenschaftspolitik, Mobilität, Arbeitsmärkte, Anreize in Organisationen, politische Ökonomik
Wissenschaftlicher Werdegang
08/2018 – 08/2024
Postdoc und wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research)
09/2012 – 07/2018
Promotion (Ph.D.) an der Kellogg School of Management. Dissertation: „Essays on Economics of Innovation“
10/2010 – 07/2012
Studium der Volkswirtschaftslehre (M.Sc.) am Vienna Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS)
09/2006 – 01/2010
Studium der Politikwissenschaften (B.A.) an der Universität Wien
09/2006 – 06/2010
Studium der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften (B.Sc.) an der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien
Stipendien und Ehrungen
2017 - 2018
General Motors Research Center Disseration Fellowship, Kellogg School of Management
2012 - 2017
Ph.D. Stipendium, Kellogg School of Management
2011
Austrian Lottery Award, Vienna Institute for Advanced Studies
2010 - 2012
Stipendium des Vienna Institute for Advanced Studies
Publikationen
Artikel in referierten Fachzeitschriften
The Behavioral Additionality of Government Research Grants, International Journal of Industrial Organization 93. DOI
(2024).- There are different forms of public support for industrial R&D. Some attempt to increase innovation by prompting firms to undertake more challenging projects than they otherwise would. Access to a dataset from one such program, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, allows me to examine the effect of research grants on firms' patenting outcomes. My estimates suggest that a government research grant increases the propensity to file a patent application with the European Patent Office by around 12 percentage points. Stronger effects appear for more experienced firms of advanced age. Additional evidence indicates that grants induce experienced firms to develop unconventional patents and patents that draw on knowledge novel to the firm. I interpret the findings in a “exploration vs. exploitation” model, in which grants are targeted at ambitious projects that face internal competition from more conventional projects within firms. The model shows that this mechanism is more salient in experienced firms, leading to a stronger response in behavior for this group of firms.
- Also published as: Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 417
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Swiss Municipalities, Journal of Public Economics, 219 (March). DOI
(2023).- This paper studies the relationship between local personal income tax rates and the attractiveness of municipalities as residential locations for immigrant inventors in Switzerland. Exploiting sharp differences in top income tax rates across state borders, I find an elasticity of the probability that an inventor takes residence in a border municipality with respect to the top net-of-tax rate of around 3.2. Additional evidence suggests that inventors’ residential location choices are consequential for the localization of entrepreneurial activity and local knowledge spillovers.
- Also published as: Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 21-17
Diskussionspapiere
The Behavioral Additionality of Government Research Grants (Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series, Rationality and Competition, 417 ).
(2023).- There are different forms of public support for industrial R&D. Some attempt to increase innovation by prompting firms to undertake more challenging projects than they would otherwise do. Access to a dataset from one such program, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, allows me to examine the effect of research grants on firms’ patenting outcomes. My estimates suggest that a government research grant increases the propensity to file a patent application with the European Patent Office by around 12 percentage points. Stronger effects appear for more experienced firms of advanced age. Additional evidence indicates that grants induce experienced firms to develop unconventional patents and patents that draw on knowledge novel to the firm. I interpret the findings in a exploration vs. exploitation model, in which grants are targeted at ambitious projects that face internal competition from more conventional projects within firms. The model shows that this mechanism is more salient in experienced firms, leading to a stronger response in behavior for this group of firms.
- https://ideas.repec.org/p/rco/dpaper/417.html
- Forthcoming in: International Journal of Industrial Organization Volume 93, March 2024, 103045
Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, Accused Scientists, and Their Research, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 22-18. DOI
(2022).- We study academic consequences of non-academic misconduct for accused researchers at US universities. Focusing on allegations of sexual misconduct, we find detrimental effects on scientific impact, productivity and career. Other researchers are less likely to cite the perpetrator’s prior work after allegations surface. The effect is absent in male-dominated fields and weakens with distance in the co-authorship network, indicating that researchers learn about allegations via their peers. Although we find that alleged perpetrators tend to remain active researchers, they are less likely to be affiliated with a university and publish fewer articles following the incident.
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Swiss Municipalities, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 21-17.
(2021).- This paper studies the relationship between local personal income tax rates and the attractiveness of municipalities as residential locations for immigrant inventors in Switzerland. Exploiting sharp differences in top income tax rates across state borders, I find an elasticity of the probability that an inventor takes residence in a municipality with respect to the top net-of-tax rate of around 4. Additional evidence suggests that inventors’ residential location choices are consequential for the localization of entrepreneurial activity and local knowledge spillovers.
- Available at SSRN
- Also published in: Journal of Public Economics, 219 (March), 104822
Vorträge
22.11.2023
Cross-Border Commuters and Knowledge Diffusion
Universität Linz
Ort: Linz, Österreich
25.10.2023
Sexual Misconduct Allegations, Accused Scientists, and their Research
Universität Luxembourg
Ort: Luxembourg
13.04.2023
Relationship-Specific Risks in Scientific Training and Advisors’ Hold-up Power
Workshop “The Organisation, Economics & Policy of Science”
Ort: München
08.01.2023
Sexual Misconduct Allegations, Accused Scientists, and their Research
ASSA Meeting
Ort: New Orleans, LA, US
22.12.2022
Open Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
Nationalökonomische Gesellschaft WU Winter Workshop, WU Wien
Ort: Wien, Österreich
18.11.2022
Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, Accused Scientists, and Their Research
Seminar, Ohio State University
Ort: Columbus, OH, US
03.11.2022
Open Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
INNOPAT 2022, ZEW Mannheim
Ort: Mannheim
21.10.2022
Open Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
4th Workshop on Local Public Finance and Regional Economics, Universität Bern
Ort: Bern, Schweiz
04.07.2022
Open Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
Geography of Innovation Conference 2022, Bocconi University
Ort: Mailand, Italien
03.02.2022
Open Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
TIME Seminar
Ort: online
19.10.2021
Open-Border Policy and Knowledge Spillovers
DRUID Conference 2021, Copenhagen Business School
Ort: Kopenhagen, Dänemark
13.10.2021
Sexual Misconduct: Do You Separate the Researcher from His Research
CRC Retreat
Ort: Ohlstadt
16.12.2020
Open-Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
Universität Kassel
Ort: online
14.12.2020
Open-Border Policy and Knowledge Diffusion
LMU Innovation Brown Bag
Ort: online
06.09.2020
New Evidence on the Plight of Graduate Students and Post-Docs in US Higher Education
Research Seminar
Ort: online
03.03.2020
Preliminary Evidence on Faculty Deaths and the Swiss’ Border Opening
Research Seminar
Ort: Zugspitze
20.02.2020
Innovation and Networks
LMU Literature Bootcamp
Ort: Prien/Chiemsee
29.01.2020
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes
5th Geography of Innovation Conference
University of Stavanger, RUNIN, Stavanger Centre for Innovation Research
Ort: Stavanger, Norwegen
26.11.2019
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Swiss Municipalities
Seminar, TU München
Ort: München
18.09.2019
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Swiss Municipalities
Seminar, EPFL Lausanne
Ort: Lausanne, Schweiz
26.11.2019
The Effect of Government Research Grants on Firm Innovation Theory and Evidence from Austria
Seminar, Ohio State University
Ort: Columbus, Ohio, USA
17.06.2019
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Swiss Municipalities
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Innovation Seminar
Ort: München
20.05.2019
Immigrant Inventors and Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Swiss Municipalities
Swiss Workshop on Local Public Finance and Regional Economics, University of Lugano
Ort: Lugano, Schweiz
17.05.2019
The Effect of Government Research Grants on Firm Innovation Theory and Evidence from Austria
8th Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung/MaCCI Conference on the Economics of Innovation and Patenting, Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung
Ort: Mannheim
Lehrerfahrung
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
Kellogg School of Management
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
Vienna Institute for Advanced Studies
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien