Guido Berends and Hylke Dijkstra win FEB Research Awards 2023

The awards for best PhD thesis and best graduate of the research master were presented at the annual PhD conference held on April 18. Guido Berends won the Best PhD Thesis Award 2023 and Hylke Dijkstra won the Research Master Graduate Award 2023.

Best PhD Thesis Award 2023

Guido Berends obtained his PhD degree (cum laude) on November 11, 2023. His thesis “Managing the Aftermath of Corporate Misconduct: Firm Responses and Stakeholder Evaluations” was supervised by Professor Jordi Surroca (now working at the University of Liverpool Management School) and Dr. Björn Mitzinneck of FEB. In his thesis, Berends addresses a highly relevant topic: how firms respond to controversial events to influence stakeholders’ perceptions. He deals with multiple relevant dimensions of the phenomenon, including the influence of multiple corrective actions following controversial events, of non-formal communication (CEOs’ affective displays), and of heterogeneity in stakeholders. The thesis’ topical focus is not only academically relevant but also of pronounced societal consequence. The chapters of the thesis hold both important practical implications for monitors of firms, the general public, and corporate leaders. Guido is now working at the Amsterdam Business School (University of Amsterdam) as a postdoctoral researcher.

Read more about Guido Berends’ research.

Research Master Graduate Award 2023

Hylke Dijkstra graduated from the research master in Economics & Business with an average grade of 8.8 and a 9 for his thesis “Untangling a Spider's Web: Seperating the Impact of Trade and Technology on US employment”, which was supervised by Professor Erik Dietzenbacher. Dijkstra’s thesis deals with a highly relevant issue, both from a scientific and a societal perspective.That is, how changes in trade structures and changes in production technology have changed US employment. In addition, the thesis also examines who the winners and losers are in this changed labor market. Although the question is not new, Dijkstra's approach is different from what others have done before him. Extending the traditional shift-share accounting method from two components to 17 components allowed him to model exactly the changes in trade structure he is interested in and the same holds for the changes in production recipes. Dijkstra is now working as a PhD candidate at FEB.