Dr. Thomas Lindner, currently Assistant Professor at WU’s Institute for International Business received the 2016 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in Management and Governance. The award is sponsored by the academic journal Management Decision. Thomas’ dissertation titled “Financing International Business: Distance, the Cost of Capital, and Financial Structure” was awarded the €1,500 prize because of its significance for theory and practice, its originality and innovation, the appropriateness and application of methodology, and its overall quality. Emerald Group Publishing manages a portfolio of close to 300 academic journals, as well as more than 2,500 books. EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) is an international accreditation body that, among other products, manages the EQUIS accreditation for business schools.

In his dissertation, Thomas worked on the crossroads of International Business and Finance. The integration of international product and financial markets has eroded many barriers that firms had to cross when investing abroad. The same process has also made it easier for firms to obtain funds abroad. However, there persist substantial cross-national differences in regulations and culture that make both investment and raising funds abroad difficult. This leads to imperfect international product and capital markets. Thomas’ dissertation investigates how these market imperfections affect corporate strategy and corporate finance. He explains how cross-national differences in the institutional environment and culture affect how firms can obtain and invest funds abroad. Thomas uses theory on information asymmetry to extend the concept of liabilities of foreignness to the bond market. He explains bond ratings and benchmark spreads as functions of information asymmetry. His dissertation also investigates how institutional differences differently affect how firms expand from developing to developed countries and the other way around.

Thomas defended his dissertation on June 1 2016, and formally obtained his PhD in August 2016. Professor Jonas Puck (Institute for International Business – IIB) and Professor Igor Filatotchev (IIB and Cass Business School) supervised his dissertation. Professor David Reeb (National University of Singapore) and Professor Anne D’Arcy (Institute for Corporate Governance) complemented the dissertation committee. The Institute for International Business at WU is one of the largest research units in International Management in Europe. Thomas has worked at the IIB since September 2013. In spring 2016, he was a visiting PhD student at Stern Business School (New York University). Before his PhD, Thomas obtained degrees in International Management (WU/CEMS) and Physics (University of Vienna), as well as the BSc in Economics and Social Sciences at WU.