CentER

CentER Society Prize 2009 - 2010

In 2010, the Prize was awarded to the CentER dissertation research receiving the most media attention (based on CentER Dissertations published and cited in the media between 2004-2009). This media attention includes hits mostly in Dutch national publications such as the Volkskrant, NRC, Trouw and regional newspapers (such as Brabants Dagblad and BN/De Stem. In some cases it also includes radio appearances. All the information we used was found in the database compiled by the Communications Department of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

And the winner was.....
Anne Gielen

Voting was open to all CentER Society members, as well as current CentER students.

The nominees were (in alphabetical order):

1. Yvonne Adema, The International Spillover Effects of Ageing and Pensions


2. Anne Gielen, Age-Specific Labor Market Dynamics


3. Peter Kroos, The Incentive Effects of Performance Measures and Target Setting


4. Ralf van der Lans, Brand Search


5. Robert Rooderkerk, Optimizing Product Lines and Assortments
6. Arne de Vet, The Effects of Thinking in Silence on Creativity and Innovation

Yvonne Adema, currently with Erasmus School of Economics

Date of defence: 30 May 2008
Dissertation title: The International Spillover Effects of Ageing and Pensions
Promotors: Lex Meijdam, Harrie Verbon
Abstract:
In the coming decades many developed countries will be confronted with the ageing of their populations. As capital markets have become increasingly integrated, citizens of one country will also be affected by ageing and the policy measures taken in response to ageing in other countries. In other words, open economies have to cope with the international spillover effects of ageing via capital markets. This thesis analyses how countries that rely to a different extent on PAYG pensions affect each other during an ageing episode.

Anne Gielen, currently with IZA, Bonn

Date of defence: 11 January 2008
Dissertation title: Age-Specific Labor Market Dynamics
Promotor: Jan van Ours
Abstract:
Age-specific labor market dynamics is a collection of four studies, which investigate how labor market flexibility can contribute to achieving a better allocation of labor in the economy. The focus lies on several aspects of flexibility: labor mobility, flexible wage schemes, and flexibility in working hours. The effects of flexibility are studied using panel data and matched worker-firm data, which allow to uncover labor supply and labor demand relations that determine individual labor market behaviour.

Peter Kroos, currently with VU University Amsterdam

Date of defence: 29 May 2009
Dissertation title:The Incentive Effects of Performance Measures and Target Setting
Promotor: Jan Bouwens
Abstract:
Lavish executive compensation packages, and bonuses awarded to executives by financial institutions that only just received government bailouts, have fueled the currently popular perception that compensation is primarily determined by powerful managers granting themselves excessive compensation tenuously related with performance. This thesis challenges the widespread public notion that managerial power represents the primary determinant of compensation design by examining to what extent choices about performance measures, targets, and incentives are informed by agency theory.

Ralf van der Lans, currently with Rotterdam School of Management

Date of defence: 16 June 2006
Dissertation titleBrand Search
Promotors: Rik Pieters, Michel Wedel
Abstract:
Consumers frequently buy the products they find most easily. This has forced manufacturers and retailers to invest in package design, shelf layouts, and expensive advertising campaigns to facilitate findability of their products. Surprisingly, there is no research in marketing that investigates how consumers localize products, which we call brand search. This dissertation investigates the brand search process and develops a statistical model that describes the eye movements of consumers while they are searching for a specific product. The proposed model uncovers the search strategies of consumers and suggests which marketing tools manufacturers and retailers may use to influence this process.

Robert Rooderkerk, currently with Tilburg University

Date of defence: 15 June 2007
Dissertation title: Optimizing Product Lines and Assortments
Promotors: Harald van Heerde, Tammo Bijmolt
Abstract:
How should manufacturers and retailers optimize the sets of products they offer? Increasing product proliferation forces firms to solve these complex optimization problems ever more frequently. While the existing literature has made some headway in solving these problems, the three essays in this dissertation advance current knowledge on several important dimensions. The first essay augments the standard product line design problem by incorporating insights from behavioral decision making to account for the influence of context effects on consumer choices. The second essay develops a parsimonious yet flexible sales model and an efficient approach to optimize the retail assortment optimization problem based on store-level scanner data. The third essay studies the influence of parameter uncertainty on the optimal assortment composition. By integrating techniques and insights from consumer behavior, marketing, statistics, and operations research, the three essays in this dissertation address the product line and assortment optimization problems that are of central importance to marketing.

Arne de Vet, currently with De Vet Management

Date of defence: 16 November 2007
Dissertation title: The Effects of Thinking in Silence on Creativity and Innovation
Promotor: Harry Barkema
Abstract:
This dissertation consists of three empirical studies on the effects of thinking in silence on creativity and innovation. In these studies I use a social psychology and cognitive psychology lens to study creativity and innovation at the individual and at the team level of analysis, using randomized experiments to test hypothesized causal relationships. In the first study I find that when the ability to modify self-presentation is low and the sensitivity to expressive behavior of others is high, thinking in silence has a positive impact on individual creativity. In the second study, I theorize and find supportive evidence that the creativity of groups can be enhanced by punctuating group debate with a short intermezzo for thinking in silence, especially if there is at least one team member with relatively low extraversion. In the last study, I shift focus from creativity (idea generation) to idea selection and find that thinking in silence (as opposed to group debate) leads to more decisions in favor of radical innovations, when the team's average ability to modify self-presentation is low. If the latter is high, thinking in silence leads to more decisions in favor of incremental innovations. Across the three studies, I find that in a number of defined situations thinking in silence has a positive effect on creativity and (radical) innovation. In specific other situations, the effect is neutral or even negative, suggesting that thinking aloud (individual level) or group debate (group level) may be called for.