Academy of Management 2026: Double Success for ZHAW International Management Institute
Two prestigious Best Paper Awards for researchers from the ZHAW International Management Institute: At the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Philadelphia, papers by Dr. Matteo Mösli and Prof. Christopher Hartwell as well as by Dr. Siyana Gurova, Dr. Benedikt Zoller-Rydzek and Prof. Florian Keller were recognised with prestigious awards.
The ZHAW International Management Institute (IMI) looks back on a highly successful 2026 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM). Two IMI research teams received prestigious Best Paper Awards at the international conference, highlighting the international visibility and quality of research conducted at the Institute.
Elections do not always deter investment – it depends on who comes to power
Dr. Matteo Mösli and IMI Head Prof. Christopher Hartwell, together with PD Dr. Jakob Müllner, received the IM Division UofSC-Douglas Nigh Best Paper in Multidisciplinary Research Award. Their study, “When the Dust Doesn’t Settle: Electoral Outcomes and Firm Cross-Border Investments”, examines how election outcomes and changes in government affect the cross-border investment decisions of multinational enterprises.
Based on more than 14,000 quarterly investments by multinational enterprises from 80 home countries between 2003 and 2020, the researchers show that elections do not generally lead to a decline in foreign direct investment. Instead, the effects depend on the political characteristics and policy discretion of incoming governments. In particular, higher levels of populist rhetoric and greater political discretion to implement policy changes can lead firms to reduce their investments.
The findings challenge the widespread assumption that elections in themselves represent a heightened investment risk. What matters, rather, is who comes to power following an election and what capacity the new government has to reshape the political and economic environment.
Swiss exporters weather trade shocks through international flexibility
A second award went to Dr. Siyana Gurova, Dr. Benedikt Zoller-Rydzek and Prof. Florian Keller. Their paper, “Exporters Respond to Trade Shocks”, received the Georgetown Best Paper in International Business and Policy Award.
The study examines how Swiss companies responded to the sharp increase in trade policy uncertainty following the announcement of US “reciprocal” tariffs in 2025. It draws on data from the Swiss Managers Survey from 2022 to 2025, comparing how companies with different levels of export exposure assessed their competitiveness before and after the tariff shock.
The results reveal an interesting divergence: Managers at export-exposed firms became significantly more pessimistic about the competitiveness of their products following the tariff shock. At the same time, their confidence in the competitiveness of their companies as a whole remained comparatively high. This suggests that internationally active firms have greater opportunities to adapt to changes in trade policy – for example, by shifting sourcing, production or market activities across different countries.