The Jan Söderberg Family Prize in Economics and Management

A prize worth SEK 1 million for outstanding and ground-breaking research, and a full day dedicated to popular science and interdisciplinary lectures in economics and management – this is the result of a donation from the Jan and Åsa Söderberg family to the Lund University School of Economics and Management.

About the Prize

The Jan Söderberg Family Prize in Economics and Management awards SEK 1 million to a leading international scholar in the field of Economics and Management. The majority of the prize money, 80 per cent, is intended to support the recipient’s research, primarily to enable the recipient to engage younger researchers as employees. The remainder of the money, 20 per cent, is for the recipient to use as he or she pleases.

The Prize is awarded to a prominent researcher in the field of Economics and Management. The Prize shall be awarded to someone under the age of 50. The basis for nominations and the award is:

The Prize shall be awarded to a person who has made a discovery or contribution within the field of Economics and Management of eminent significance and whose work has demonstrably renewed research and application in its domain.

The recipient of the prize will be selected through international competition and proposed in a nomination process at the Lund University School of Economics and Management. The recipient will be appointed by a committee.

Recipients

Professors Marianne Bertrand and Nathan Nunn, have both received the Prize.

Learn more about the recipents

The award ceremony

The Prize shall always be awarded at the Lund University School of Economics and Management, at an event that includes a lecture by the recipient of the prize, as well as a formal award ceremony.

Watch the videos from the Economics and Management Day 24 March 2021

The Economics and Management Day

After the award ceremony we welcome all those interested to a popular science day featuring lectures and talks at the Lund University School of Economics and Management.

Watch the videos from the Economics and Management Day

Prize Committee

The Prize Committee consists of six members: the donor (Jan Söderberg), the dean of the School (also the chair of the committee) and four members who are to be researchers. All research members have to be at least associate professors and two have to be professors within the field covered by the Prize. One or two should be mainly engaged outside of the Lund University School of Economics and Management. One of the members is to be a working member. The four members are appointed by the dean of the School, after consulting with the donor, the group of department heads at the School and the chair of the Senior Corporate Advisory Board at the School.

The Prize Committee for the 2020 Prize consists of:

  • Fredrik Andersson, dean and professor, chair of the committee
  • Jan Söderberg, entrepreneur, one of the inaugurators of the Prize
  • Cristina Chaminade, professor, Department of Economic History, LUSEM
  • Frédéric Delmar, Emlyon Business School, and visiting professor of entrepreneurship, LUSEM
  • Merle Jacob, professor, Department of Business Administration, LUSEM
  • Erik Wengström, professor, Department of Economics, LUSEM, working member of the committee

Nominations

All professors or associate professors at the School as well as all members of the Prize Committee were invited to nominate recipients of the 2020 Prize.

In 2018, the Jan and Åsa Söderberg family donated SEK 3 million to the Lund University School of Economics and Management, with SEK 1 million to be distributed each year. The purpose of the donation is the inauguration of a new prize in Economics and Management and to hold popular science lectures in economics and management in connection with the award ceremony.

“We have supported the School of Economics and Management in different ways for several years. We hope that the prize and the associated events will engage the entire school, its researchers and students, as well as the public. Through this, we want to help raise the profile of the School of Economics and Management in Sweden and hopefully internationally,” said Jan Söderberg when the Prize was announced in late June 2018.

The Lund University School of Economics and Management views the donation as a great opportunity to increase the School’s visibility regionally, nationally and internationally. The School is a leading force in the international research community within the field of Economics and Management and through the award it will attract attention in broad circles within and outside its own field of research. At the same time, it enables the School to be recognised and noted in ways that otherwise would not be possible.

Article about the inauguration of the Prize

Watch the 2019 recipient lecture

Lecture by the 2020 recipient

Last published: 2021-06-22