Prof. Dr. Guido Bünstorf

Guido Bünstorf heads the Economic Policy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group at the University of Kassel and is the spokesperson of the Executive Board of the International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER). In August 2022, he was appointed to the Federal Government’s Commission of Experts on Research and Innovation (EFI). He is also spokesperson of the DFG Research Group 5234 "Multiple Competition in Higher Education", the Graduate School in Economic Behavior and Governance and the INCHER Graduate School.

Guido Bünstorf’s research and teaching activities focus on the interfaces of innovation and higher education research, the economics of science as well as entrepreneurship research and regional economics. Among his research interests are the development dynamics of innovative markets and industries, reforms in the university and science system, the importance of individual mobility for the spatial and organizational transfer of knowledge, and the experimental testing of online trainings for entrepreneurs and other target groups.

Guido Bünstorf studied economics and political science at the University of Freiburg (Breisgau) and the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). He received his doctorate and habilitation from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and was a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Economics. Longer research stays led him to Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California (Berkeley) and Stanford University, among others. From 2016 to 2021, he held a visiting professorship at the University of Gothenburg, where he continues to serve as an advisory board member of the Center on Knowledge-Intensive Innovation Ecosystems (U-GOT KIES).

Asanov, Igor; Åstebro, Thomas; Buenstorf, Guido; Crépon, Bruno; Flores-Taipe, Francisco P.; McKenzie, David et al. (2026): Remote delivery of STEM and entrepreneurship role models at scale changes college major choice in Ecuador. Nature Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02421-8.

Buechele, Stefan; Buenstorf, Guido; Huegel, Matthias; Koenig, Johannes; Theissen, Maria (2026): Is the dominance of graduates from top-tier universities among tenured faculty driven by prestige or output? Evidence from 50 years of university appointments in Germany. Research Policy 55 (3), 105411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105411.

Buenstorf, Guido; Hottenrott, Hanna; Kosmuetzky, Anna; Kruecken, Georg; Meier, Frank; Schaper, Thomas; Schimank, Uwe (2025): Analyzing Constellations of Multiple Competition in Science and Higher Education. Minerva [Online First]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-025-09616-9. 

Buenstorf, Guido; Koenig, Johannes; Otto, Anne (2025): Keeping up with the Max Plancks? Germany’s quest for university excellence and the role of public research institutes in doctoral education. Scientometrics 130, 67–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-024-05195-w.

Konsortium BuWiK (Ed.) (2025): BuWiK 2025. Bundesbericht Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler in einer frühen Karrierephase 2025. Statistische Daten und Forschungsbefunde zu Promovierenden und Promovierten in Deutschland. With assistance of Guido Bünstorf, Johannes König. Bielefeld: wbv. https://doi.org/10.3278/9783763978519.

Asanov, Anastasiya-Mariya; Asanov, Igor; Bünstorf, Guido; Kadriu, Valon; Schoch, Pia (2024): Patterns of dissertation dissemination: publication-based outcomes of doctoral theses in the social sciences. Scientometrics 129, 2389–2405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-024-04952-1.

Asanov, Igor; Asanov, Anastasiya-Mariya; Åstebro, Thomas; Buenstorf, Guido; Crépon, Bruno; McKenzie, David et al. (2024): System-, teacher-, and student-level interventions for improving participation in online learning at scale in high schools. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120 (30), e2216686120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2216686120.

Buenstorf, Guido; Koenig, Johannes; Otto, Anne (2023): Expansion of doctoral training and doctorate recipients’ labour market outcomes: evidence from German register data. Studies in Higher Education 48 (8), 1216–1242. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2188397.

Bode, Rasmus; Buenstorf, Guido; Heinisch, Dominik P. (2020): Proximity and learning. Evidence from a post-WW2 intellectual reparations program. Journal of Economic Geography 20 (3), 601–628. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbz023.

Buenstorf, Guido; Koenig, Johannes (2020): Interrelated funding streams in a multi-funder university system. Evidence from the German Exzellenzinitiative. Research Policy 49 (3), 103924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2020.103924.

Buenstorf, Guido; Heinisch, Dominik P. (2020): When do firms get ideas from hiring PhDs? Research Policy 49 (3), Article 103913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.103913.

Buenstorf, Guido; Engel, Christoph; Fischer, Sven; Gueth, Werner (2016): Non-compete clauses, employee effort and spin-off entrepreneurship. A laboratory experiment. Research Policy 45 (10), 2113–2124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2016.08.005.

Proff, Sidonia von; Buenstorf, Guido; Hummel, Martin (2012): University Patenting in Germany before and after 2002. What Role Did the Professors' Privilege Play? Industry and Innovation 19 (1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2012.649060.