Call for proposals

The Gustav Stolper Award is awarded to outstanding scientists who have employed the findings of economic research to influence the public debate on economic issues and problems, and have made ​​important contributions to understanding and solving contemporary economic problems.

The award is named after the economist and journalist Gustav Stolper (1888 - 1947) who became co-editor of the Austrian journal "Österreichischer Volkswirt" in 1913 and was founder and editor of various economic publications.

All members of the Verein für Socialpolitik are hereby invited to propose possible award winners with a short appreciation of their special merits in the sense of this award. Self-nominations are permitted.

Please send your proposals by email to the office of the Verein für Socialpolitik (office@socialpolitik.org) by May 03, 2024.

The following criteria apply for the selection of the award winner:

a) Content criteria:

• The award winner has made a significant communication achievement outside the scientific process (i.e. either to the general public or in political practice).
• The communication achievement must relate to scientific economic findings.
• Ideally, the scientific findings are the result of their own research.
• The achievement of the award winner can also consist of the implementation and application of existing findings, models and theories to specific current problems.
• The contributions have an influence on political decisions or on the discussion in politics, in the media and/or in the general public.

b) Further criteria regarding the awarding of the prize:

• There should be a close connection to the Verein für Socialpolitik - either through association with the German-speaking region or through membership of the Verein für Socialpolitik.

The Stolper Award is awarded irrespective of the age, and scholars may be honored only once.

Gustav Stolper was born in Vienna on July 25, 1888. He completed his studies in economics and law with a doctorate in 1911.

In 1913 he became co-editor of the "Österreichischer Volkswirt". He gained an increasingly influential position in questions and problems of economics and was involved as an Austrian delegate in 1919 in the financial Anschluss negotiations of that time.

In 1925, he moved his economic journalism career to Berlin, where he served as editor-in-chief for politics and economics of the "Berliner Börsen-Courier" and the German weekly "Der Deutsche Volkswirt, Zeitschrift für Politik und Wirtschaft."
He was a member of the executive board of the German Democratic Party and entered the Reichstag in the 1930 elections as the top candidate of the newly founded state party. The Nazi regime expelled Stolper to the United States, where he worked as an economic advisor to Herbert Hoover, among others.

Stolper died in New York on December 8, 1947. In addition to his activities as editor-in-chief and publisher of various relevant economic journals, a number of publications ("Das Mitteleuropäische Wirtschaftsproblem," "Deutschösterreich als Sozial- und Wirtschaftsproblem," "German Realities") bear witness to his interest in and commitment to current economic and financial policy in the German-speaking world.