Kerstin J. Schaefer

Kerstin J. Schaefer is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), since October 2021. She leads the EU-funded project “Disconnected research and development: The (temporary) spatial patterns of innovation” (DISCO), collaborating with Prof Riccardo Crescenzi to analyze global knowledge flows using patent data.

She earned her PhD in Economic Geography (2020) from Leibniz University Hannover, with visiting fellowships at UCLA, Universiteit Utrecht, and Fraunhofer ISI. Her research focuses on economic geography, global knowledge flows, industry standards, and mobility, emphasizing competitiveness of emerging markets and barriers to global participation.

Key projects include investigating participation barriers in automated driving standards (Leibniz grant), digitalization of mobility access (VW Foundation-funded DAc2Mo), and Huawei’s offshore R&D strategies. Awards include the Leibniz Young Investigator Grant and VW Foundation funding.

Her work bridges Economic Geography and International Business Studies, analyzing innovation dynamics in multinational firms and transport policy impacts. Languages: English, French, German.