Meet Our New Faculty: Imke Reimers

Meet Imke Reimers, one of the newest faculty members from across the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Reimers earned her PhD in economics at the University of Minnesota and was previously an associate professor of economics at Northeastern University. She joins the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as associate professor of strategy and business economics.

Learn more about Reimers’s area of expertise, her research focus, courses she will be teaching, and other interests in this Q&A.

Imke Reimers | Associate Professor of Strategy and Business Economics | Dyson School

What are your research and teaching areas of focus?

My research focuses on the economics of digitization and information technology. Digitization has led to an explosion of new products, especially in creative industries such as music, movies, and books. This could make finding the “right” products more difficult. At the same time, digitization has improved consumer and firm access to information, for example via star ratings, reviews, and personalized recommendations. I study how these developments affect firm profitability and consumer surplus. I also study the implications of big online platforms steering consumers toward certain products. How do these platforms choose to use their power, and how do their decisions affect consumers as well as competing firms? In my research, I get to collect and work with fun datasets. I enjoy doing the same in my teaching, which focuses on using data and empirical evidence to help firms – as well as consumers – make smart decisions.

What class(es) will you be teaching this year?

I’ll be teaching Predictive Analytics for Business Strategy this year.

What attracted you to the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business specifically?

Cornell has a lot of smart and insightful faculty members, many of whom are working on similar topics as me. There are lots of people I can interact with in the Strategy & Business Economics group and across the Dyson School and the college. People have also been very helpful and welcoming each time I came to visit Ithaca. Finally, I heard great things about the students. I look forward to joining this community and hopefully contributing to it in meaningful ways. 

What first sparked your interest in your research/area of study?

My undergraduate majors were math/statistics and economics, and that’s where I learned to appreciate the value of using data to answer real-life questions. When I started thinking about research in grad school, digital products and streaming were just taking over the entertainment industries. I wanted to understand what these new technologies were doing to existing institutions.

When did you know you wanted to be a professor?

I grew up in a family of teachers and always knew I’d enjoy teaching. I found out I also liked doing research when I started working on my dissertation. I get to work on projects I choose myself, ask and (try to) answer questions I care about, and solve puzzles and interact with thoughtful people along the way. It’s a pretty good job! What are you most looking forward to during your first year at Cornell? Having lived in Boston for the last ten years, I look forward to easier commutes and access to nature. Of course, I’m also excited about getting to know the students and interacting more with my new colleagues.

What do you do to recharge?

I was a competitive tennis player all through college and some of graduate school. I still play for fun and appreciate some (friendly) competition. In fact, I became a US national champion in 2019 and would like to try again soon. I also do triathlons and cross-country skiing, so I may be one of those people who actually look forward to the winters in Ithaca.