Call for papers. Special Issue: Entrepreneurship in the Informal Sector: institutional perspectives

Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Call for Papers

Special Issue: Entrepreneurship in the Informal Sector: institutional perspectives

• Guest Editors: Colin C. Williams, University of Sheffield, UK
• Marijana Baric, University of Buckingham, UK 

Background

The informal sector refers to activities that are lawful in nature but not declared to the public authorities and thus are fully or partially outside of formal government regulation, taxation, and observation. In recent years, there has been growing recognition that many entrepreneurs operate wholly or partially in the informal sector. This tendency of entrepreneurs to operate in the informal sector is applicable not only in developing countries but also in transition economies as well as western developed nations.
Indeed, it is recognized that although this is a sizeable realm in global perspective, such entrepreneurship is more prevalent in some global regions and nations. It is also widely recognized that this is a heterogeneous sphere and that its character varies across populations. In some populations, it may be largely necessity-driven entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector; in others, it may be opportunity-driven entrepreneurs.
Special Issue on entrepreneurship in the informal sector: institutional perspectives
This special issue seeks to explore entrepreneurship in the informal sector from a range of institutional perspectives. Economic relations and institutions are shaped within - and thus are an integral part of - the surrounding political, social and cultural context. As such, informal sector entrepreneurship has to be understood within the broader political, social and cultural context of the places in which it is found.

The aim of the special issue is to bring together studies of informal sector entrepreneurship drawn from a wide variety of contexts. Empirical as well as conceptual studies are welcome. Topics of interest might include but are not restricted to the following:

• The influence of formal and informal institutions on informal sector entrepreneurship
• The role of weak institutions and corruption
• Tax morale
• Public perceptions of informality
• Social entrepreneurship in the informal sector
• Vulnerable groups and entrepreneurship/bottom of the pyramid studies
• Necessity- versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurship
• Public policy perspectives on informal sector entrepreneurs
• Case studies of policy initiatives to tackle informal entrepreneurship
• Social capital and informal entrepreneurship
• Risk of detection and informality
• Comparative studies of informal entrepreneurship

Other topics not mentioned above are welcome so long as they conform to the broad theme of the special issue.

Submission instructions

The deadline for the submission of papers is 15th January 2016.

Papers must be submitted electronically at: http://www.edmgr.com/rsbe/
Papers for the Special Issue should be prepared and formatted according to the Journal’s Instructions for authors available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission…

Enquiries regarding this special issue can be addressed to: Marijana Baric (marijana.baric@buckingham.ac.uk) or Colin C. Williams (C.C.Williams@sheffield.ac.uk).

Call for Papers: Relaunching The Multinational Business Review

Relaunching The Multinational Business Review: call for papers

Many of you will know that Alan Rugman had edited The Multinational Business Review (MBR) for the last 6 years. Alan had wanted to establish an academic journal that sought to address issues relating to international business, both from a management and economics perspective.

In keeping with this spirit, from the first issue of 2015 (Volume 23), the journal will be co-edited by Mark Casson, Rajneesh Narula and Alain Verbeke. We reckon it will take three of us to fill Alan’s rather large shoes!

At the same time, we also want to take advantage of this change in management to relaunch MBR. We will be renewing the editorial board and the editorial team over the next few months - please stay tuned for updates.

Spirit of the 'renewed' MBR

All three of us have an explicit preference for papers that take a strong conceptual stand and are grounded in theory.We welcome papers that challenge conventional wisdom and received theory, believing as we do that new evidence and changing circumstances require us to continually question the validity of theories and frameworks, and their underlying assumptions.

We also seek innovative papers that provide improved description, explanation and prediction of the behavior of economic actors in the international environment, including (but not limited to) work on: the strategy and organization of multinational enterprise, international business history, geography of international business, and the impact of international business on economic growth and development. Specific topics of interest include innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge transfer, value chain coordination and the performance implications of international business strategies. Conceptual papers and those that examine competing perspectives and viewpoints are always welcome.

The editors are also keen on submissions that examine the evidence systematically, building upon and testing existing models and frameworks. Such papers should be able to suggest managerial, economic or government policy recommendations built upon sound empirical evidence, whether qualitative or quantitative. We will still welcome critical surveys of the literature, but they must demonstrate a high degree of originality. We will no longer publish book reviews.

Novelties in the line-up

We shall be expanding our publications to include two new types of articles, apart from the usual refereed articles:

1. Short, to-the-point and non-technical editorial opinions (op-eds). These will address new and important issues that deserve immediate attention, which will be lightly refereed. Sometimes a significant or controversial new theoretical or methodological issue thrusts itself upon the reality of IB. New ideas need to be presented to the field community in a fairly rapid way, and be accessible not just to the academic specialist, but also to the practitioner, the politician, the policy-maker with a minimum of turgidity and as little fuss as possible. Such submissions should be 4000 words or less. Contributors are invited to submit an 500 word outline to the editors for consideration.
2. Focused debate forums. The first issue of every year will have a debate forum - a set of ‘think pieces’ commissioned on a specific topic, with short 'op-ed' contributions of 2k-3k words that highlight multiple angles to an important 'big issue' in IB. We plan to publish one such debate forum in every volume, beginning with Volume 23, issue 1, 2015, revisiting Dunning's classic motives.

Call for special issues

We are seeking innovative and bold thinkers to propose special issues. We have a detailed set of instructions available at:
http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/news_story.htm?id=5713


Rajneesh Narula (on behalf of the editorial team)
Professor of International Business Regulation
Director, John H. Dunning Centre for International Business
Henley Business School
University of Reading, UK

Call for conference papers: Tel-Aviv SMS Conference

Tel-Aviv SMS Conference March 9-11, 2014

Submissionwebsite open (Sept. 1, 2013 deadline)

Strategic Management Society Special Conference

Startup and Restart Strategies

Tel-Aviv, Israel, March 9-11, 2014

Submission deadline: September 1, 2013

Submission site now open

Keynote Speakers:

• Kathleen Eisenhardt, Stanford University
• Will Mitchell, University of Toronto
• Edward Zajac, Northwestern University

Conference Advisory Board:

• Jay Barney, University of Utaj
• Joel Baum, University of Toronto
• Michael Hitt, Texas A&M University
• Daniel Levinthal, University of Pennsylvania
• Zur Shapira, New York University

Conference Program Co-Chairs:

• Gary Dushnitsky, London Business School
• Niron Hashai, Hebrew University
• Dovev Lavie, Technion
• Ithai Stern, Northwestern University

      

Conference Track Chairs:

• Julian Birkinshaw, London Business School
• Alfonso Gambardella, Bocconi University
• Lori Rosenkopf, University of Pennsylvania
• Myles Shaver, University of Minnesota

Doctoral Workshop Coordinator: Robert Salomon, New York University

At the heels of the recent financial crisis, nations and corporations seek policies and strategies that drive innovation, entrepreneurship and growth.

Policy makers, business practitioners and academics attempt to uncover the strategies and best practices that can revitalize the economy. Old strategies are revisited while new strategies are evaluated in an effort to restart the economy and leave the crisis behind. Startup firms are formed with the aim of introducing innovative solutions while established firms attempt to leverage their market access. In this pursuit for entrepreneurial drivers, nations and corporations seek to cooperate and coordinate their policies and strategies in order to recover and reengage in business development. Startup and restart strategies are needed to cope with these challenges and opportunities. How can corporations facilitate innovation and harness an entrepreneurial spirit? How can startup firms in various parts of the world achieve leadership positions in international markets? How can startup firms organize their operations and establish supportive infrastructures of investors, business partners, suppliers and customers that enable them to enhance efficiency and performance? What common challenges do developing countries face in nurturing multinational corporations? What business practices support innovation and enhance firms’

positions in international markets? What roles do interfirm cooperation and coordination serve in the economic development of corporations and nations?

These important questions have captured the attention of strategy scholars and business practitioners interested in capitalizing on the opportunities that await countries and corporations beyond the economic recovery.

This special SMS conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, will bring together academics, practitioners, and consultants in an effort to contemplate how entrepreneurs, corporations and nations can leverage cooperation and coordination in order to revitalize their operations, initiate growth, and bring innovation to international markets. The conference theme "Startup and Restart Strategies" underscores both the challenges and opportunities that startup firms and corporations face when seeking to foster innovation, commercialization and global market reach following a period of economic setback. The conference seeks to explore ideas and deliver cutting-edge knowledge in areas of organization, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and international business that shed light on this phenomenon. The Tel Aviv special SMS conference calls for relevant conceptual and empirical contributions from various parts of the world that can facilitate conversation and scholarly debate, and inform academic thought and practice.

The conference combines four competitive tracks with plenary keynote sessions, a practice track, a doctoral workshop, and academic development workshops that together promote the theme of startup and restart strategies. The competitive tracks align broadly with the domains of the Competitive Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Global Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, and Cooperative Strategies interest groups of SMS. We welcome submissions of paper proposals, panel proposals, academic development workshops, and doctoral workshop applications, using the following links: 

Conference announcement:

http://ie.technion.ac.il/Home/Users/dlavie/SMS_Special_Conf_A4_PR.pdf

Conference video: http://ie.technion.ac.il/Home/Users/dlavie/SMSlogo.mp4

• Download call for proposals:

http://telaviv.strategicmanagement.net/pdf/SC_TelAviv_Call_for_Proposals.pdf

• Guidelines for paper and panel proposals:

http://telaviv.strategicmanagement.net/submissions/guidelines.php

• Guidelines for submitting proposals for academic development workshops:

http://telaviv.strategicmanagement.net/academic_workshop/overview.php

• Doctoral & thesis development workshop:

http://telaviv.strategicmanagement.net/doctoral_workshop/index.php

• For more information visit the conference website:

http://telaviv.strategicmanagement.net/

Call for conference papers: BALAS 2014

Balas2014 Call for Papers

Local Responses to Global Challenges: Lessons from smaller economies

April 9-12, 2014 – North West, Mt. Hope, Trinidad and Tobago

Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain

Hosted by Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, University of West Indies

Whether you are an advocate of globalization, semi-globalization or localization, the reality in business is that dynamic and unpredictable market forces, fast paced technological developments, social movements, and climate change do have a profound impact in the strategy and the organization of your business. 

What are the most significant Global Challenges for Business? What opportunities these Global Challenges present to the LATAM and Caribbean Region? How companies in the region have been able to embrace the chaos, uncertainty and ambiguity of markets and technologies for their own advantage? How companies read, understand, and develop foresight using their operating atmosphere and other contexts as sources of inspiration? These are pressing questions our academic community has must tackle.

One of the most important aspects of the conference is to explore, compare and contrast how the local responses to global challenges change relative to the size and resource base of a country or regional economy. 

Papers in all areas of business and economics are invited. We especially invite those that explore the challenges of size and resources for economic growth and the role that business, governments and NGOs play in addressing these challenges.

2014 Theme Tracks

• ·         Size Matters: The Effects of Globalization on Small Economies
• ·         The Role of the State and State Owned Enterprises in the development of business

General Latin American Business Tracks

• ·         Accounting, Taxation, and Management Information and Control Systems
• ·         Consumer Behavior
• ·         Corporate Finance
• ·         Culture, Social, and Ethical Issues
• ·         Economic Environment and Regional Integration
• ·         Entrepreneurship
• ·         Financial Markets, Investment and Risk
• ·         Human Resource Management
• ·         Information Technology Management
• ·         Management Education and Teaching Cases
• ·         Marketing Management
• ·         Strategies for Global Competitiveness
• ·         Supply-Chain and Operations Management

Paper Submission Deadline 1 November 2013

More information at balas.org or by email at balas@balas.org

BALAS - Seattle University

balas@balas.org