Call for book chapters: Lessons from the Great Recession: At the Crossroads of Sustainability and Recovery

Lessons from the Great Recession: At the Crossroads of Sustainability and Recovery

Edited by: 

• Constantin Gurdgiev (Trinity College, Ireland)
• Liam Leonard (California State University, Fullerton and  University of West Virginia; United States)
• Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez (Universidad EAFIT, Colombia)

This volume of the Advances in Sustainability and Environmental Justice Series with Emerald Group Publishing UK, will examine the problems faced globally as economies try to build a sustainable future in the aftermath of the 'Great Recession'.

Call for Chapters:

Chapters for this volume will be accepted from international academics whose work focuses on issues of economy, sustainability, core-periphery politics and community development. This volume will examine the problems faced globally as economies try to build a sustainable future in the aftermath of the 'Great Recession'. 

The book will examine global cases of environmental sustainability & economics in the context of nations both the core and periphery. Essentially, the book will discuss the high costs of decisions taken in response to the 2008 economic crisis, one of which is now creating a lack of investment in environmental and developmental considerations.

The book will examine concepts of sustainability in the post recessionary and post-bailout world.
Definitions suggested for contributors include the following:

1. Fiscal / economic / social sustainability
2. Financial sustainability (sector risks etc) 
3. Environmental sustainability 

Chapters may also examine the relationships between nations and nations and supra state agencies such as the UN, EU, IMF etc.

Abstracts should be emailed to Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez at: mgonza40@eafit.edu.co by May 1st 2015

Final Submission of chapters will be by July 31st 2015.

Further information

Dr. Liam Leonard (BA, MPhil, PhD), California State University, Fullerton and  University of West Virginia.
Editor: Advances in Sustainability &Environmental Justice Book Series (Emerald UK)

Email: liam_leonard@yahoo.com

Call for chapters. Progress in International Business Research (PIBR)

Progress in International Business Research (PIBR)

Call for Chapters:
PIBR Volume #11

Book Series Title: Progress in International Business Research (PIBR)

Volume #11: “The challenge of/for BRIC Multinationals”

Editors: Rob van Tulder, Alain Verbeke, Jorge Carneiro, Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez

Publisher: Emerald

For Volume #11 of the PIBR book series, we invite two types of contributions:

·      Research papers on emerging market – particularly BRIC – multinationals;

·      Teaching cases that address managerial dilemmas related to the internationalization of BRIC firms.

This Call for Chapters is intended to provide prospective authors for a volume on BRIC multinationals to come up with relevant ideas. The Call first describes why the issue of BRIC multinationals defines a specific angle in international business research. Secondly, the Call specifies the content of the special issue that we plan for the Progress in International Business Research (PIBR) book series (published by Emerald). Thirdly, this Call elaborates possible themes and the way these could be tackled in the form of teaching-oriented case studies. You are warmly invited and welcome to contribute!

General Introduction: Why BRIC multinationals are special?

The recent emergence of a number of high-profile multinational enterprises (MNEs) from emerging markets has triggered considerable research and debate on how to understand and appraise this phenomenon (Sauvant, 2011). The challenge for empirical research includes the question of whether the strategies and motives for the internationalization of these MNEs can be considered fundamentally different from the strategies of firms from developed countries (Luo and Tung 2007), or whether their ownership advantages are fundamentally different from those of developed country MNEs (Mathews 2002; Luo and Tung 2007; Buckley et al. 2007; Li 2007). Increasingly described as “springboarding” (Luo and Tung 2007), the internationalization strategies of emerging market firms are characterized by their high-risk, aggressive, and “boom-and-bust” or radical nature, while targeting many customers in many foreign markets at once, in a strategy of entrepreneurial venturing (Yiu et al. 2007). Comparing developed country MNEs of the 1960s, with emerging market MNEs in the 2000s, Dunning, Kim, and Park (2008) identified a number of additional differences. These include forms of entry (alliances); motivation (asset augmentation); managerial approach (regional and geocentric); role of home governments (more active than in the past); regional destination; institutional triggers of internationalization rather than traditional motives related to neoclassical models; and the lack of firm-specific ownership advantages (177).

One of the problems with these observations is that the category of ‘emerging market multinationals’ does not distinguish between different types of emerging markets. Although the empirical research is dominated by Chinese, Indian and – to a lesser extent – Brazilian multinationals, the theoretical literature nevertheless tends to adopt the more neutral term of emerging markets. But to what extent can the multinationals from these very specific country backgrounds be considered representative for a wider group of multinationals? Can China be compared, for instance, to Malaysia or Thailand? 

Taking these questions into account asks for the extent to which countries-of-origin matter in general for the study of MNEs. Moreover, with regard to the special case of BRIC countries and BRIC multinationals, a further dimension should be taken into account: the size of the home country as well as in particular the political weight in the international arena that this brings with it. To what extent can these domestic institutions be considered ‘normal” for explaining the internationalization strategies of BRIC multinationals as compared to emerging market multinationals in general? Another dimension related to these questions is the circumstance that whereas the classical developed country multinationals developed more or less parallel to their home countries economic development and political power, the BRIC multinationals still develop in relatively weakly developed countries, however with considerable political power and aspirations. Do these circumstances, therefore, imply that perhaps theoretical lines for ‘emerging market multinationals’ need not be redrawn, but that new approaches to explain the new breed of multinationals from BRIC countries need to be designed? If so what does that mean for the study of international business. Most modern IB theorists have either denied that there is need for new approaches, or have slightly modified their approach, not to explain for emerging market multinational specifically, but rather to include some of the characteristics of globalization in general. But to what extent does this underestimates the ‘uniqueness’ of the BRIC multinationals? Because the BRIC countries – in comparison to most other developing countries – have occupied a stronger bargaining position vis-à-vis developed countries’ multinationals, does this change their entry conditions and ultimately the way foreign multinationals (can) contribute to domestic development? And the flip-side of this argument: most BRIC countries only started to ‘allow’ their domestic companies to move abroad, thus creating substantial Outward Foreign Direct Investment flows. Many of these moves were accompanied by institutional arrangements, like Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). Depending on the ownership of these companies, their international expansion was part of national strategies and policy agendas. Compared to the outwards internationalization strategies of ‘western’ multinationals, this also provides a distinctive characteristic of BRIC multinationals: their links with the foreign ambitions of their home governments.

PIBR #11 – Research papers

This volume searches for a number of idiosyncratic elements in internationalization strategies of BRIC MNEs and, therefore, in particular in their relationship with home country policies:

1   The theoretical challenge: do we need different or more specific theories of EMNEs to assess the phenomenon of BRIC multinationals?

2   The empirical challenge: what marks the changing position of BRIC countries in the world economy: including institutional differences and commonalities in outward orientation and participation and shaping of international institutions (such as the BRICs bank complementing Bretton Woods institutes).

3   The managerial challenge: coming of age of a new breed of multinationals: what distinguishes BRIC multinationals from other multinationals? To what extent is the diplomatic agenda aligned with the corporate agenda? 

4   The policy making challenge: impact of outward Foreign Direct Investment on the home market: What impact have MNEs from BRIC countries on their domestic economy and the political constellations

PIBR #11 – Teaching cases

Educational ambitions

This volume emphasizes the unique characteristics of BRIC multinationals. We will actively solicit state-of-the art contributions, including systematic literature reviews – preferably by PhD students. Furthermore, the volume is intended to be used in an educational setting. For this, more extensive teaching cases as well as short cases (included as boxed in the book) are request that illustrate the above ambitions of the book: 

• Examples of how the size of the home market influences the international strategies of companies 
• Examples of how the international strategy of a company is linked to national political priorities 
• Examples of companies that successfully combined a Bilateral Investment Treaty (or any other form of diplomatic support) with a foreign investment 
• Examples of negative or positive responses by host governments to the entry of BRIC multinationals 
• Examples of the risks and opportunities of ‘springboarding’ strategies of BRIC multinationals 
• Examples of in particular the regional implementation of internationalization strategies by BRIC multinationals 

The teaching case format

1. The special focus of BRIC cases


The BRIC countries are a ‘special breed’ in the internationalization strategies of firms, because of a number of reasons: (1) big home market, that is rapidly developing, (2) but that remains not very well developed yet with sizable institutional voids and great ‘ issues’ at home, (3) at the same time these countries have sizable political weight in the international arena (member of security council, in international treaties etc.) that makes them incomparable to most other developing countries, which (4) therefore creates a different ‘risk mitigation’ strategy for the companies originating in the BRIC countries (Outward Foreign Direct Investment), and (5) at the same time creates a better bargaining position of these companies vis-à-vis incoming companies in their home turf (Inward Foreign Direct Investment), and explains also why (6) some of these companies have internationalized so rapidly (springboarding) due to a mix of domestic and foreign influences that in the case of BRIC multinationals really make a difference (strategic tipping points; for instance the political support to take over competitors in the home market and/or to invest abroad as part of geo-political strategic motivations).

2. Theoretical discussion

This distinguishes them from traditional multinationals (general theory on multinationals) and from ‘emerging market multinationals’ (general theory on latecomer multinationals). The discussion whether we need ’new theory’ or can continue to base our studies on ‘old’ theories therefore seems a bit off-the-case. See, for example, van Tulder (2010), who argues that it is more important to re-address classical approaches to IB (the political economic) next to recent insights that look at the motivations to go abroad in a more holistic manner: such as the ‘resource bundling’ perspective and different ways of looking at stakeholder engagement and new angles to the ‘liability of foreignness’.






VAN TULDER, Rob (2010). Toward a Renewed Stages Theory for BRIC Multinational Enterprises? A Home Country Bargaining Approach. In SAUVANT, Karl, McALLISTER, Geraldine, and MASCHEK, Wolfgang (eds.), Foreign Investments from Emerging Markets.

3. The case format

Taking the above considerations into account the teaching case should roughly follow the following characteristics:

•   [a] discuss a BRIC multinational, with controlling ownership in the BRIC country (can be anything)

•   [b] depart from a managerial problem: what should the manager do?

•   [c] take a bargaining and stakeholder perspective: how to deal with stakeholders at home and abroad (or how is action induced by stakeholder action at home)?

•   [d] look at risk mitigation factors (that are typical for BRIC countries; bilateral treaties between the home and the host countries: BITs, DTTs, regional treaties and the like)

•   [e] consider the institutional distance that the company has to overcome and the managerial problems it facing because of that

•   [f] try to specify in which stage of internationalization this company is and what that entails for the management problem

•   [g] NOTE: the core of the case can be any management problem in specific (R&D, take-over yes/no, marketing, license to operate, entry decision, independence of the subsidiary) as long as you are able to define the role that is played by the large home country basis (i.e. the BRIC nature) 

NOTE: At the EIBA 2015 conference in Rio de Janeiro (www.eiba2015.org), a special session around the prospective teaching cases on BRIC multinationals will be organized.

Deadlines:

·      April 30^th 2015: First submission of papers (to the EIBA 2015 Rio conference, www.eiba2015.org)

·      December 2015: Pre-selection of papers/chapters

·      March 15^th 2016: Second submission of improved papers

·      May 15^th 2016: Final submission of papers

·      November 2016: Publication of the book

Submit your contribution via the link: http://eiba2015.iag.puc-rio.br/?page_id=446

Teaching cases shall be submitted as competitive papers (as per the guidelines above) to Track 14 of the EIBA 2015 conference and must not exceed 25 pages (double-spaced), including tables, figures, references, and the respective teaching notes. Manuscripts submitted must not have been published, accepted for publication, or be currently under consideration elsewhere. Teaching cases must contain (1) the text of the teaching case itself, where the managerial dilemma is presented and information about the company and the context is shown; (2) teaching notes, which must present the learning objectives, issues for discussion, examples of appropriate analysis and of suggestions for in-class dynamics; and, ideally, also (3) a discussion of experiences in using the case in class.

ATTENTION – Special Issue of ARLA: While PIBR Volume #11 is interested in cases about BRIC multinationals, Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Adminsitración (ARLA) (http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=arla) will be publishing a special issue composed of the best teaching cases (submitted to the EIBA 2015 conference) that address internationalization challenges of Latin American firms (excluding Brazilian firms, which are within the scope of PIBR Volume #11).

Further information:

Rob van Tulder

Professor of International Business-Society Management

Department of Business-Society Management

Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)

Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands

Email: rtulder@rsm.nl

Call for papers: International Journal of Economics

International Journal of Economics

Online (ISSN 2331-5903) Print (ISSN 2331-589X)
Call for papers: May-2015
Submission deadline: April 25, 2015

International Journal of Economics, a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal published by the Library of Academic Resources (LAR), Canada, is now accepting submissions in all fields of economics. The journal publishes a variety of articles including research articles, economic analysis of policy issues, economic survey and review articles and interdisciplinary articles related to economics. Please visit journalofeconomics.org for more information about the journal.

Interested authors are strongly encouraged to submit quality articles for review and publication. All articles judged suitable for consideration will be reviewed in a double blind peer review process.
The journal accepts articles on a rolling submissions basis, and thus, will accept submissions at any time throughout the year. Accepted articles are published online immediately, and are compiled on a bimonthly basis to create a complete issue. If you have any query, please contact the editorial office at editor@journalofeconomics.org

Call for papers. Special Issue: Gender Issues in Entrepreneurship

International Journal of Business and Globalisation

Special Issue on: "Gender Issues in Entrepreneurship"

Guest Editor:

• Veland Ramadani, South-East European University, Macedonia

For many years the opinion has been that male activity predominates in entrepreneurship. However, over time, women are gradually becoming a very important part of the world of entrepreneurs. Today, women represent more than one third of all people involved in entrepreneurial activity. In recent years they have attracted increasing attention and separate study among researchers.

There are two main reasons why this “kind” of entrepreneur needs to be studied separately: a) female entrepreneurs have been recognised as an important untapped source of economic growth, considering that they create new jobs for themselves and others, and provide different solutions to management, organisation and business problems and obstacles as well as to the exploitation of business opportunities; b) female entrepreneurs have been largely neglected both in society in general and in the social sciences, in light of the fact that mainstream research, policies and programmes tend to be “men streamed”.

Even with all the obstacles faced when starting and managing their businesses, more and more women today are establishing their own businesses. Although there is a trend towards increase in female entrepreneurship, this increase could be even greater if we can eliminate various barriers of different natures, thus enabling the potential of women to come to full expression.

This special issue will focus on gender issues in entrepreneurship and/or small business perspectives. Both micro- and macro-level studies are invited, and both quantitative and qualitative approaches are welcome. We also encourage authors to come forward with emerging and groundbreaking topics to diversify and widen gender-based research.

Subject Coverage

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Government policy on gender and entrepreneurship
• Gender and motivational factors
• Gender and innovation activities
• Gender and risk management
• Gender and financing sources of entrepreneurial ventures
• Gender and business performance
• Gender and entrepreneurial intentions
• Gender and entrepreneurship education
• Gender and economic growth
• Gendered understanding of corporate entrepreneurship
• Gendered understanding of social entrepreneurship
• Gender, ethics and social responsibility
• Institutional support on gender and entrepreneurship
• Gender and entrepreneurship in developing and transition countries
• Inspiring stories

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

• Submission of manuscripts: 31 March, 2015
• Notification to authors: 30 June, 2015
• Final versions due: 31 August, 2015

Call for papers: Special Issue on te Role of multinational enterprises in local market developments

European Journal of International Management (EJIM)

Special Issue on: “THE ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES IN LOCAL MARKET DEVELOPMENTS”

Guest Editors

• Pervez N. Ghauri, King’s College, UK 
• 
  
• Byung Il Park, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea

Description

As globalization intensifies and new middle classes emerge in most markets, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have significantly increased their international business efforts. The recorded figure for 2010 revealed a more than triple increase of the worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI) activities since the year 2000, amounting to US$20.4 trillion (UNCTAD 2011). The reason for the consistent expansion in MNEs foreign operations is closely associated with the increased realization that the presence of foreign firms is beneficial for both home and host countries. One view is that MNEs possessing sophisticated knowledge often function as a conduit for local firms to acquire foreign technology and know-how. In addition, MNEs also help in the creation of employment opportunities and an increase of exports strengthening the balance-of-payments position of the local economies (Park, 2011; Park and Ghauri, 2011). Likewise, home economies of MNEs achieve market expansion and learn about foreign markets.

However, some scholars (e.g., Chang, 2004; Ziegler, 2005) have shed light on the negative aspects of MNE operations, and even argue that MNEs are one of the primary obstacles inhibiting economic growth in developing countries. The explanations given by these scholars, proposing negative impacts are the following; often MNE activities are too vitalized and excessive, foreign firms attempt to dominate the market they enter and present a challenge to national sovereignty. Moreover, the aggravation of local competition against MNEs inevitably culls locally grown enterprises, which results in the deterioration of employment. In particular, MNEs re-invest only a fraction of their revenues in local economies and drain positive effects from both capital injections and the balance of payments. This leads to serious reductions in foreign exchange reserves, forces local governments to borrow more foreign debt and pushes the local economy into a vicious economic circle. These negative effects cause hardship for local governments and negatively influence their investments in infrastructure, education and technology development. In this vein, they suggest that MNE operations are not much different from the establishment of colonies.

A key problem is that it is perhaps hard to say that an unlimited open-door toward MNEs and limitless competition based on market principles is the only correct answer for economic growth. In other words, we cannot merely overlook the adverse aspects of MNEs, and need to practically assess the value of foreign investment. There is a general consensus that the fundamental goals and aims of MNEs are to pursue corporate profits and increase organizational competitiveness in overseas markets, and thus such gloomy opinions about MNEs are unavoidable to some extent. In this vein, it is time to think about the ways to lessen the skeptical attitudes of FDI by identifying the role of MNEs in local market developments. We also suggest that the negative impression of FDI might be significantly reduced if MNEs engage in actions that go beyond their direct economic and financial interests, involve themselves in activities that are not required by the law but further social good and use their internal resources in ways to benefit local markets through committed participation as members of society.

Taken together, the objective of this special issue is to bring both theoretical and empirical advancements examining the role of MNEs in developing local markets in various areas (e.g., economic, social, institutional and ethical developments).

Subject coverage

We seek both theoretical and empirical papers that may address, but are not limited to, the following list of potential research questions:

• How does FDI function as a vehicle to enhance economic development in local markets? Does FDI from MNEs based in advanced economies trigger economic growth in developing countries in the long term?
• Who obtains more benefits from inward FDI between advanced and developing countries? Are there avenues for MNEs based in advanced economies to help developing countries to promote economic growth?
• Are there any different patterns of economic development through FDI between advanced and developing countries? What implications can be drawn from countries that have successfully leapfrogged into better economic status?
• What are the key factors promoting the positive spillover effects of FDI in developing economies?
• In the perspective of developing countries, what are the primary conditions that inhibit the negative economic outcomes from inward FDI?
• How does FDI contribute to social evolution, particularly in emerging and developing countries?
• What is the effect of profit remittance by MNEs in the local market economy? What encourages MNEs to re-invest profits in local markets?
• What motivates corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in foreign markets? Is there any particular relationship between the level of foreign CSR and economic development in emerging and developing countries?
• What facilitates knowledge transfer from advanced to developing economies through FDI?
• Is there a correlation between FDI types (e.g., ‘vertical versus horizontal’ or ‘export-driven versus market-seeking’) and economic contributions in emerging and developing countries?

References

• Chang, H-J. (2004), Globalization, economic development and the role of the State, London, NY: Zed Books.
• Park, B. I. (2011), “Knowledge transfer of multinational enterprises and technology acquisition in international joint ventures”, International Business Review, Vol. 20, pp. 75-87.
• Park, B. I. and Ghauri, P. N. (2011), “Key factors affecting acquisition of technological capabilities from foreign acquiring firms by small and medium sized local firms”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 46, pp. 116-125.
• UNCTAD (2011). World investment report: Non-equity modes of international production and development. Geneva: United Nations.
• 
  
• Zilgler, J. (2005), L'empire de la honte, Paris: Fayard.

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.
All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page.

Deadlines for submission

• Submission of Manuscripts: January 15, 2015
• Notification to Authors: April 1, 2015
• Final Versions Due: December 1, 2015
• The issue is published: May 2016

Editors and Notes

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please go to Online Submissions of Papers. If you experience any problems submitting your paper online, please contactsubmissions@inderscience.com, describing the exact problem you experience. (Please include in your email the title of the Special Issue, the title of the Journal and the names of the Guest Editors).

Guest Editor(s) contact details:

Dr. Pervez N. Ghauri

King’s College London, Department of Management, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK
Tel:
00-44-(0)20-7848-4122, Email: pervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk



Dr. Byung Il Park
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, College of Business Administration, 270, Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-791, South Korea
Tel:
00-82-(0)10-4157-3532, Email: leedspark@hufs.ac.kr

Call for papers: Latin American Economic Review

Latin American Economic Review aims to be the leading general interest journal on topics relevant to Latin America. The journal welcomes high-quality theoretical and quantitative papers on economic, social and political-economy issues with a regional focus.
LAER is fully sponsored by the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica (CIDE) and is published under the SpringerOpen brand.

Read the first freely available articles 

• Editorial: Greetings from the Editor-in-Chief Juan Rosellón 
• Real exchange rate and manufacturing growth in Latin America Paulo Henrique Vaz, Werner Baer 
• Structural change, marginal land and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Edward B. Barbier 
• What determines adult cognitive skills? Influences of pre-school, school, and post-school experiences in Guatemala Jere R. Behrman, John Hoddinott, John A. Maluccio, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Emily L. Behrman, Reynaldo Martorell, Manuel Ramírez-Zea, Aryeh D. Stein 
• Trend-cycle decomposition for Peruvian GDP: application of an alternative method Ángel Guillén, Gabriel Rodríguez 

Gain global exposure with open access publishing

Submit your next research article to Latin American Economic Review and you'll ensure that your work is freely available online and accessible to a global readership.

SpringerOpen maintains a rigorous peer review system, so readers know they can trust all SpringerOpen content, and you as an author get the high visibility you’d expect from publishing with Springer.

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SpringerOpen journals request an article processing charge (APC) for each manuscript accepted after peer review. The APC is essential to ensure that the journal remains free of charge for readers everywhere.

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Call for papers: Risk Management Post Financial Crisis: A Period of Monetary Easing

Call for Papers

Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis (CSEFA)

Volume 96

Risk Management Post Financial Crisis: A Period of Monetary Easing

Co-editors:
Jonathan A. Batten, Monash University, Australia
Niklas F. Wagner, University of Passau, Germany


Submissions are invited for a special issue of CSEFA Volume 96. The focus of this issue is on financial risk management in a post financial crisis environment, including the effects of nonstandard monetary policies by central banks. Papers are not limited to but may address the following topics

- advances in measuring and reporting risk and liquidity after the crisis,
- the impacts of Basel III including e.g. capital requirements and bank balance sheets,
- central bank monetary policies and bank liquidity,
- credit risk assessment and bank lending to SMEs,
- the impact of excess liquidity on asset prices (e.g. bubbles and crashes),
- the particular risks of inflationary or deflationary economic environments.

Selected papers will be published as chapters of CSEFA Volume 96. CSEFA is published by the Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley, BD16 1WA, United Kingdom. It forms a continuing series of refereed volumes featuring original academic research in financial economics. The series is now included in the ISI Web of Knowledge and Book Citation Index.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Submission of work of a high standard in the above topic area is very welcome. Please submit your paper proposal as an abstract including

• - the title and abstract,
• - a list of keywords,
• - names and affiliations (with email and postal address) of all authors,
• - all authors’ 200 word bios,

to one of the editors. Authors will be notified about acceptance of their abstracts in due course.

Final manuscript

Upon acceptance, the submission deadline for final manuscripts is January 15, 2014. Final manuscripts have to be in MS Word text format with a length of up to 8000 words. They may include up to five tables or figures.

Contact: 

Jonathan A. Batten
Email: jonathan.batten@monash.edu

Niklas F. Wagner
Email: niklas.wagner@uni-passau.de

Call for papers: International Business and Society on the Transitional Periphery: Comparative Perspectives

Call for Papers Special Issue: International Business Review

International Business and Society on the Transitional Periphery: Comparative Perspectives

• Guest Editors: Mehmet Demirbag and Geoffrey T. Wood

Submission deadline: 31 December 2013

Context

There has been a growing body of literature dealing with business and management issues in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe. In contrast, a few notable exceptions notwithstanding, the literature on the “transitional periphery” – the post-Soviet economies of the Caucasus and Central Asia is sparse – with existing accounts largely dealing with macro-economic and political developments. Yet, many of these economies are of considerable importance and relevance owing to rich natural resource endowments, combined with strategic locations.

However, economies in the region generally battle under weak and corrupt political institutions, with a large number of endemic border and internal ethnic disputes, as well as rising social inequality Many emerging businesses battle under chronic failings by governance, even if others benefit from political patronage: another burden is that traditional supply chain routes have broken down following on independence. All countries have faced rising social inequality, lop-sided and underdeveloped consumer markets, and potentially destabilizing levels of youth unemployment. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that organizational outcomes across the region are homogenous: there is evidence, for example, of much difference in managerial practices reflecting variations in cultural setting.

A number of these countries are significant producers of oil and gas, which brings with it dangers of the resource curse: this would include an over-reliance on a single revenue source to the neglect of other areas of the economy, over-valued currencies, regional imbalances, and rising corruption. Indeed, there is much evidence that this process is already well underway, even while oil resources are fast depleting. In addition, all countries have faced rising social inequality, lop-sided and underdeveloped consumer markets, and potentially destabilizing levels of youth unemployment. A further phenomenon has been the rise of quasi-states in the Caucasus (for example, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia), disrupting trade and markets and making for open-ended tensions.

Despite this, natural resource endowments and, in some instances, historic links and/or prosperous diasporas have meant that countries on the transitional periphery have also become important destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) and multinational firms’ (MNCs) operations. FDI flows to transitional periphery not only from western developed economies, but also from other emerging countries and regions (South-South FDI). Given the transitional nature of institutions and complexities associated with governance of organizations, management of relations with governments, political elites, and trade unions appear to be increasingly challenging. Countries on the periphery of transition have administrative heritages which are significantly different than that of other emerging regions.

To date, transitional countries on the periphery are still a terra incognita and our stock of knowledge in business and management practices remain mired in anecdotal evidence. Given the importance of these resource rich countries and potential for investment, the neglect of publications focused on periphery of transition is astonishing. Over the last two decades these countries have been undergoing profound and uneven institutional transformations which have ramifications for both emerging and developed country MNCs. Institutional settings in periphery of transition often necessitates MNCs to design different strategies to deal with the complex competitive dynamics in these countries. This special issue will provide insights into the challenges faced by MNCs in the region and develop concepts, models and tools for both policy makers and managers in these countries. The proposed special Issue offers a rare and unique opportunity for scholars engaged in research on these firms to share their findings in such a scholarly outlet.

Key Issues

Papers should preferably involve cross-national comparative analysis; if based on a single country, this should be analyzed within a broader comparative perspective. Comparisons with countries outside the region, particularly with other variants of transitional or emerging market capitalism, are welcome. Papers could deal with the following issues, although innovative work in related relevant areas would be welcome:

• · MNCs and the local political economy: trends in FDI and relations with local elites.
• MNCs and political risk management in the region
• · In what ways are MNCs are affecting institutional changes in the region?
• · Coping and beyond: How have firms in the region dealt with adversity?
• · How do MNCs engage powerful external stakeholders, such as religious and ideological groups, political institutions, powerful political actors and civil society organizations?
• · MNCs and the Quasi-States (South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia).
• · MNCs: How are firm practices amended in specific cultural and institutional settings?
• · Sunset industries in the region: Beyond redemption?
• · Market entry strategies of developed country MNCs compared to emerging country MNCs in the region.
• · Do MNCs use conventional models and methods to enter and operate in these countries, or do they opt out for new approaches?
• · How do MNCs select and manage their partners in the region?
• · Mergers and acquisitions: challenges on the periphery of transition
• · Supply chains and markets: dealing with new barriers and opportunities.
• · MNCs and environmental issues in the region
• · Doing business in the region: Ethical issues.

The special issue is open and competitive and submitted papers will undergo the normal rigorous, double-blind review process to ensure relevance and quality. The key criteria for acceptance of manuscripts are (1) relevance to the theme of the special issue, (2) scholarly rigor of analysis, and (3) practical orientation. Submitted papers must be based on original work not under consideration by any other journal or outlet. Reviewers for papers submitted to the Special Issue will be drawn from the Special Issue Editorial Review Board and IBR editorial review board. No submission will be reviewed prior to the closing date.

A guide for authors and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on IBR’s web page (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-business-review/)

All submissions should be submitted electronically to http://ees.elsevier.com/ibr/ choosing ‘Transitional Periphery SI’ as the article type.


Submission deadline: 31 December 2013

Guest Editors

Prospective authors are urged to contact the guest editors with their initial proposals or ideas well in advance of the deadline for final paper submission.

Contact details

• Mehmet Demirbag, University of Strathclyde (mehmet.demirbag@strath.ac.uk) (demirbag1@gmail.com) 
• Geoffrey Wood, University of Warwick (Geoffrey.Wood@wbs.ac.uk )