The leading association of International Business scholars in the UK and Ireland.
Professor Stephen Young Eulogy
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It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor Stephen Young. Steve was one of the founding fathers of the AIB UK & Ireland Chapter and a friend and great encourager of many people in our community. Steve was the Chair of the AIB UK Chapter from 1991 to 1996. He was involved with the Chapter from its earliest days, and he wrote the first comprehensive constitution for the AIB UK Chapter. This constitution remains the basis of the organizational arrangements for the Chapter. The Chapter was encouraged and helped by Steve to reach out to people and universities that were not strongly linked to the international business community. The diversity of people and universities that are now strongly connected to the Chapter has its origins in large part to Steve’s initiatives and support in this area. The enormous contribution that Steve made to the Chapter and to the global international business community led to the Chapter awarding him the first John Dunning Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2015.
A sign of his stature in the field of international business was reflected when he was appointed the international business specialist for the Business and Management Panel for the first RAE (the precursor to REF) in 1992. He reprised this role again in 2007. His research output was prodigious and made significant contributions to our discipline. When he retired from his post at the University of Glasgow in 2014 many leading scholars in international business paid tribute to the work of Steve. His work with Neil Hood played an important role in stimulating research in some of the fundamental issues in international business. Throughout his career he influenced many scholars several of whom became leading lights in our discipline. A notable person whose work was greatly influenced by Steve was Pavlos Dimitratos, who also sadly departed from us this year. It is notable that those that knew him all mention that he was an excellent scholar, but they were all struck by what a fine person he was. They mention his humility and his interest not only in the academic development of people, especially PhD students and earlier career researchers, but also for their general well-being. Many people in our community, including several of our leading lights, acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Steve not only as a scholar that helped them to develop their work, but as a friend who generously gave of his time and talent to help them. He stands as an example to us that being a good scholar is more than being a producer of high-quality research. It involves contributing towards the development of all scholars in our community and of taking an interest in their well-being. Steve was a first-rate scholar and more importantly a fine human being. He will be sadly missed. The funeral will be held in Berwick on Wednesday, 1st September 2021, at 1.00 pm (British Standard Time). The live-stream details are below. https://vimeo.com/589707327/7e5c417130 - Executive Board of AIB UK & Ireland Chapter |
Professor Pavlos Dimitratos Eulogy
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We have lost a great scholar, colleague and friend. Professor Pavlos Dimitratos, Chair of the AIB UK&I Chapter passed away peacefully on January 6, 2021. He was only 53 years old.
Pavlos was a rare scholar and a genuinely nice person who loved supporting and interacting with others. He was always the kindest friend and we are grateful for the many memorable and cheerful moments and good laughs we shared with him. He loved the international business conferences. He was happy connecting with familiar faces and welcoming newcomers to our community. Pavlos was a passionate supporter of AIB UK&I over the years. As Chair of the AIB UK&I Chapter, we are indebted to Pavlos for his stewardship, initiatives and leadership that strengthened and progressed the Chapter within the IB community and the AIB family. Working with him was a pleasure. Pavlos was a highly regarded and prolific scholar, publishing widely in the area of international entrepreneurship and SMEs. His work on micro-multinationals was pioneering. His research has been very influential and received several thousand citations, significantly advancing our knowledge of phenomena at the intersection of IB and IE. However, Pavlos stood out for his modesty, not seeking accolades for himself but sharing the credit with others. Furthermore, his passion for, and support and guidance of, doctoral students and early career researchers has made a major contribution to the development of the next generation of IB/IE researchers. We will organize an event in the forthcoming AIB UK&I conference to celebrate the achievements of Pavlos as well as a remembrance book to enable colleagues to write their memories of Pavlos, which will be treasured by his wife Lyudmyla and his young daughter Jorcina, and all who knew him. We will never forget Pavlos. His memory will live on and he will always have a special place in our hearts. AIB UK&I Board |
AIB UKI Seminar Series:
Heterogenous Externalities: Evidence from foreign multinationals in the UK
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Join us for this seminar
Date and time: Wednesday 17th March, at 13:00 (GMT) Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96378078691 Passcode: 626209 Presenter: Nigel Driffield, Professor of International Business, Warwick Business School Co-authors: D. Castellani (Henley Business School) and K. Lavoratori (Warwick Business School) Moderator: Mario Kafouros, Professor of International Business and Innovation, University of Manchester |
Abstract
The activity of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) have the potential to generate externalities for the host economies. The extensive literature on this has found mixed evidence on the extent of such productivity effects of MNE activity in host countries. There is a certain consensus that these effects are not automatic and are contingent on a number of contextual conditions. This paper explores the links between inward investment and host country productivity at the firm level, allowing for a wide range of moderating circumstances, ranging from sectoral, regional and firm characteristics. In particular, we introduce a novel empirical methodology that allows to flexibly account for many sources of heterogeneity in the effect of MNE activity on host country productivity. In our empirical analysis, based on 11,000 UK firms over the 2012-2018 period, we find that the effect of MNE activity on host country firms is relatively small, but highly heterogenous across firms. Fine grained industry (NACE 2-digits) and regional (NUTS 3) characteristics explain only a small portion of this heterogeneity. Our results are consistent with the idea that, within industries and regions, different firms are able to reap different benefits from the activity of MNEs. Firm productivity - which can be thought as a proxy for firm absorptive capacity – is the single most important factor that enables firms to benefit from MNE-generated externalities. Most notably, once accounted for the importance of firm productivity, we show that small and young firms are bound to benefit the most from the activity of foreign MNEs. We discuss the rationale for these results based on international business and economics literature and the implications for public policy. |
25th Anniversary of the AIB UKI Book Series
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The Academy of International Business – AIB-UKI Chapter book series is dedicated to publish cutting-edge research in International Business (IB) that is of contemporary relevance and at the cusp of conceptual and empirical development.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series, access selected chapters for free until 28 February 2021.
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2021 JIBS Decade Award
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Congratulations to Catherine Welch, Rebecca Piekkari, Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, and Eriikka Paavilainen-Mantymaki for receiving the JIBS Decade Award! The paper entitled “Theorising from case studies: Towards a pluralist future for international business research”investigates methods of theorising from case studies. The focus is on understanding how case researchers theorise and how this can be translated for IB research. Based on a content analysis of case studies from three top journals, the authors construct a typology of theorising from case studies and distinguish four methods of theorising – inductive theory-building, interpretive sensemaking, natural experiment and contextualised explanation. The authors further encourage the researchers to go beyond inductive theory-building and adopt the other methods of theorising to enhance the case study’s explanatory power and potential for contextualisation. Read a copy of the award-winning article here: https://rdcu.be/cbFJR
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Apply for the Henley International Business Masterclasses
Nominations are invited for PhD students and post-doctoral scholars to attend the Autumn 2021 Session of the Henley International Business Masterclasses
The Henley International Business Masterclasses are intensive courses on current debates and conceptual issues in International Business to give broader learning opportunities to PhD students and post-doctoral researchers. Each masterclass offers the opportunity to engage in key International Business topics taught by notable intellectual figures in the field.
The new AIB UK&I book is out!
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This book, edited by Shirodkar, Strange, and McGuire, provides theoretical and empirical insights into non-market political and social strategies that firms use when conducting international business. Political strategies include activities such as lobbying, campaign contributions, and using political ties and connections as a means of influencing policy making. Likewise, firms also engage in various social responsibility activities to maintain a good image in society and to improve their legitimacy and reputation when operating globally. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) face various challenges in implementing non-market strategies due to institutional differences between their home and host contexts. Presenting fresh perspectives from a cast of international contributors, this book offers academics, students, and practitioners a greater understanding of how non-market strategies can be effective in international business.
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Congratulations to Prof. Rajneesh Narula
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Professor Rajneesh Narula has been invited to become a fellow of the Distinguished International Faculty Council at the Jack Austin Centre (JAC) for Asia-Pacific Business Studies at the Beedie School of Business. He has also made his guest editor debut for the Transnational Corporations academic journal. It fed into United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s flagship 2019 World Investment Report, for which he was a senior advisor. It can be downloaded here: https://hly.ac/2neLIAK
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