Organized and Supported by 

October 29-31, 2015 (Thursday-Saturday)

Wuhan, China 

CALL FOR PAPERS

Conference Overview

Transnational corporations (TNCs) from emerging markets (EM) are a growing force in the global economy. In 2013, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing and transition economies reached USD553 billion, amounting to 39 percent of global FDI outflows. Driven in particular by the resources and policies of the BRIC states, emerging-market TNCs are expected to increase their presence abroad. The investment by emerging-market TNCs presents many opportunities and challenges for sustainable development of host and home countries. This call for papers seeks to deepen research, analysis and discussion of those opportunities and challenges. We therefore call for original papers that examine the environmental, social and economic effects of foreign investment by emerging-market TNCs and how home-state and international institutions (i.e., formal laws, regulations, and policies, and informal mechanisms and relationships) impact those effects. We are also interested in research that explores the existence of, and factors behind, commonalities and differences between traditional TNCs (from developed countries) and emerging-market TNCs in terms of their impacts on sustainable development in host countries.

Special Advisors and Keynote Speakers (to be confirmed)

• Dr. Vincent Charles, Centrum Católica Graduate Business School, PUCP, Lima, Peru 
• Dr. Jinyong Chen, Professor and form Dean, Wuhan University, China
• Dr. Eliane Cristina De Araujo, Universidade Estadual De Maringá, Brazil
• Dr. Haoshuang Gu, Vice President, Hubei University, China
• Dr. Badar Iqbal, Aligarh Muslim University, India 
• Dr. Karl Moore, Faculty of Management, McGill University, Canada
• Dr. Zhan Su, Professor of  Business Strategy and Int’l Management, Laval University, Canada
• Others (under consideration)

The Conference Themes

The central theme of the conference is “Emerging Market Transnational Corporations and Sustainable Development in China and Abroad.” Papers are invited on this theme, in the areas of international economics, business and management as below but not limited to:

• Role of emerging-market home countries in influencing the behavior of their TNCs on issues of sustainable development
• Comparative analysis/case studies of the policies and practices of EM home-state institutions that are relevant to their TNCs’ impacts on sustainable development:
  
  • What are the BRIC country policies influencing performance of their TNCs abroad on issues of sustainable development? What are commonalities/differences between them? What about other developing countries and emerging markets?
  • What have been the drivers for change?
  • What are the challenges for these EM home countries in designing/implementing these policies?
• How does EM TNCs’ performance on sustainable investment impact their home countries?
• Are EM governments more active than developed countries (now and/or historically) in terms of their direct involvement in/support of (a) state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and (b) private enterprises?
• How direct is the link between EM home country support of/involvement in their TNCs and the TNCs’ impacts on sustainable development in the host country?
• What is/can be the role of international institutions in improving performance of EM TNCs on issues of sustainable development? Is this role different for EM TNCs than it is for traditional TNCs, and why?

Important Dates

• Paper submission: August 31, 2015 (Authors will be notified once the paper is reviewed and qualified).
• Conference dates: October 29-31, 2015 (October 29, Thursday, as a registration date) 

Paper Publication

Along with Shanghai (Pudong) Academy of Reform and Development, accepted papers will be published by the Transnational Corporations Review (TNCR) in English and/or Chinese as special collection(s), and requested for the relevant indexes, including Econlit, EBSCO, PreQuest, SSCI-CPCI. Excellent papers in English will be referred by the conference academic committee to be published in one or two special issues with indexing in the SSCI-listed journals. This special publication will include the hosting institutions, supportive partners as well as participant information.

All papers should be submitted to the TNCR editorial office by email at tncr.special@gmail.com. Each paper should generally not exceed 20 pages or 5,000 words in English or Chinese (single spaced with 12pt font Times New Roman, including the paper, reference, tables and graphs). A cover page should be included with the paper’s title, authors’ name, affiliations and contact details, such as mailing address, phone and effective email address. A short paragraph about the author(s) (about 150 words), along with a recent passport size photo, is also required. For the submission details on paper format, please follow the “Author’s Guidelines” on TNCR’s website: www.tnc-online.net/page/guidelines/index.php. If a paper is in Chinese, an English title, abstract (about 150 words), keywords (5-7words), about the author(s) (about 150 words), and detailed contact information in English required.

Hotel Information

The accommodation for the conference is proposed to be at Renaissance Wuhan Hotel (http://renaissance-hotels.marriott.com/renaissance-wuhan-hotel). The Renaissance Wuhan Hotel is an international five-star hotel in Wuhan. The hotel features multiple floors with well-appointed rooms and suites including president suites, superior rooms, executive rooms, deluxe rooms. It also includes function halls that can accommodate for more than 500 people, a comprehensive range of meeting facilities combined with conference and event services. Located in Wuhan Chang District, the hotel is adjacent to Yangtze River. It is about 30-minute drive to Wuhan International Airport and 15-minute drive to either Wuhan Railway Station or Wuchang Railway Station.

Conference Fees

Conference registration: RMB￥600 yuan for each domestic participant; US$100 for international participants (early registration before May 31, 2015 receives 20% discount). This covers conference materials, lunches/dinners, coffee and tea, refreshments, and local transports between the hotel and conference site. Participants are responsible for their travel and accommodation expenses.  

Conference Secretariat (to be confirmed)

• Zhang, Bin, Professor and Secretariat General, Chinese American Economics Society
• Liu, Jianping, Professor and President, Business School, Hubei University, China 
• Zhu, Xiaomei, Professor and Vice President, Business School, Hubei University, China  
• Shixion Cheng, Assistant Professor, Hubei University, China 
• Yuan, Gloria, Publishing Director, Denfar Transnational Development, Canada
• Dang, Hugh, Managing Editor, Transnational Corporations Review, Canada

Contact Information

• For news or updates about the conference, please visit the websites at www.tnc-online.net, http://bs.hubu.edu.cn, http://eng.hubu.edu.cn
• For conference information with registrations, please contact Dr. Shixiong Cheng at Hubei University, email: csxcsx007@foxmail.com
• For paper submissions, please contact Professor Jennifer Ma at tncr.special@gmail.com