2023 AIB Canada Chapter Conference at HEC Montreal

We are pleased to invite paper submissions for AIB Canada’s 2023 annual conference! You can either submit manuscripts to the conference theme track or to the general international business track. (the link to the submission portal will be posted soon)  The conference will be hosted by HEC Montréal on November 17-18. The theme of the conference for this year is Chalking the Walk: Redesigning International Business Policy for New Global Realities. The conference will be structured as a combination of competitive paper sessions, academic and practitioner panels, and a joint JIBS-JIBP paper development workshop aimed at Ph.D. students and junior scholars.

The question at the core of the conference theme is how policymakers should reshape their international business policies to address society’s most urgent challenges. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are known to be key movers and shakers in societies, sometimes for the bad and other times for the good. On the dark side, MNE actions have been documented to exacerbate several key concerns that governments grapple with—supply chain obstacles, socio-economic inequality, environmental degradation, and tax base erosion (Bu & Wagner, 2016; Giuliani et al., 2023; Kolk et al., 2018; Nebus, 2019). On the bright side, MNEs’ ability to invest, innovate, and scale provides them with a powerful base for positive change in societies—among others, supporting local innovation ecosystem and boosting employment (Montiel et al., 2021; Van Tulder et al., 2021). Policymakers see it as their task to develop international business policies that encourage MNEs to develop a better future for citizens.

Rising anxieties about climate, health, security, and economic crises combined with growing geopolitical challenges have raised questions about whether today’s international business policies need to be re-evaluated. In other words, how should the international business policy be (re)designed for the new global realities? We believe that the AIB Canada community can help policymakers better chalk the walk of MNEs by addressing societal concerns that include:

• MNEs are still doing too little to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. What can governments do to better incentivize MNEs to invest in sustainability?
• The geopolitical rivalry between the world’s two largest economies is heating up. What type of international business policies should countries adopt to reduce security vulnerabilities?
• Many firms, including big tech and pharmaceutical companies, continue to successfully shield their profits from taxes. What should governments do to make them pay their fair share of taxes?
• Human rights abuses continue to occur in modern, far-flung supply chains. What can policymakers do to make MNEs more accountable for violations that occur in their global value chain?
• MNEs and NGOs are important stakeholders in the global economy, shaping global policymaking through the development of private governance, the provision of information, and lobbying. How do MNEs and NGOs affect international business policies?

KEY DATES:

Submission of papers: July 1, 2023. (link to the submission portal will be posted soon)

Authors notified by: September 1, 2023.

Conference dates: November 17-18, 2023.

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

Friday, November 17 – 9:00AM to 5:00PM – AIB Canada Main Conference

Saturday, November 18 – 9:00AM to 12:00PM – JIBS/JIBP Paper Development Workshop

Hosted by the Department of International Business and International Institute for Economic Diplomacy, HEC Montréal

In collaboration with:            Academy of International Business

Conference Chair:                  Ari Van Assche, HEC Montréal

Organizing Committee:

Natalia Delgado, HEC Montréal

Gilbert Adarkwah, HEC Montréal

Kristin Brandl, University of Victoria

Anthony Goerzen, Queen’s University