To whom it may concern,
I hope this email finds you well. We kindly request your help in announcing our Special Issue Call for submissions to Asian Business & Management (ABM) on “Industry re-configurations and multi-level policy implications of the transition towards the green economy in Asia and Europe”
Your cooperation in disseminating this information would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
Mohammad Faisal Ahammad
Head of International Business Department (Interim)
Professor of International Business & Management
Director of JEL India & South Asia Business Centre
International Business Department & CIBUL
Leeds University Business School (LUBS), University of Leeds
Email: [log in to unmask]
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Asian Business & Management (ABM) Special Issue Call For Papers
“Industry re-configurations and multi-level policy implications of the transition towards the green economy in Asia and Europe”
Submission deadline: 1 December 2024
Guest editors: Patrik Ström, European Institute of Japanese Studies, Stockholm School of Economics (email: [log in to unmask])
H. Richard Nakamura, University of Gothenburg; Yoo Jung 'Yuji' Ha, University of York;
Supervising Editor: Mohammad Faisal Ahammad, University of Leeds (Associate editor ABM)
Special issue information:
Motivation for the Special Issue:
In the wake of the pandemic, the world is facing a set of new and interrelated challenges that will have profound impact on private industry and public policy alike. At the core of this development, bringing back economically viable growth in mature and emerging countries is key, as well as handling the imminent climate challenge. In parallel, a complex geoeconomic and geopolitical setting is forcing firms and policy actors to new and to some degree unforeseen actions (Liu and Froese, 2020; Fang and Hassler, 2021; Liu, 2024). Hence, the world economy needs to handle a set of interrelated and difficult issues. Coming out of the pandemic constraints, the world is now also facing economic and financial challenges in relation to inflation, soaring interest rates, and geopolitical insecurity. Interrelated within these challenges is the need for developing countries to be able to continuously connect to global value chains, and production networks and not succumb to mounting dept challenges (Solingen et al., 2021; Ikram et al., 2022).
Within this set of challenges, the transition towards a more sustainable or green economy is paramount (UNCTAD, 2023), despite the more short-term economic challenges facing policymakers. The concept of the green economy could have different connotations and implications in different economies and geographies based on the industrial development, configuration and interconnectedness to global value chains and regional and global production networks (Nayyar et al., 2021; Mealy and Teytelboym, 2022; Jones and Ström, forthcoming 2024).
The green transition does not only foresee a reduced environmental impact but also growth that is sustainable from the viewpoint of economic and social development (Wu and Si, 2018; UNCTAD, 2023). The interrelation between geoeconomic issues, geopolitics and sustainability is something that has been put forward as important aspects of ABM in driving both theory development and empirical work (Liu, 2024). In this sense, the transition bridges issues of global economic development, but can also be seen at the regional level of economic development (Wentrup et al., 2016; Gibbs and O’Neill, 2018). At the center of this transition, companies will play a pivotal role. Policy has the possibility to influence development, but the corporate dimension in pushing the transition forward is evident in most sectors. This underscores the connections to markets and consumption as pressures from more informed customers will be vital. In all, this sets management, strategy and location at the centre of development.
The overall transition will be driven by aspects such as digitalization, growth of the service economy, dematerialization of value creation, the platform economy and the circular economy just to mention a few (Maciejewski et al., 2014; Schultz et al., 2019; Hao et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023), all of which having the potential of driving the pace of the green economy as well as its direction in Europe and Asia. This creates both new possibilities and challenges for economic interrelations between Europe and Asia on several levels. With a strong commitment towards the rules-based world order in relation to trade and investment, as well as the development of the green economy, it would be possible to enhance economic cooperation among countries and companies in Europe and Asia.
Aims and Scope of the Special Issue
This call for papers seeks to stimulate a debate on how the transition towards a green economy could be facilitated and how this development can be attached to various sectors of the economy as well as strategy development taking place on the corporate level. We foresee six main areas of contextual anchoring. First, an overall reflection is needed for multi-level and transdisciplinary approaches for future studies of industries, firms and regions in the global green economy (Jones and Ström, 2024 forthcoming). In addition, this means stimulating research that seeks to bring together and engage with the wider outcome of global cohesion in and between countries in Europe and Asia (e.g., Hamdouch & Depret, 2010; Mitra and Gaur, 2020; Benito et al., 2023).
Second, a geographical approach in studying the ongoing green transition is important since the climate challenge does not stop at borders, but also influenced by the positive and negative actions of local actors. Geographical structures of both natural and economic character can sometimes set the frame for the environmental impact and the possibilities that exist for private and public stakeholders. Hence, we see contributions in this field looking into the spatial and multi-level aspects of the green transition in relation to how countries, regions and local communities can play a role in Asia and Europe. In a similar vein, we see important contributions on how firms anchored in different economic geographical contexts can take a lead in the transition towards the green economy. An example of this development is the wide usage among firms to position their work in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (van Zanten and van Tulder, 2018). This is done to focus on the best possible impact firms can contribute with from a geographical perspective.
Third, the development is bounded in and across industries or sectors. It seems to be clear that some sectors are forerunners and others are more reactive to the green transition. Ther are also differences among sectors in relation to which part of the value chain they belong. Sectors such as finance have got substantial attention, whereas agriculture, broader parts of the service industries and the intersection of service and manufacturing has received more limited attention in relation to how they will be connected to the green transition. At the intersection of services and manufacturing (known as servitization or product-service-system), more of the generated value is most likely to be found throughout the transition towards the green economy (Retamal, 2017; Raddats et al, 2019). In other words, aspects that will be of utmost importance for both research and policy development are found here. This is related to the development of the Service-Dominant logic, encapsulation the wider changes in society and business (Vargo and Lusch, 2014). This involves the development of digitalization in both the private and public sectors, how Artificial Intelligence can play a role in the transition through enabling better utilization of resources and enhancing industrial processes impacting value and output through Industry 4.0 or Internet of Things (IoT). The scope of sectors contributing to the wider understanding of the dynamics in play within the green economy needs to be broadened.
Fourth, policy, regulation and global governance play a pivotal role for the transition towards the green economy. These are all interconnected, but also act in a multi-layered context, where grand initiatives such as the EU programs on carbon neutrality or the circular economy action plan will have an impact on the regional and local levels (e.g., Ström and Hermelin, 2023). There is also a question on whether policy or regulation can be proactive in driving change or if the response often becomes more reactive to technology development or market formation. Aspects of regulation and governance cut across sectors and different geographies (DeSombre, 2011). In order to not distort trade and investment patterns, finding common positions among countries through bilateral or preferable multilateral agreements will be important. Attempts like the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) or the Green Alliance between Japan and EU are tangible outcomes within this area (Ström et al., 2021).
Fifth, it is of great importance that developing countries, or sometimes referred to as the global south, are included in the green economy (Carmody et al., 2023). Challenges in relation to climate change will be more difficult to handle for many of these countries, and their ability to create welfare for their citizens depends on the possibility to integrate into global value chains and production networks. This kind of industrial reconfiguration in addition involves multinational enterprises from advanced economies and more recently, emerging market multinationals (EMNEs).
Lastly, and related to all the above, aspects of firm level strategy and business development will be evident. Companies anchored in either Europe or Asia will need to develop new ways of operating to benefit from the transition towards the green economy (e.g., França et al., 2017; Liu and Froese, 2020; Benito et al., 2023). New opportunities could arise based on firm-specific capabilities. This development could also see new company configurations in the form of joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. The transition towards the green economy could also be a driver for the formation of more hybrid forms of companies in relation to ownership and technology transfer.
We cordially invite scholarly contributions in the areas of business, organization studies, management science, economic geography and development/industrial economics to explore how businesses, governments and societies are responding to the development of a green and sustainable economy in terms of environmental and economic and social aspects.
Authors are encouraged to submit theoretical, conceptual and empirical papers that draw on qualitative, quantitative, mixed and case-study approaches to explore, evaluate, critique and debate issues arising from the discussion above in the context of Europe and Asia geographical framework and collaboration.
Examples of Research Questions of interest:
• How can the concept of the green economy be problematized and engaged with in the in the context of Europe and Asia?
• What are the challenges to bridge uneven regional economic growth and increase social cohesion through the green economy?
• Can economic integration such as trade and FDI drive economic development in Europe and Asia?
• What role will green finance play in Asia and Europe for the transition towards the green economy?
• How is internationalization of service industries facilitating the green economy transition or is the green economy facilitating the internationalization of service industry firms?
• What is the status of digitalization and dematerialization of MNEs activity in Asia and Europe and can it facilitate green growth?
• In what ways do policy and implication of the Smart City or Society 5.0 concepts strengthen regional economic growth and social cohesion in Europe and Asia?
• How are circular economy policy and business models being implemented in Europe and Asia?
• What are the managerial challenges in a turbulent business environment for engaging successfully with the SDGs and the green economy?
• What are the roles of GVCs and GPNs in the transition towards the green economy in the economic relations between Europe and Asia?
• What are the inherent challenges for Global HRM practices in relation to driving the transition towards a greener business?
• What are the ethical aspects of marketing and consumption in Europe and Asia in order to promote sustainability in the market?
• How can the development of the platform economy in Europe and Asia facilitate green growth and more efficient supply chains?
• How ‘green’ are Asian and European economies really?
• How can the state of urgency and increased speed of change be facilitated in Europe and Asia?
Manuscript submission information:
Please see the ABM website for detailed instructions for submission. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41291/authors/submission
References
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Carmody, P. R., Murphy, J. T., Grant, R., & Owusu, F. Y. (2023). The urban question in Africa: uneven geographies of transition. John Wiley & Sons.
DeSombre, E. R. (2011). Global environmental governance for a new green economy. The Review of Policy Research, 28(5), 467-473.
Fang, T., & Hassler, J. (2021). Globalization, political economy, business and society in pandemic times. In Globalization, Political Economy, Business and Society in Pandemic Times (Vol. 36, pp. 1-10). Emerald Publishing Limited.
França, C. L., Broman, G., Robert, K. H., Basile, G., & Trygg, L. (2017). An approach to business model innovation and design for strategic sustainable development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 155-166.
Gibbs, D., & O’Neill, K. (2018). Future green economies and regional development: a research agenda. Transitions in Regional Economic Development, 287-309.
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Hao, X., Li, Y., Ren, S., Wu, H., & Hao, Y. (2023). The role of digitalization on green economic growth: Does industrial structure optimization and green innovation matter? Journal of environmental management, 325, 116504.
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