CALL FOR PAPERS
Special issue in Journal of International Business Policy on
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT:
ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE FOR RESEARCH, PRACTICE, AND POLICYMAKING
Guest editors
Valentina De Marchi (ESADE)
Mehmet Demirbag (University of Essex)
Ismail Gölgeci (Aarhus University)
Ans Kolk (University of Amsterdam)
Sven Kunisch (Aarhus University)
Keywords: natural environment, environmental sustainability; climate change;
biodiversity; energy transition; greening supply chains; net-zero
technologies, circularity
Background
The global business landscape is undergoing profound shifts as the
challenges posed by environmental degradation and climate change become
increasingly prominent. Businesses operating across borders impact
environmental sustainability in profound ways, ranging from resource
extraction (Ghauri et al., 2021) to greenhouse gas emissions (Patnaik,
2019), in their own operations and through their supply chains (Kim & Davis,
2016). The role of international business (IB) in shaping and responding to
these challenges, while definitely not new to the academic field (Kolk,
2016), has come into sharper focus in recent years (Yu et al., 2023).
Concerns about planetary boundaries have entered the management literature
(e.g., Howard-Grenville & Lahneman, 2021; Whiteman et al., 2013), and
growing societal pressures are starting to be reflected in policymaking and
corporate intentions and practices. Despite earlier insights on the
interaction between institutions and multinational enterprises (MNEs) – be
it home- and host-country contexts and or international rule-setting on
green issues (e.g. Pinkse & Kolk, 2012; Pisani et al., 2019) – in-depth
studies on the complexities relevant to this day and age are relatively
scarce and incremental. Existing paradigms and approaches to environmental
sustainability fall short of recognizing and addressing the profound
challenges that exist (Nadeau, 2008) and there is thus a need for a
fundamental reconsideration, with the natural environment being at the top
of the agenda.
Such scholarly work is particularly important given the mounting evidence
that business activities profoundly impact the natural environment. Various
literatures have drawn attention to the loss of biodiversity, potable water,
and clean air and soils (e.g., George et al., 2015; Howard-Grenville &
Lahneman, 2021; Müller et al., 2016), and how the changing climate threatens
the survival of humankind (Rockström et al., 2023; Rockström et al., 2009;
Steffen et al., 2015). There are tremendous challenges associated with the
creation and implementation of clean energy supply chains (Aflaki &
Netessine, 2017), especially concerning the use of critical
materials/minerals, requiring circularity (Ciulli et al., 2020) and careful,
forward-looking planning considering the environmental implications (Aflaki
& Netessine, 2017). The introduction of digital technologies to smoothen
international operations offers the potential for addressing environmental
concerns but also has shortcomings, which are often unforeseen (Ciulli &
Kolk, 2023).
Overall, there is a profound and high-priority imperative for a paradigm
shift away from “sustainable” efficiency measures and toward the
transformational approaches required to establish equitable and restorative
IB policies and practices. Such a paradigm shift and transformational
approaches to the connection between the natural environment and IB require
profound knowledge about the complex interactions between MNE activity and
the natural environment, as well as to provide advice to practicing managers
and policymakers.
Aim of the Special Issue
This special issue seeks to turn the spotlight on the ‘natural environment’
so that scholars in IB and cognate fields can inform practice and
policymaking while advancing and moving the research frontier to include
societal relevance. For example, instead of viewing the natural environment
as exogenous, there is a need to study externalities, endogenize the natural
environment, and understand how adverse effects can be avoided.
Recent years have seen the launch of several policy proposals to
reverse incentives for the better, but how and what MNEs are responding to
and/or anticipating such changes and dealing with trade-offs is largely
unknown. MNEs may also have contradictory and unexpected influences on the
natural environment worldwide, especially when accounting also for their
value chains, and must often make difficult choices to address pressing
issues in the natural environment. While traditionally the so-called
“pollution haven effect”, which threatens the natural environment in
emerging markets and around the globe (Berry et al., 2021), has received
most attention, more recent insights point at not just a ‘race to the
bottom’ but also ‘race to the top’ effects (Bu & Wagner, 2016; Pisani et
al., 2019). It is crucial to better understand the dynamics for replacing
incentives to evade by solutions for truly addressing environmental problems
as desired by policy professionals (e.g., how carbon credits can truly help
reduce emissions, pollution, and environmental harm rather than just
creating a market for offsetting).
We strongly encourage empirical studies and exploratory
inductive work with clear relevance for current and future policymaking,
considering that a range of countries are taking steps to further
environmental sustainability and net-zero technology development.
The objectives of this special issue include:
* Advancing new perspectives and evidence on IB and the natural
environment, including protection, potential restoration, circularity, and
redesign towards greener global value chains (GVCs);
* Developing and extending theories with policy implications that
bridge natural and social sciences or fundamentally embed legal insights to
advance IB research on environmental sustainability;
* Developing the connection between IB and public policy by
critically examining the impact of policies on MNEs and vice versa.
Prospective authors should note that the purpose of JIBP is to publish
policy-relevant research related to IB issues. Work submitted to the special
issue is expected to build on the existing body of knowledge as built up in
the journal since its creation in 2018, and we also direct attention to the
editorials, commentaries, and perspective pieces published as guidance. The
guest editorial team will work with the newly established Policy Impact
Advisory Committee to optimize the consolidation and extension of scholarly
debates on IB and the natural environment that are informative for policy
professionals.
Examples of Topic Areas of Interest
1) Actors (stakeholders and institutions):
- How do international sustainability standards (e.g., by ISSB)
influence MNEs’ policies and activities? How do regulatory frameworks in
relation to environmental concerns influence MNEs and their GVCs? How do
these approaches come about considering societal pressures and business
lobbying?
- What is the role of supra-national institutions in monitoring and
influencing MNEs’ natural resource strategies? What are the interactions
between trade policies, environmental regulations, and IB strategies?
- How do new trends, such as sustainable consumption and citizens
resorting to courts, influence global markets and MNEs? What is the role of
different stakeholders in policymaking to further environmental
sustainability, and what are the differential effects across countries and
regions?
2) Strategies:
- What are the strategic approaches of MNEs towards environmental
stewardship? How do MNE innovation and technology transfer contribute to
environmental sustainability? What are MNE strategies for climate change
adaptation and mitigation in global markets?
- Given the level of urbanization and changing global demographics,
how do MNEs contribute to the scarcity and distribution of resources such as
water, land, air, and food? How do the paradoxes MNEs face in relation to
the use and depletion of critical materials, as well as the implications of
their extraction on biodiversity and communities, relate to their design and
governance of IB activities?
- What is the potential of nearshoring, onshoring, local production,
and geographic route optimization in global supply chains in supporting the
natural environment? What are the dynamics of cross-border collaboration for
environmental protection in the context of IB?
3) Governance and GVCs:
- What policy instruments can help countries capture an externality
(such as technology spillovers) from GVCs? How can countries coordinate FDI
to prevent rent-seeking and misallocating capital and increase environmental
benefits from GVCs?
- How might an increase in the use of Industry 4.0 type of
advanced/digital technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence) affect GVCs
from the point of view of the natural environment and different
actors/stakeholders in society? What will be the environmental effects of
further digitalization in general and specific technologies in particular?
- How do justice, power asymmetry, inclusion, engagement, and
empowerment between supply chain partners from different countries influence
the natural environment? When and where do GVC governance choices enable
environmental upgrading in GVCs?
4) Complexities and dynamics:
- For example, what are the consequences of supply chain tensions in
the natural environment and planetary restoration? How do the paradoxes
associated with the use and depletion of critical minerals and their policy
implications relate to GVC design and governance?
- What are the temporal dynamics in the interactions between IB and
the natural environment? For example, what is the connection between
temporal scaling, temporal non-stationarity, and the natural environment in
IB? What is the role of MNEs’ time horizons in preserving and restoring the
natural environment?
Envisioned Impact
The special issue directly relates to a range of policy initiatives taken in
recent years (or still in the works) to promote sustainability and reduce
the impact of governments, citizens, and firms on the natural environment
while promoting innovation. Examples include the EU’s Green Deal and
Net-Zero Industry Act and the Inflation Reduction Act in the US.
International organizations as well as standard setters are also considering
the best ways to promote sustainability (sometimes under the ESG heading).
Submission and Review Process
Submitted manuscripts must adhere to the scope, standards, format, and
editorial policy of the Journal of International Business Policy (JIBP). “
<http://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/42214/authors/aims-scope> Author
Guidelines” and the JIBP Style Guide for Authors must be followed. Full
paper submissions to the special issue will be reviewed as soon as they are
received – the submission system opens 4 months before the SI deadline. As
papers are accepted, they will be published on the
<https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/42214/volumes-issues/online-first-artic
les> JIBP Online First page on a rolling basis, irrespective of the timing
of the other papers of the SI, to ensure quick publication process.
Published SI papers will all be part of the same SI electronic collection,
but might be published in different issues.
15 May 2024 <https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibp> JIBP’s
Manuscript Central portal opens for full paper submissions
15 September 2024 Final deadline for submission of full papers via
<https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibp> JIBP’s MC portal
September 2025 Expected publication of SI articles (published
online on a rolling basis)
References
Aflaki, S., & Netessine, S. (2017). Strategic investment in renewable energy
sources: The effect of supply intermittency. Manufacturing & Service
Operations Management, 19(3), 489-507.
Berry, H., Kaul, A., & Lee, N. (2021). Follow the smoke: The pollution haven
effect on global sourcing. Strategic Management Journal, 42(13), 2420-2450.
Bu, M., & Wagner, M. (2016). Racing to the bottom and racing to the top: The
crucial role of firm characteristics in foreign direct investment choices.
Journal of International Business Studies, 47, 1032-1057.
Ciulli, F., & Kolk, A. (2023). International Business, digital technologies
and sustainable development: Connecting the dots. Journal of World Business,
58(4), 101445.
Ciulli, F., Kolk, A., & Boe-Lillegraven, S. (2020). Circularity Brokers:
Digital Platform Organizations and Waste Recovery in Food Supply Chains.
Journal of Business Ethics, 167(2), 299-331.
George, G., Schillebeeckx, S.J.D., & Liak, T.L. (2015). The Management of
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Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S.E., Fetzer, I.,
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Yu, H., Bansal, P., & Arjaliès, D.-L. (2023). International business is
contributing to environmental crises. Journal of International Business
Studies, 54(6), 1151-1169.
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